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John
Caldwell Calhoun - 7th Vice President
Party: Democrat-Republican
Term for J. Q. Adams: March 4, 1825 - March 3 - 1829
Term for Jackson: March 4, 1829 - Dec 28, 1832
Age at First Inauguration: 42
Age at Second Inauguration: 46
Life Span: March 18, 1782 - March 31, 1850 [68]
President: John Q. Adams - Andrew
Jackson |
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- John Calhoun was one of five men in
the race for president in 1824 finishing behind John Q. Adams
and Andrew Jackson
- Knowing he couldn't win enough support
for the top spot, he approached both Adams and Jackson and offered
his electoral votes in exchange for the vice presidency
- Adams took him up on the offer and
became president
- Calhoun is credited with coining the
term 'senators' who until then, had been referred to as gentlemen
of congress
- He openly argued with the president
about senate procedure, and insisted on controlling the chamber
in his own manner
- When offered the vice presidential
spot for Jackson in the next election, he jumped ship and was
reelected as such
- Shortly thereafter Jackson discovered
that Calhoun had begun proceedings to court martial him as general,
a charge Calhoun never denied
- With the two men bitterly at odds,
the president nominated Martin Van Buren as Ambassador to England,
and when the senate voted ended in a tie, Calhoun voted 'no'
and walked out of the chamber
- He returned to his native South Carolina
and convinced the state legislature to pass a bill of nullification
in which they refused to pay federal tariffs
- Jackson responded by ordering federal
troops on alert and threatened to invade the state and arrest
Calhoun
- He then resigned his vice presidency
nine weeks before the term ended and was later elected senator
form South Carolina
- He was the first of two vice presidents
to resign the office Spiro Agnew
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