Difference between revisions of "John C. Breckinridge"
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Revision as of 02:53, December 26, 2012
John C. Breckinridge | |
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14th Vice-President of the United States | |
Term of office March 4, 1857 - March 4, 1861 | |
Political party | Democratic |
President | James Buchanan |
Preceded by | William R. King |
Succeeded by | Hannibal Hamlin |
Born | January 16, 1821 Lexington, Kentucky |
Died | May 17, 1875 (aged 54) Lexington, Kentucky |
Spouse | Mary Cyrene Burch Breckinridge |
John C. Breckinridge was James Buchanan's Vice President from 1857 to 1861. He then ran as the Southern Democratic candidate in the 1860 election, and then, after losing to Abraham Lincoln, was elected to the United States Senate from Kentucky
After the Civil War began, Breckinridge was an outspoken advocate of the Confederacy. After being expelled from the Senate for his views in December of 1861, he fled south and joined the Confederate Army as a general, commanding the so called "Orphan Brigade", made up of Confederates from Kentucky. After commanding Confederate forces for most of the war, he was made Secretary of War under Jefferson Davis in 1865.
After the war ended, Breckenridge, fearing he would be charged with treason, fled, first to Cuba and then to England. In 1869, after being granted amnesty, he returned to Kentucky to practice law, and became Vice President of the Elizabethtown, Lexington, and Big Sandy Railroad Company. [1]
References
- ↑ Fandex, Workman Publishing, 2002.
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