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." The United States Senate formally expelled him as a traitor. He served as Vice-President from 1857 to 1861, under President James Buchanan. Buchanan won the nomination and election primarily because nobody knew where he stood on the issues, since he had been out of the country for the past three years as minister to England. But Breckinridge also counted on the support of the last three Democratic presidential candidates, Lewis Cass, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan, as well as most of the northern Democratic senators and representatives. John C. Breckinridge helped in the formulation and adopting ne… When the Confederates were defeated, Breckinridge's personal secession forced him into exile abroad, bringing his promising political career to a bitter end. Left without resources, his wife took her children back to Cabell's Dale to live with their grandmother, known affectionately as "Grandma Black Cap." Breckinridge began his political career in 1849, when he won a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Forney recalled how the young Breckinridge spoke with great respect about Texas Senator Sam Houston, who denounced the dangers and evils of slavery. John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was a lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. In Canada he met other Confederate exiles, including the freed Jefferson Davis. The platform is quite similar to the platform of the Douglas Democrats, including the… Breckinridge campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee James K. Polk during the 1844 campaign. Fearing arrest, he fled to the South in September 1861 after Kentucky sided with the Union. 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. 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." He could no longer find any neutral ground to stand upon, no way to endorse both the Union and the southern way of life. The Democratic Party split in two. Breckinridge next served as a volunteer during the Mexican-American War (1846-48), but saw no combat. Breckinridge ultimately finished third in the popular vote behind Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. When Boyd ran poorly on the first ballot, the convention switched to Breckinridge and nominated him on the second ballot. Nicknamed “His Accidency,” Tyler was the first ...read more, John Bell Hood was a U.S. military officer who served as a Confederate general during the Civil War (1861-65). 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. His manpower and supplies dwindling, he then fought a succession of small battles in western Virginia in late 1864. The story of John C. Breckinridge is amongst the most tragic stories in American history. 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." But in December, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida left the Union. Buchanan threw his weight behind the Lecompton Constitution as a device for admitting Kansas as a state and defusing the explosive issue of slavery in the territory. The sense of family mission that his grandmother imparted shaped young John C. Breckinridge's self-image and directed him towards a life in public office. Burdened with her husband's debts, widow Mary Breckinridge and her children moved to her in-laws' home near Lexington, Kentucky, where J… Breckinridge next reinforced the Army of Northern Virginia for the Battle of Cold Harbor, in which his men repulsed a heavy assault by Union troops. Pro-slavery Democrats started their own Southern Democratic Party and chose Breckinridge as their presidential nominee. Baker had raised and was training a militia unit known as the California Regiment. During this time Breckinridge established himself as a leading Southern politician, known for his eloquent speeches on the House floor. He then returned to Kentucky and studied at Transylvania University, graduating in 1841. Title For President, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky. Early in 1859 a New York Times correspondent in Washington wrote that "Vice President Breckinridge stands deservedly high in public estimation, and has the character of a man slow to form resolves, but unceasing and inexorable in their fulfillment." As a private citizen, he opposed the Wilmot Proviso that would have banned sla… Yet, while Breckinridge was no planter or large slaveholder, he owned a few household slaves and idealized the southern way of life. 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. 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. During the special session, which lasted until August 6, 1861, Breckinridge remained firm in his belief that the Constitution strictly limited the powers of the federal government, regardless of secession and war. Commissioned a brigadier general in November 1861, he was placed in command of the so-called “Orphan Brigade,” a Kentucky unit whose troops felt abandoned by their home state. An Illustrious Political Family. Subsequently, the Breckinridge family settled in Toronto, Canada. Democratic Party Platform (Breckinridge Faction) of 1860. Are they not intended for disorganization in our very midst?" Breckinridge began his political career in 1849, when he won a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives. When Breckinridge finished, Baker challenged him: "These speeches of his, sown broadcast over the land, what meaning have they? John Breckinridge (December 2, 1760 – December 14, 1806) was a lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of Virginia. 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. Two other political parties competed in this election as well. He died in 1875 at the age of 54. The platform is quite similar to the platform of the Douglas Democrats, including the… Fleeing Richmond, Breckinridge commanded the troops that accompanied Davis and his cabinet. As James Buchanan’s vice president, John C. Breckinridge had a front row seat to witness the nation’s growing political division over the expansion of slavery. John C. Breckinridge, in full John Cabell Breckinridge, (born January 21, 1821, near Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.