Most of the Breckinridge’s adhered to the new party, but at about this time young John C. Breckinridge began to find Democratic ideas more persuasive. After the Civil War Breckinridge fled abroad before returning to Kentucky in 1869. Given the circumstances, a slightly different electoral slate might have engineered his defeat. Breckinridge next participated in Bragg’s siege at Chattanooga in the fall of 1863. On January 28, 1865, Breckinridge accepted the post of secretary of war in the Confederate government. Also a military man, he served as a Confederate general during the Civil War, between 1861 and 1865. They suspected that he held private concerns about the morality of slavery and that he supported gradual emancipation. Lincoln and Breckinridge became friends, despite their differences in party and ideology. John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. The most dramatic moment of the session occurred on August 1, when Senator Breckinridge took the floor to oppose the Lincoln administration's expansion of martial law. The vice president then led a procession to the new chamber. For Vice-President, Joseph Lane, of Oregon. He received no answer. Created / Published Breckinridge practiced law in Iowa and Kentucky after leaving school, and in 1843 he married Mary Cyrene Burch. Senator from Kentucky and the Vice President of the United States. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever Vice President of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. Created / Published When the Democratic Party split over the issue in the summer of 1860, Breckinridge emerged as the presidential nominee of the pro-slavery Southern Democrats. He attended the convention as a delegate, voting first for Pierce and then switching to Douglas. At a time when the Buchanan administration was falling "in prestige and political consequence, the star of the Vice President rises higher above the clouds." Named chief of staff when World ...read more, John Tyler (1790-1862) served as America’s 10th president from 1841 to 1845. When these discussions fell through, Breckinridge helped Jefferson Davismake his way through the Deep South to avoid capture. He had not been back in Kentucky since he fled eight years before. Burdened with her husband's debts, widow Mary Breckinridge and her children moved to her in-laws' home near Lexington, Kentucky, where J… Democratic Platform, 1860 (Breckinridge faction) Digital History ID 3951. The only vice president ever to take up arms against the government of the United States, John Cabell Breckinridge completed four years as vice president under James Buchanan, ran for president as the Southern Democratic candidate in 1860, and then returned to the Senate to lead the remnants of the Democratic party for the first congressional session during the Civil War. John C. Breckinridge: Political Career . Breckinridge was a Jacksonian Democrat in a state that Senator Henry Clay had made a Whig bastion. "And from what are you suffering?" 14th Vice President Political Party Democratic Term March 4, 1857 - March 4, 1861 (36-40) President James Buchanan Predecessor William R.D. His daughter Mary later remarked that, while exile was a quiet relief for her mother, it was hard on her father, "separated from the activities of life, and unable to do anything towards making a support for his family." He would eventually serve as president of the Elizabethtown, Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad as well as the Kentucky branch of the Piedmont and Arlington Life Insurance Company of Virginia. They held their own convention in Baltimore and nominated Breckinridge as their presidential candidate. Information provided by the Senate Historical Office. Breckinridge later joined General Jubal Early for his famous raid on Washington and was engaged at the Battles of Monocacy and Second Kernstown in July. Going to the White House, he served as a broker between Douglas and President Franklin Pierce, persuading the president to support the bill. June 23, 1860 ... One of the greatest necessities of the age, in a political, commercial, postal and military point of view, is a speedy communication between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. ", On Christmas Day, 1868, departing President Andrew Johnson issued a blanket pardon for all Confederates. In 1860 Breckinridge ran for president as part of the Southern faction of the Democratic Party. The new vice president bought property in the District of Columbia and planned to construct, along with his good friends Senator Douglas and Senator Henry Rice of Minnesota, three large, expensive, connected houses at New Jersey Avenue and I Street that would become known as "Minnesota Row." Serving in the U.S. Senate at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was expelled after joining the Confederate Army. When Breckinridge finished, Baker challenged him: "These speeches of his, sown broadcast over the land, what meaning have they? In 1851 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat and served until 1855. Later, he became the presidential candidate in the 1860 election, after the Democratic Party split into three factions. Breckinridge remained in office even after the beginning of the Civil War, and encouraged his home state to secede as the conflict escalated. Breckinridge spent most of the campaign in Kentucky, but he gave speeches in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, defending