| James Clarkson | |
| Office: | Chair of the Republican National Committee |
| Term Start: | July 19, 1891 |
| Term End: | June 29, 1892 |
| Predecessor: | Matt Quay |
| Successor: | William Campbell |
| Birth Name: | James Sullivan Clarkson |
| Birth Date: | 17 May 1842 |
| Birth Place: | Brookville, Indiana, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Party: | Republican |
| Spouse: | Anna Howell |
| Children: | 3, including Grosvenor |
| Signature: | Signature of James Sullivan Clarkson (1842–1918).png |
James Sullivan Clarkson (May 17, 1842 - May 30, 1918) was a delegate to each Republican National Convention from 1876 to 1896; a member of the Republican National Committee from 1880 to 1896; chairman of the Committee from 1891 to 1892, and President of the Republican League of the United States from 1891 to 1893. He was born in Brookville, Indiana but raised a native of Polk County, Iowa. He married Anna Howell, and together they had three children.[1]
He served as postmaster of Des Moines from 1871 to 1877, and was twice offered an ambassadorship (to Switzerland in 1869, and to China in 1890), but declined both.[2]
On April 18, 1902, he was appointed by Theodore Roosevelt as surveyor of the Port of New York until 1910.[3] [4]
He died at the home of his son Grosvenor in Newark,[5] New Jersey with his wife by his side. Clarkson was buried in the family mausoleum in Des Moines, Iowa.[6]