Rep. William Wheeler of New York, Rutherford B. Hayes’s running mate
Gail Collins in the New York Times, July 21, 2008:
bq. “…picking a running mate is…like picking a pet. How much time are you planning to spend with the little fellow? How much exercise will he be getting on an average day? On the one extreme, you have the William Wheeler model….On the other end, there’s the Cheney version in which the pet takes over the checkbook, diversifies the family investment portfolio and starts strafing the neighbor’s cat.”
(When the party bosses told Hayes that Wheeler would be his running mate, Hayes responded: “Who is Wheeler?”)
[Hat tip to Susan Welch]