the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Date:1860. Only 36 years old at the time of his inauguration in 1857, John C. Breckinridge remains the youngest vice president in American history. Similarly snubbed, Breckinridge quickly discovered that he held less influence with Buchanan as vice president than he had as a member of the House with Pierce. In the upper left is Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge. In that election, as in all his campaigns, he demonstrated both an exceptional ability as a stump speaker and a politician's memory for names and faces. Narrow, secretive, petty, vindictive, and blind to corruption within his administration, he proved unable to bind together either the factions of his party or the regions of his nation. Please join us in our mission to incorporate The Congressional Evolution of the United States of America discovery-based curriculum into the classroom of every primary and secondary school in the United States of … But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! But in December, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida left the Union. Breckinridge supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act in the hope that it would take slavery in the territories out of national politics, but the act had entirely the opposite effect. Breckinridge was the youngest vice president in U.S. history. John Breckinridge (December 2, 1760 – December 14, 1806) was a lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of Virginia. A request to see Miss Lane was really a password to admit a caller to see her uncle. An imposing and tactful man, he was exceptional for evoking both loyal devotion from his followers and generous respect from his opponents during a strife-torn era. In Mexico, Major Breckinridge won the support of his troops for his acts of kindness, being known to give up his horse to sick and footsore soldiers. Privacy Policy | A native of Kentucky, Breckinridge began his political career as a state representative before serving in the U.S. Congress from 1851-1855. Between these two poles, the vice president vainly sought to steer a neutral course. When Gordon urged him to be careful, Breckinridge replied, "Well, general, there is little left for me if our cause is to fail." In 1860 the Democratic Party split when supporters of Stephen Douglas, the leading contender for the presidential nomination, refused to make support of slavery anywhere in the territories part of the party’s platform. He sided with Buchanan on the Lecompton Constitution but endorsed Douglas for reelection to the Senate. She often regaled the children with stories of their grandfather, the first John Breckinridge, who, in addition to introducing the Kentucky Resolutions that denounced the Alien and Sedition Acts, had helped secure the Louisiana Purchase and had served during the administration of Thomas Jefferson first as a Senate leader and then as attorney general. When Cutting refused, Breckinridge interpreted this as a challenge to a duel. Although his supporters promoted him as "the man for the crisis," Buchanan was in fact the worst man for the crisis. John C. Breckinridge (1821-1875) was a politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States and as a Confederate general during the Civil War (1861-65). They saw in his winning manners, attractive appearance, and rare talent for public affairs, exactly the elements they needed in their concealed designs against the country." When the Democratic party nominated James Buchanan of Pennsylvania for United States president in 1856, John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky was a natural choice for vice-president in order to balance the ticket between North and South. During the closing months of the war in 1865, Jefferson Davis made Breckinridge his secretary of war. Lane's embrace of the secessionist spirit attracted him to the Southern Democrats. Born at "Cabell's Dale," the Breckinridge family estate near Lexington, Kentucky, on January 16, 1821, John Cabell Breckinridge was named for his father and grandfather. He was not optimistic about his chances. As a young congressman from South Carolina, he helped steer the United States into war with Great Britain and established the Second Bank of the ...read more, John McCain first entered the public spotlight as a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam War. Breckinridge faced a campaign against three old friends: Stephen Douglas, the Democratic candidate; Abraham Lincoln, the Republican; and John Bell of Tennessee, the Constitutional Union party candidate. In the presidential election of 1860, the Democratic Party split in two, with Stephen Douglas running for the Northern Democratic Party, and John C. Breckinridge representing the Southern Democratic Party. He performed well in this final government position, firing the Confederacy's bumbling commissary general and trying to bring order out of the chaos, but these efforts came too late. The story of John C. Breckinridge is amongst the most tragic stories in American history. While he campaigned on a pro-slavery platform—in particular, he demanded federal intervention to protect slaveholders in the territories—he was also vocal in his support of maintaining the Union amid rumblings of Southern secession. After making a failed attempt to wrest the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from Union control in August 1862, Breckinridge joined Braxton Bragg’s forces near Murfreesboro, Tennessee. When Boyd ran poorly on the first ballot, the convention switched to Breckinridge and nominated him on the second ballot. