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John
Cabell Breckinridge - 14th Vice President
Party: Democrat
Term: March 4, 1857 - March 3, 1861
Age at Inauguration: 36
Life Span: Jan 21, 1821 - May 17, 1875 [54]
President:James Buchanan |
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- John Breckinridge was the youngest
vice president at age 36
- Following his term of office he sought
the presidential nomination in 1860, but lost to Stephen Douglas
- He returned to Kentucky and was elected
to the senate, but resigned after the state didn't secede from
the Union
- He joined the Confederate army and
served as a general whereupon he was charged with treason by
the United States
- He was promoted to secretary of war
by Jefferson Davis shortly before Richmond fell to Union troops,
and fled the city making his way to Cuba, then Europe and eventually
to Canada
- He returned to the U. S. after President
Johnson declared a general amnesty to members of the Confederacy
- It was not until 1958 that a federal
judge in Kentucky formally dismissed the treason charges
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