Schuyler Colfax Jr. ( ; March 23, 1823January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869. Originally a Whig, then part of the short-lived People's Party of Indiana,