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. John C. Breckinridge was an American statesman and who served as the 14th and youngest-ever Vice President of the United States; he served from 1857 to 1861, in the administration of James Buchanan. John Bell By Patrick Eakin In 1860 the Constitutional Union Party nominated John Bell for President of the United States. After officially joining the Democrat party in 1843, John C. Breckinridgegot involved in political activities including campaigning for presidential nominee James K. Polk in 1844 campaign. Breckinridge next served as a volunteer during the Mexican-American War (1846-48), but saw no combat. Although he wanted the Union restored, he preferred a peaceful separation rather than "endless, aimless, devastating war, at the end of which I see the grave of public liberty and of personal freedom." Lane had spent his youth in Kentucky and Indiana and served in the Mexican War. Bragg would later blame Breckinridge for the loss at Chattanooga and even accused him of being drunk during the battle. In Richmond he volunteered for military service, exchanging, as he said, his "term of six years in the Senate of the United States for the musket of a soldier." Later that year, Linn Boyd died while campaigning for the Senate, and Kentucky Democrats nominated Breckinridge for the seat, which would become vacant at the time Breckinridge's term as vice president ended. Breckinridge attended Centre College in Kentucky before studying law at Princeton. Breckinridge became a spokesman for the proslavery Democrats, arguing that the federal government had no right to interfere with slavery anywhere, either in the District of Columbia or in any of the territories. Breckinridge strong stance and pro-slavery ideology won him the first term at the Kentucky House of Representatives. On March 4, Breckinridge administered the oath of office to his successor, Hannibal Hamlin, who in turn swore him into the Senate. Despite his efforts, pro-Union forces won the state legislative elections. He was courted by the major candidates for the presidency: Franklin Pierce, the incumbent; Senator Stephen A. Douglas; and James Buchanan, the former minister to England. Had the four-way election of 1860 not been decided by the electoral college but been thrown into Congress, the Democratic majority in the outgoing Senate might well have elected him vice president. A poor winner, Buchanan distrusted his rivals for the nomination and refused to invite Stephen Douglas to join his cabinet or to take seriously Douglas' patronage requests. Taking this as a rebuff, the proud Kentuckian left town without calling on either Miss Lane or the president. Other than publicly denouncing the lawless violence of the Ku Klux Klan, he devoted himself entirely to private matters. When another large peace rally was scheduled for September 21, the legislature sent a regiment to break up the meeting and arrest Breckinridge. Breckinridge responded by recalling a trip he had made through South Carolina, where he met a militia officer in full military regalia. For Vice-President, Joseph Lane, of Oregon. King Successor Hannibal Hamlin Full Name John Cabell Breckinridge Birth January 16, 1821 Lexington, Kentucky Father Joseph Cabell Breckinridge … When Oregon entered the Union in 1859, he was chosen one of its first senators. On January 4, 1859, when the Senate met for the last time in its old chamber, he used the occasion to deliver an eloquent appeal for national unity. Privately, he told Mrs. Jefferson Davis, "I trust that I have the courage to lead a forlorn hope." He returned east to the battle of Cold Harbor, and in July 1864 he and General Jubal T. Early led a dramatic raid on Washington, D.C. Breckinridge's troops advanced as far as Silver Spring, Maryland, where they sacked Francis Blair's home but did not destroy it, supposedly at the urging of Breckinridge, who had often been a guest there. Breckinridge was elected the 14th vice president of the United States in 1856, and then mounted an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1860. Breckinridge declared himself through with politics: "I no more feel the political excitements that marked the scenes of my former years than if I were an extinct volcano." Democratic Party Platform (Breckinridge Faction) of 1860. https://www.history.com/topics/us-politics/john-c-breckinridge. Breckinridge was elected vice president, having the singular distinction of being the youngest vice president in the history of the Unite… Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault. All Rights Reserved. Two other political parties competed in this election as well. Pro-slavery Democrats started their own Southern Democratic Party and chose Breckinridge as their presidential nominee. He was then placed in command of troops in southwestern Virginia. After serving in the Massachusetts State Senate and the U.S. ...read more, John Brown was a leading figure in the abolitionist movement in the pre-Civil War United States. Promoted to major general in 1862, Breckinridge fought at the Battles of Stones River and Chickamauga before taking command of Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864. "I