James Webb Throckmorton was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician who served as the 12th Governor of Texas from 1866 to 1867 during the early days of Reconstruction. He also served as a United States Congressman from Texas from 1875 to 1879 and then again from 1883 to 1889.

During his term in the governor's office, Throckmorton's lenient attitude toward former Confederates

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 and his attitude toward civil rights ran afoul of the Reconstruction politics of the Radical Republicans in Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

. He drew the ire of the local military commander, Major General

Major general (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...

 Charles Griffin

Charles Griffin (general)

Charles Griffin was a career officer in the United States Army and a Union general in the American Civil War. He rose to command a corps in the Army of the Potomac and fought in many of the key campaigns in the Eastern Theater.After the war, he commanded the Department of Texas during Reconstruction...

, who soon persuaded his superior, Philip H. Sheridan, to remove Throckmorton from office and replace him with a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 and loyal Unionist

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

, Elisha M. Pease

Elisha M. Pease

Elisha Marshall Pease was a U.S. politician from the 1830s through the 1870s. He served as the fifth and 13th Governor of Texas .A native of Enfield, Connecticut, Pease moved to Mexican Texas in 1835...

.

As the Radical Republicans began to wane in their influence in the mid 1870s, Throckmorton was elected to Congress representing Texas's 3rd Congressional District. He later served the 5th District in the 1880s.

He died from a fall after becoming frail due to kidney disease.