Arthur Pue Gorman (1839-1906) served as a U.S. Senator from Maryland between 1881 and 1899 and again from 1903 until his death in 1906. Gorman informally led the Senate Democrats throughout the 1890s and was unanimously elected to be the first official chairman of the Senate Democratic Conference on March 6, 1903. His congressional career began in 1852 when he became a page in the House of Representatives. Senator Stephen A. Douglas brought him to the Senate, appointing him as his personal secretary. Eventually, the young Gorman advanced to the position of postmaster before leaving Senate employment in 1866. Following ventures in business and a distinguished career in the Maryland state legislature, Gorman became a U.S. Senator in 1881. He proved to be a skilled strategist and compromiser, holding his party together as debate raged over the “Sherman Silver Purchase Act” and the “Wilson-Gorman Tariff.” A portrait of Senator Gorman by Louis P. Dietrich is in the Senate’s collection of fine art.