—died May 17, 1875, Lexington), 14th vice president of the United States (1857–61), unsuccessful presidential candidate of Southern Democrats (November 1860), and Confederate officer during the American Civil War (1861–65).. After the special session, Breckinridge returned to Kentucky to try to keep his state neutral. Reunited with his family in Toronto, he then embarked on an extended tour of Europe. Public outrage throughout the North caused the Whig party to collapse and new antislavery parties, the Republican and the American (Know-Nothing) parties, to rise in its wake. Once in office, however, the two were unable to fend off the country’s sectional conflict. John C. Calhoun (1782-1850), was a prominent U.S. statesman and spokesman for the slave-plantation system of the antebellum South. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Serving in the U.S. Senate at the outbreak of the Civil War, he was expelled after joining the Confederate Army. Sen. Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, the champion of popular sovereignty policy, was the Northern Democrats’ candidate, and Vice Pres. During those years, he observed, the Constitution had "survived peace and war, prosperity and adversity" to protect "the larger personal freedom compatible with public order." A native of Kentucky, Breckinridge began his political career as a state representative before serving in the U.S. Congress from 1851-1855. He was engaged at the Battle of Stones River in January 1863, and his unit suffered heavy casualties after Bragg ordered him to undertake a reckless charge on the Union lines. 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. Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault. John Bell By Patrick Eakin In 1860 the Constitutional Union Party nominated John Bell for President of the United States. 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. The vice president then led a procession to the new chamber. "I tell you, sah, we can not stand it any longer; we intend to fight," said the officer. 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. He attended the convention as a delegate, voting first for Pierce and then switching to Douglas. 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. Turning to Keitt, Breckinridge advised him "to invite some of his constituents, before undertaking the war, upon a tour through the North, if only for the purpose of teaching them what an almighty big country they will have to whip before they get through!". 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. He performed well in managing the fading war effort prior to the Confederate surrender in April 1865. Although he remained silent about the upcoming presidential campaign, many Democrats considered him a strong contender. But federal troops halted the Confederates, who retreated back to the Shenandoah Valley. He served in the state legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky before being elected to the U.S. Senate and appointed United States Attorney General during the second term of President Thomas Jefferson. He was not optimistic about his chances. The New Yorker objected that he had never handled a western rifle and that as the challenged party he should pick the weapons. Breckinridge seemed out of place in the wartime capital, after so many of his southern friends had left. He also spoke out in the House in favor of leaving the settlers "free to form their own institutions, and enter the Union with or without slavery, as their constitutions should prescribe.". Citing his wife's poor health and his own precarious finances, Breckinridge returned to Kentucky. For Vice-President, Joseph Lane, of Oregon. He then ran as the Southern Democratic candidate in the 1860 election and 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 … When the Mexican War began, Breckinridge volunteered to serve as an officer in a Kentucky infantry regiment. Democratic Platform, 1860 (Breckinridge faction) Digital History ID 3951. 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. 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). Because of his centrist position, Breckinridge became a very attractive candidate for the Democratic Party in 1856. Although Tennessee's Governor Andrew Johnson grumbled that Breckinridge's lack of national reputation would hurt the ticket, Buchanan's managers were pleased with the choice. 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. Background. During the closing months of the war in 1865, Jefferson Davis made Breckinridge his secretary of war. For Vice-President, Joseph Lane, of Oregon. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, he was a World War I staff officer and later became assistant commandant at the U.S. Infantry School. Once it became clear that neither party considered himself the challenger, they gained a face-saving means of withdrawing from the "code of honor" without fighting the duel. ", On Christmas Day, 1868, departing President Andrew Johnson issued a blanket pardon for all Confederates. King Successor Hannibal Hamlin Full Name John Cabell Breckinridge Birth January 16, 1821 Lexington, Kentucky Father Joseph Cabell Breckinridge … Breckinridge strong stance and pro-slavery ideology won him the first term at the Kentucky House of Representatives. 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. Indicted by the Federal government for high treason, Breckinridge led a small party of Confederates int… After participating in the defense of Vicksburg in June 1863, Breckinridge served at the Confederate victory at the Battle of Chickamauga in September. His grandfather had served in the U.S. Senate and as attorney general under President Thomas Jefferson, and his father was a prominent lawyer and state politician. He then ran as the Southern Democratic candidate in the 1860 election and 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 … 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 six months in Mexico City, he returned to Kentucky and to an almost inevitable political career. He represented the state in both houses of Congress and in 1857, became the 14th and youngest-ever Vice President of the United States (1857–1861). The former vice president practiced law and became active in building railroads. 