 |
History and Government—Congressional Biographies—Kentucky / USJohn Cabell BRECKINRIDGE
(1821-1875)
Senate Years of Service:
1861-1861Party: DemocratBRECKINRIDGE, John Cabell,
(grandson of John Breckinridge, father of Clifton Rodes
Breckinridge, and cousin of Henry Donnel Foster), a Representative
and a Senator from Kentucky and a Vice President of the United
States; born at ‘Cabell’s Dale,’ near Lexington,
Ky., January 16, 1821; attended Pisgah Academy, Woodford County,
Ky.; graduated from Centre College, Danville, Ky., in 1839; later
attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University);
studied law in the Transylvania Institute, Lexington, Ky.; admitted
to the bar in 1840; moved to Burlington, Iowa, but soon returned
and began practice in Lexington, Ky.; major of the Third Kentucky
Volunteers during the Mexican War in 1847 and 1848; member, State
house of representatives 1849; elected as a Democrat to the
Thirty-second and Thirty-third Congresses (March 4, 1851-March 3,
1855); was not a candidate for renomination in 1854; was tendered
the mission to Spain by President Franklin Pierce, but declined;
elected Vice President of the United States in 1856 on the
Democratic ticket with James Buchanan as President; unsuccessful
candidate for President in 1860; elected to the United States
Senate and served from March 4, 1861, to December 4, 1861, when he
was expelled for support of the rebellion; entered the Confederate
Army during the Civil War as brigadier general and soon became a
major general; Secretary of War in the Cabinet of the Confederate
States from January until April 1865; resided in Europe until 1868;
returned to Lexington, Ky., and resumed the practice of law; vice
president of the Elizabethtown, Lexington Big Sandy Railroad Co.;
died in Lexington, Ky., May 17, 1875; interment in Lexington
Cemetery.
Bibliography
American National Biography; Dictionary of American
Biography; Davis, William. John C. Breckinridge: Statesman,
Soldier, Symbol. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press,
1974; Heck, Frank. Proud Kentuckian, John C. Breckinridge,
1821-1875. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1976.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
Related Links
|
24 X 7
Private Tutor
|
24 x 7 Tutor Availability |
|
|
Unlimited Online Tutoring |
|
|
1-on-1 Tutoring |
|
