Monetary policy While in the House, Conkling notably broke with the Republican Party over the passage of the Legal Tender Act, which established Treasury notes as legal currency in order to better fund the war effort. In this opposition he was joined by his brother, Frederick Augustus Conkling. Both were "hard money" men, arguing that the only legal tender could be precious metals (gold and silver) and that the war could be won without extending the Union’s line of credit. Instead, he argued for reducing the costs of government by cutting salaries and limiting congressional travel expenses. Conkling also vigorously opposed the so-called "inflation bill", which would have authorized an additional $46 million in bank notes. The bill passed, but President Grant vetoed it and a compromise was reached. He was an active opponent of the Bland-Allison Act and any legislation attempting to increase the supply of silver. Civil rights and Reconstruction Conkling was a lifelong advocate for civil rights for freed black Americans. He remained an advocate for Southern Reconstruction long past its political popularity in the North and even beyond President Hayes’s decision to withdraw federal troops from Southern states. Women's rights In 1877, Conkling presented a petition on behalf of citizens of New York, mostly women, calling for an amendment granting all women the right to vote. Retirement After resigning from the Senate in 1881, Conkling returned to the practice of law. As one of the original drafters of the Fourteenth Amendment, he claimed in a case which reached the Supreme Court, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, 118 U.S. 394 (1886), that the phrase "nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" meant the drafters wanted corporations to be included, because they used the word "person" and cited his personal diary from the period. Howard Jay Graham, a Stanford University historian considered the pre-eminent scholar on the Fourteenth Amendment, named this case the "conspiracy theory" and concluded that Conkling probably perjured himself for the benefit of his railroad friends. Relationship with President Arthur Conkling and Arthur were so intimately associated that it was feared, after President Garfield was assassinated, that the killing had been done at Conkling's behest in order to install Arthur as president and bring about restoration of the patronage system of political appointments. After Arthur assumed the presidency upon Garfield's death in September 1881, Conkling attempted