John C. Breckinridge

John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was a lawyer, U.S. representative, U.S. senator from Kentucky, and the 14th vice president of the United States.Meredith Hindley, 'The Man Who Came in Second', Humanities, Vol. 31, No. 6 (November/December 2011), online He was a member from Kentucky in the House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855. He served as vice president from 1857 to 1861 under President James Buchanan. Breckinridge was the youngest vice president in U.S. history.

Breckinridge was also a Southern Democratic candidate for president in the 1860 election. The Democratic Party was then split, with the South voting for Breckinridge and the North voting for Stephen Douglas. Breckinridge carried most of the South but lost to the Republican Party's candidate, Abraham Lincoln.

When the South seceded, Breckinridge was briefly a senator from Kentucky, but he was kicked out of the Senate. He theeeeen became active in the Confederacy. During the American Civil War, he was a general in the Confederate States Army. He fought in Tennessee and the Shenandoah Valley. He was the Confederate commander at the Battle of New Market. He was the last Confederate Secretary of War.

After the war, Breckinridge left the country for four years. He returned to Kentucky in 1869 and died in 1875.

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Category:1821 births
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Category:People from Lexington, Kentucky
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Category:Military people from Kentucky
Category:Vice presidents of the United States