John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General)

John Breckinridge's grandfather, Alexander Breckenridge (1686–1743), immigrated from Ireland to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, around 1728, while the Breckinridge family originated in Ayrshire, Scotland, before migrating to Ulster (possibly County Antrim or County Londonderry) probably in the late 17th century. In 1740, the family moved to Augusta County, Virginia, near the city of Staunton and Alexander died there in 1743. His mother was the daughter of John Preston of Virginia's Preston political family. Robert Breckenridge had two children by a previous marriage, and through one of these half-brothers John Breckinridge was uncle to future Congressman James D. Breckinridge. A veteran of the French and Indian War, Robert Breckenridge had farmed as well as served first as Augusta County's under-sheriff, then as sheriff, then justice of the peace. Breckinridge received a private education suitable to his class, possibly including Augusta Academy (now Washington and Lee University), but any records containing this information have been lost. He learned surveying from his uncle, William Preston, and between 1774 and 1779, held a clerical job in the Botetourt County land office in Fincastle. Preston also nominated Breckinridge as deputy surveyor of Montgomery County, a position he accepted after passing the requisite exam on February 1, 1780. Later that year, he joined his cousin, future Kentucky Senator John Brown, at the College of William & Mary. The instructors who influenced him most were Reverend James Madison and George Wythe. Although William C. Davis records that Breckinridge had previously served as an ensign in the Botetourt County militia, Harrison notes that the most reliable records of Virginians' military service do not indicate his participation in the Revolutionary War, and less reliable sources mention him as a subaltern in the Virginia militia. If Breckinridge served, Harrison speculates that such occurred in one or two short 1780 militia campaigns supporting Nathanael Greene's army in southwest Virginia. Early political career Although he had not sought the office and was not old enough to serve, Botetourt County voters twice elected Breckinridge to represent them part-time as one of the western county's representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates in late 1780. His legislative colleagues included Patrick Henry, Benjamin Harrison, John Tyler, John Taylor of Caroline, George Nicholas, Daniel Boone, and Benjamin Logan. Prevented from meeting at Williamsburg due to fears of a British attack there, the House convened May 7, 1781, in Richmond, but failed to achieve a quorum. Financial difficulties prevented Breckinridge's return to college. He did not seek reelection in 1782; instead, he spent a year earning money by surveying, and was reelected to the House of Delegates in 1783, joining his legislative colleagues in May. The House adjourned June 28, 1783, and Breckinridge returned to the William and Mary College, studying through the end of the year, excepting the legislative session in November and December. With the war over, he urged that no economic or political penalties be imposed on former Loyalists. Financial problems caused Breckinridge to leave the college after the spring semester in 1784. Because of his studies earlier in the year, he had no time to campaign for reelection to the House of Delegates, so he asked his brother Joseph and his cousin John Preston to campaign on his behalf. Initially, his prospects seemed favorable, but he was beaten by future Virginia Congressman George Hancock. As a Virginia legislator, Breckinridge served on the prestigious committees on Propositions and Grievances, Courts of Justice, Religion, and Investigation of the Land Offices. Inspired by his legislative service, he spent the summer between legislative sessions studying to become a lawyer. The legislative session focused on domestic issues like whether Virginia should establish a tax to benefit religion in the state. Breckinridge was not associated with any denomination, and his writings indicate that he was opposed to such a tax. Instead, he and James Madison secured approval of a religious liberty bill first proposed by Thomas Jefferson over five years earlier. Marriage and children On June 28, 1785, Breckinridge married Mary Hopkins ("Polly") Cabell (1769–1858), daughter of Joseph Cabell (1732–1798), a member of the Cabell political family. Polly, Cabell, and Letitia all fell ill but survived a smallpox epidemic in 1793; however, Mary Hopkins and their first son named Robert died. Cabell Breckinridge would later follow a similar career as a planter, lawyer and politician, and become Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives and later Kentucky's Secretary of State. Other sons became ministers and planters; the family's loyalties would be split during the American Civil War long after this man's death. Cabell Beckinridge's son John C. Breckinridge continued the family legal, planter and political traditions and become U.S. vice president and a presidential candidate, only to side with the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Meanwhile his brother John Breckinridge also attended the same university, receiving a degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, before serving as chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives, and president of Oglethorpe College (now Oglethorpe University) in Georgia. Alfred Grayson died in 1808, and in 1816, the widowed Letitia married Peter Buell Porter, who would later serve as Secretary of War under President John Quincy Adams. Breckinridge's legal career provided enough money for some comforts but required long hours and difficult work. Patrick Henry regularly represented clients opposite Breckinridge, and John Marshall both referred clients to him and asked him to represent his own clients in his absence. He believed changes were needed to the Articles of Confederation and agreed with much of the proposed U.S. constitution, but he did not support equal representation of the states in the Senate nor the federal judiciary. Heeding the advice of his brother James and his friend, Archibald Stuart, he did not seek election as a delegate to Virginia's ratification convention. ==Relocation to Kentucky==

