Home › B › Breckinridge (JOHN CABELL Vice-President)

Breckinridge (JOHN CABELL Vice-President)

JOHN CABELL, Vice-President of the United States, born near Lexington, Ky., Jan. 21, 1821; practiced law in Lexington until 1847, when he was chosen major of a volunteer regiment for the Mexican War. He sat in Congress in 1851-1855, and in 1856 was elected Vice-President, with James Buchanan as President. In 1860 he was the pro-slavery candidate for the presidency, but was defeated by Abraham Lincoln. A United States Senator from March to December, 1861, he then entered the Confederate army, was appointed a Major-General, in 1862, and held some important commands during the Civil War. He was Secretary of War, in Jefferson Davis' cabinet, at the close of the struggle, and escaped to Europe, whence he returned in 1868. He died in Lexington, May 17, 1875.