page_title: Political career of John C. Breckinridge
section_title: First term (1851–1853)
hierarchical_section_title: Political career of John C. Breckinridge / U.S. House of Representatives / First term (1851–1853)
caption_attribution_description: English: Linn Boyd, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Oil painting on canvas by Stanly Middleton, 1911, From the collection of U.S. House of Representatives.
context_page_description: The political career of John C. Breckinridge included service in the state government of Kentucky, the Federal government of the United States, as well as the government of the Confederate States of America. In 1857, 36 years old, he was inaugurated as Vice President of the United States under James Buchanan. He remains the youngest person to ever hold the office. Four years later, he ran as the presidential candidate of a dissident group of Southern Democrats, but lost the election to the Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln.
  A member of the Breckinridge political family, John C. Breckinridge became the first Democrat to represent Fayette County in the Kentucky House of Representatives, and in 1851, he was the first Democrat to represent Kentucky's 8th congressional district in over 20 years. A champion of strict constructionism, states' rights, and popular sovereignty, he supported Stephen A. Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act as a means of addressing slavery in the territories acquired by the U.S. in the Mexican–American War. Considering his re-election to the House of Representatives unlikely in 1854, he returned to private life and his legal practice.
context_section_description: Delegates to the Democrats' January 1851 state convention nominated Breckinridge to represent Kentucky's eighth district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Called the "Ashland district" because it contained Clay's Ashland estate and much of the area he once represented, Whigs typically won there by 600 to 1,000 votes. A Democrat had not represented it since 1828, and in the previous election no Democrat had sought the office. Breckinridge's opponent, Leslie Combs, was a popular War of 1812 veteran and former state legislator. As they campaigned together, Breckinridge's eloquence contrasted with Combs' plainspoken style. Holding that "free thought needed free trade", Breckinridge opposed Whig protective tariffs. He only favored federal funding of internal improvements "of a national character". Carrying only three of seven counties, but bolstered by a two-to-one margin in Owen County, Breckinridge garnered 54% of the vote, winning the election by a margin of 537.
  Considered for Speaker of the House, Breckinridge believed his election unlikely and refused to run against fellow Kentuckian Linn Boyd. Boyd was elected, and despite Breckinridge's gesture, assigned him to the lightly-regarded Foreign Affairs Committee. Breckinridge resisted United States Democratic Review editor George Nicholas Sanders' efforts to recruit him to the Young America movement. Like Young Americans, Breckinridge favored westward expansion and free trade, but he disagreed with the movement's support of European revolutions and its disdain for older statesmen. On March 4, 1852, Breckinridge made his first speech in the House, defending presidential aspirant William Butler against charges by Florida's Edward Carrington Cabell, a Young American and distant cousin, that Butler secretly sympathized with the Free Soilers. He denounced Sanders for his vitriolic attacks on Butler and for calling all likely Democratic presidential candidates except Stephen Douglas "old fogies".
  The speech made Breckinridge a target of Whigs, Young Americans, and Douglas supporters. Humphrey Marshall, a Kentucky Whig who supported incumbent President Millard Fillmore, attacked Breckinridge for claiming Fillmore had not fully disclosed his views on slavery. Illinois' William Alexander Richardson, a Douglas backer, tried to distance Douglas from Sanders' attacks on Butler, but Breckinridge showed that Douglas endorsed the Democratic Review a month after it printed its first anti-Butler article. Finally, Breckinridge's cousin, California's Edward C. Marshall, charged that Butler would name Breckinridge Attorney General in exchange for his support and revived the charge that Breckinridge broke party ranks, supporting Zachary Taylor for president. Breckinridge ably defended himself, but Sanders continued to attack him and Butler, claiming Butler would name Breckinridge as his running mate, even though Breckinridge was too young to qualify as vice president.
  After his maiden speech, Breckinridge took a more active role in the House. In debate with Ohio's Joshua Reed Giddings, he defended the Fugitive Slave Law's constitutionality and criticized Giddings for hindering the return of fugitive slaves. He opposed Tennessee Congressman Andrew Johnson's Homestead Bill, fearing it would create more territories that excluded slavery. Although generally opposed to funding local improvements, he supported the repair of two Potomac River bridges to avoid higher costs later. Other minor stands included supporting measures to benefit his district's hemp farmers, voting against giving the president ten more appointments to the U.S. Naval Academy, and opposing funds for a sculpture of George Washington because the sculptor proposed depicting Washington in a toga.
  Beginning in April, Breckinridge made daily visits to an ailing Henry Clay. Clay died June 29, 1852, and Breckinridge garnered nationwide praise and enhanced popularity in Kentucky after eulogizing Clay in the House. Days later, he spoke in opposition to increasing a subsidy to the Collins Line for carrying trans-Atlantic mail, noting t
caption: Linn Boyd served as speaker during Breckinridge's tenure in the House.
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