John Cabell Breckinridge (16 January 1821 – 17 May 1875) was Vice President of the United States under President James Buchanan from 4 March 1857 to 4 March 1861, succeeding William R. King and preceding Hannibal Hamlin. Breckinridge, a Southern Democratic politician from Kentucky, also ran for President of the United States against Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and he briefly served as Secretary of War of the Confederate States of America in 1865.
Biography[]
John Cabell Breckinridge was born in Lexington, Kentucky on 16 January 1821. In 1841, he graduated from Transylvania University and was licensed to practice law, and Breckinridge became affiliated with the Democratic Party. He served in the US Army during the Mexican-American War, although his regiment was sent to occupy Mexico City; he never saw combat. Gideon Johnson Pillow hired Breckinridge to prosecute the American general Winfield Scott, a political enemy of his, who had become a leader of the American Whig Party.
Confederate politician[]
Breckinridge in a CSA military uniform
In 1851, he was elected to the US House of Representatives, and he became James Buchanan's vice presidential candidate during the 1856 election. Breckinridge had little power during the Buchanan administration, but he decided to run for President of the United States in 1860 as the leader of the Southern Democrats, who had walked out of the Democratic National Convention to form their own party. Breckinridge supported secession from the Union after Abraham Lincoln and the US Republican Party were elected, as he supported slavery. Breckinridge left his senate seat to become a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, fighting at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, after which he was promoted to Major-General. After the defeats at Stone River and Missionary Ridge, the drunken Breckinridge was transferred to Virginia, fighting off the Union army during the Overland Campaign of 1864. In February 1865, Breckinridge became the Confederate Secretary of War, and he urged President Jefferson Davis to immediately surrender to the Union. After the war, he went into exile in Europe, but he returned in 1868 after President Andrew Johnson granted amnesty to all Confederate leaders. Breckinridge died during surgery to treat his war wounds in 1875, falling ill with cirrhosis.
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