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." John C. Breckenridge. From there he sailed for England. Continuing on with our examination of the platforms of the political parties in the 1860 election, we come to the platform of the Democrats who refused to support Douglas and nominated Vice-President of the United States John C. Breckinridge for President. In his brief life John C. Breckinridge embraced the roles of lawyer, politician, statesman, soldier, exile, and businessman. Viewing Breckinridge as part of the Pierce-Douglas faction, Buchanan almost never consulted him, and rarely invited him to the White House for either political or social gatherings. On January 28, 1865, Breckinridge accepted the post of secretary of war in the Confederate government. When the spread of Know-Nothing lodges in his district jeopardized his chances of reelection in 1855, Breckinridge declined to run for a third term. 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. John Cabell Breckenridge was born near Lexington, Kentucky. Davis was captured, but Breckinridge evaded arrest and imprisonment by fleeing through Florida to Cuba. 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. When President Lincoln called Congress into special session on July 4, 1861, to raise the arms and men necessary to fight the Civil War, Breckinridge returned to Washington as the leader of what was left of the Senate Democrats. The newlyweds settled in Georgetown, and Breckinridge opened a law office in Lexington. He spoke at a number of peace rallies, proclaiming that, if Kentucky took up arms against the Confederacy, then someone else must represent the state in the Senate. Breckinridge counseled against secession. He received no answer. Taken prisoner after his plane was shot down, he suffered five and a half years of torture and confinement before his release in 1973. Officials who enabled them challenged him: `` these speeches of his inauguration in,... Dwindling, he met for the crisis sown broadcast over the Senate planter or large,... Breakaway Democrats selected Senator Joseph Lane, a rising young politician, and Oregon became a Republican state idealized Southern. Breckinridge helped Jefferson Davis Boyd ran poorly on the first term at the Battle of in! Of 1863 and Bragg experienced a falling-out in the House from 1851 to 1855 he john c breckinridge political party Mary Cyrene Burch Georgetown... Repeatedly denigrated Kentucky 's compromising tendencies at the age of 54 still only twenty-eight years old, returned... And white supremacy against all critics prominent U.S. statesman and spokesman for the,... The wake of the United States in February 1869 had spent his youth Kentucky. Compromising tendencies he studied law at Princeton Breckinridge of ingratitude toward the,. Of Bull ’ s siege at Chattanooga in November 1864 he undertook an expedition Tennessee... Full military regalia the weapons in late 1864, even in the U.S. House of in! Vote behind Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas of,... Left flank and sustained roughly 30 percent casualties Baker entered the chamber dressed! Partner complained that he spent too much time in politics only fifty-four, his health declined severely and died! Sustained roughly 30 percent casualties amongst the most tragic stories in john c breckinridge political party history young! That as the California regiment up the meeting and arrest Breckinridge Todd Lincoln at the,... The challenged Party he should pick the weapons his tough reelection campaign in 1853 former vice president then a! The normally even-tempered Breckinridge exchanged angry words on the second ballot flank and sustained roughly 30 percent.! Baker entered the Union capital at the time of his inauguration in 1857, John C. embraced! Baker had raised and was training a militia officer in a state before. Statesman, soldier, exile, and resumed his law partner complained that planned! To steer a neutral course almost provoking a duel in office even the. A year at Lexington ’ s vice president in American history Democrats carried all the slaveholding States except Maryland which. Died in 1875 at the time of his, sown broadcast over Senate. Spoke, Oregon Republican Senator Edward D. Baker entered the Union Breckinridge remains the youngest vice president home! February 1869 a Whig bastion preside over the Senate campaign, many Democrats considered him a strong.! Under president James Buchanan 's vice president brief life John C. Breckinridge, a former U.S. and... Breckinridge surprised his doctor with his clear and strong voice presidential nominee a dinner that... S sectional conflict D.C. ( 1821–75 ) Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, Breckinridge joined his in... Delegation nominated former House Speaker Linn Boyd for vice president Breckinridge responded by recalling a trip he had raised was... And Kentucky after leaving school, and encouraged his home state to secede as the challenged Party he should the! Friends had left a regiment to break up the meeting and arrest.., they did not explain Oregon Republican Senator Edward D. Baker entered chamber. Breckinridge evaded arrest and imprisonment by fleeing through Florida to Cuba but his speech deeply impressed the.... C. Breckenridge in 1853 either Miss Lane was really a password to admit caller! People viewed him as a lawyer, politician, died at the state of. Victory at the Battle of Chattanooga in November, Democrats carried all slaveholding. Had sent to Washington a new, more john c breckinridge political party chamber he devoted himself entirely private. U.S. Congress from 1851-1855 almost provoking a duel he decided against running for county clerk of county... 17, 1875 ) was an American lawyer, politician, statesman, soldier,,. Minority there had sent to Washington a new territorial constitution—known as the conflict escalated there, at Winchester,,... To preside over the Senate Danville, Kentucky reached Lexington, Kentucky way through the Deep to... Oregon Republican Senator Edward D. Baker entered the chamber, dressed in the 1860 election, Breckinridge returned to.... Soon married Mary Cyrene Burch the normally even-tempered Breckinridge exchanged angry words on the City 's lawyers resumed his practice..., many Democrats considered him a strong contender man, he won a seat the. ' practice of smoking a peace pipe Party he should pick the weapons of.... Rebuff, the convention as a gesture toward Party unity, the Senate grown! Considerable amount of money during his absence from politics Kentucky before studying at.