tell you, sah, we can not stand it any longer; we intend to fight," said the officer. He studied law at Transylvania University and after graduating he set up as a lawyer. Fearing capture by the Union Army, Breckinridge fled to Cuba at the end of the Civil War and then proceeded to the United Kingdom and Canada. The Illinois senator pointed out that, while not all of Breckinridge's followers were secessionists, every secessionist was supporting him. The nominee was thirty-six years old—just a year over the constitutional minimum age for holding the office—and his election would make him the youngest vice president in American history. Are they not intended for disorganization in our very midst?" Forney recalled how the young Breckinridge spoke with great respect about Texas Senator Sam Houston, who denounced the dangers and evils of slavery. Left without resources, his wife took her children back to Cabell's Dale to live with their grandmother, known affectionately as "Grandma Black Cap." John Cabell Breckinridge was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on January 16, 1821. Breckinridge and Bragg experienced a falling-out in the wake of the battle and remained on poor terms for the rest of their tenure together. One Arkansas delegate admired "his manner, his severely simple style of delivery with scarcely an ornament [or] gesture and deriving its force and eloquence solely from the remarkably choice ready flow of words, the rich voice and intonation." On several occasions, however, he visited his cousin Mary Todd Lincoln at the White House. At a dinner just before the nomination, Breckinridge talked of not accepting it, but Jefferson Davis persuaded him to run. He performed well in managing the fading war effort prior to the Confederate surrender in April 1865. Breckinridge ultimately finished third in the popular vote behind Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. Since Breckinridge defended both the Union and slavery, people viewed him as a moderate. On December 4, 1861, the Senate by a 36 to 0 vote expelled the Kentucky senator, declaring that Breckinridge, "the traitor," had "joined the enemies of his country.". When the Democratic Party split over the issue in the summer of 1860, Breckinridge emerged as the presidential nominee of the pro-slavery Southern Democrats. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. In fact, the vice president had no private meetings with the president for over three years. He died in 1875 at the age of 54. Cutting of New York, almost provoking a duel. He would later play an important role at the Battles of New Market and Cold Harbor before serving as the final Confederate secretary of war in 1865. Subsequently, the Breckinridge family settled in Toronto, Canada. Before the construction was completed, however, the friendship had become deeply strained when Douglas fell out with President Buchanan over slavery in Kansas. In November 1864 he undertook an expedition into Tennessee and won a victory at the Battle of Bull’s Gap. Baker demanded. For Vice-President, Joseph Lane, of Oregon. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. His manpower and supplies dwindling, he then fought a succession of small battles in western Virginia in late 1864. As they rode from their defeat on the battlefield, Jubal T. Early turned to ask, "General Breckinridge, what do you think of the `rights of the South in the territories' now?" A tall, strikingly handsome young man with a genial air and a powerful voice, considered by many "a perfect gentleman," Breckinridge set out to make his fortune on the frontier. Breckinridge was enraged by this misconduct but would have little success in his attempts to arrest the officers responsible. In his brief life John C. Breckinridge embraced the roles of lawyer, politician, statesman, soldier, exile, and businessman. “The Political Quadrille, Music by Dred Scott” satirized the four candidates for president in 1860, along with their supporters. Taken prisoner after his plane was shot down, he suffered five and a half years of torture and confinement before his release in 1973. Land speculation in the West helped him accumulate a considerable amount of money during his absence from politics. As he spoke, Oregon Republican Senator Edward D. Baker entered the chamber, dressed in the blue coat of a Union army colonel. An Illustrious Political Family. "They were a high-strung pair," commented Breckinridge's friend Forney. The delegate noted that "every member seemed riveted to his seat and each face seemed by magnetic influence to be directed to him." In welcome, a band played "Home Sweet Home," "Dixie," and "Hail to the Chief." Indicted by the Federal government for high treason, Breckinridge led a small party of Confederates int… He died in 1875 at the age of 54. He decided against running for county clerk of Scott County after his law partner complained that he spent too much time in politics. He proposed that they meet near Silver Spring, the nearby Maryland home of his friend Francis P. Blair, and that they duel with western rifles. The City 's lawyers about Texas Senator Sam Houston, who retreated back to the Chief ''. Spent too much time in politics, the Senate land speculation in the 1860 election, Breckinridge to! Shortly after the election, after so many of his election, he settled in Georgetown, resumed... 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