Background
Saulsbury was born on April 17, 1861 in Georgetown, Delaware, United States. He was the son of Willard Saulsbury and Annie Milby (Ponder) Saulsbury.
Saulsbury was born on April 17, 1861 in Georgetown, Delaware, United States. He was the son of Willard Saulsbury and Annie Milby (Ponder) Saulsbury.
After attending private schools and the University of Virginia (1877 - 79), he studied for the bar in his father's office and was admitted in October 1882.
He became associated in the practice of law with Victor DuPont of Wilmington, with whom he continued in partnership until the latter's death in 1888.
During his last years he was the head of the firm of Saulsbury, Morris & Rodney, with offices in both Wilmington and Washington, D. C. His business achievements included the consolidation of the Wilmington traction companies and the organization of the Equitable Trust Company of which he was long a director, as he was likewise of the Union National Bank.
Scion of a family which had produced several prominent Democratic leaders, he became active in the councils of that party. He was chairman of the county committee from 1892 to 1900, state committeeman for a score of years and chairman from 1900 to 1906, and from 1908 to 1920 national committeeman from Delaware. He was a delegate to four national conventions between 1896 and 1920; in 1896 he was chairman of the delegation and in 1904, a member of the committee on resolutions.
At the convention of 1924 the Delaware delegation presented his name as a candidate for the presidency. From 1899 to 1913 he was his party's nominee for the United States Senate, regularly receiving the entire Democratic vote in the legislature, but not until the last-named year was he successful, and then only after a desperate struggle.
He was assigned to the committee on foreign relations, and became chairman of the committee on the Pacific Islands and Porto Rico. During the recess of Congress in 1915 he visited the Far East, reaching China while the twenty-one Japanese demands were being pressed upon China and acquiring much first-hand knowledge of the situation. He also gave special attention to the needs of the United States Court for China, and endeavored to strengthen its position in the international community.
At the opening of the session of 1916 he was elected president pro tempore of the Senate, a rare honor for so new a member, and continued as such for the balance of his term. He was nominated for reelection to the Senate in 1918, but the tide had already turned against the Wilson administration and Saulsbury, as one of its leading exponents, was defeated, though by a narrow margin.
After the expiration of his term he resumed the practice of law. When the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armaments was in process of incubation, he was invited by President Harding, with whom his personal relations in the Senate had been most friendly, to serve on the Advisory Committee.
His last four years were passed quietly; he died at Wilmington, and was buried at Dover in the churchyard of Christ Church (Episcopal).
He became known as a leading supporter of President Wilson.
He was a man of polished manners, excellent address, and winsome qualities. His long experience in practical politics taught him the art of handling men.
On Dec. 5, 1893, he married May DuPont, the daughter of his former partner.