Breckinridge's half-brothers, Andrew and Robert, moved to Kentucky in 1781, and his brother William followed in 1783. By 1785, Andrew and Robert were trustees of Louisville. Their letters described Kentucky's abundant land and plentiful legal business, in contrast to the crowded bar and scarce unclaimed land in Virginia. Although inaccurate reports of his death reached Virginia, he arrived safely in Kentucky on April 15, 1789, and returned to Virginia in June. The following year, he paid 360 pounds sterling for along the North Elkhorn Creek about from present-day Lexington, Kentucky. After the purchase, he instructed William Russell, a friend already living in Kentucky, to find tenants to lease and improve the land. In February 1792, Breckinridge, a Democratic-Republican, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives over token opposition. On the date of the election, he wrote to Archibald Stuart, "The People appearing willing to elect, I could have no objection to serve them one Winter in Congress." Despite this, he left for Kentucky in March 1793 and resigned without serving a day in Congress, which convened on March 4. He chose the longer but safer route to Kentucky, joining a group of flatboats at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, for the trip down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers to Limestone (now Maysville, Kentucky). His family, along with 25 slaves, arrived in April and established a slave plantation which they named "Cabell's Dale". By the time of Breckinridge's move, he owned in Kentucky. ==Domestic life in Kentucky==

When he arrived in Kentucky, much of Breckinridge's land was occupied by tenant farmers whose leases had not yet expired. As his plantation became more productive, Breckinridge became interested in ways to sell his excess goods. On August 26, 1793, he became a charter member of the Democratic Society of Kentucky, which lobbied the federal government to secure unrestricted use of the Mississippi River from Spain. Breckinridge was elected chairman, Robert Todd and John Bradford were chosen as vice-chairmen, and Thomas Todd and Thomas Bodley were elected as clerks. Breckinridge authored a tract entitled Remonstrance of the Citizens West of the Mountains to the President and Congress of the United States and may have also written To the Inhabitants of the United States West of the Allegany (sic) and Apalachian (sic) Mountains. Although alarmed that frontier settlers might initiate war with Spain, President George Washington made no immediate attempt to obtain use of the Mississippi, which the society maintained was "the natural right of the citizens of this Commonwealth". Breckinridge was also concerned with easing overland transport of goods to Virginia. He also provided funding for a municipal library in Lexington. Conservatives on the board and in the Kentucky General Assembly forced Toulmin – a liberal Unitarian – to resign in 1796, and Breckinridge's enthusiasm for his trusteeship waned. ==Kentucky Attorney General==

Kentucky needed qualified governmental leaders, and on December 19, 1793, Governor Isaac Shelby appointed Breckinridge attorney general. Three weeks after accepting, he was offered the post of District Attorney for the Federal District of Kentucky, but he declined. Secretary of State Edmund Randolph directed Shelby to prevent French agents in Kentucky from organizing an expedition against Spanish Louisiana. On Breckinridge's advice, Shelby responded that he lacked the authority to interfere. In November 1794, the Democratic-Republicans nominated Breckinridge to succeed John Edwards in the U.S. Senate. Federalists were generally unpopular in Kentucky, but the signing of Pinckney's Treaty – which temporarily secured Kentucky's use of the Mississippi River – and Anthony Wayne's expedition against the Indians in the Northwest Territory prompted a surge of support for the federal government in Kentucky. The election's first ballot reflected this, as Federalist candidate Humphrey Marshall received 18 votes to Breckinridge's 16, John Fowler's 8, and 7 votes for the incumbent Edwards. A month later, he declared his candidacy to fill a vacancy in the Fayette County delegation to the Kentucky House of Representatives. Of the 1,323 votes cast, he garnered 594 (45%), the most of any of the six candidates in the race. ==Kentucky House of Representatives==

Breckinridge pressed to reform the state's criminal code, which was based on the English system and imposed the death penalty for over 200 different crimes. Inspired by Thomas Jefferson's failed attempt to reform Virginia's code, he first asked the Lexington Democratic Society to study ways to make punishments more proportional to crimes in November 1793. He visited family and friends while there, but the exact dates and locations he visited are not known. At some point, he obtained a draft of resolutions written by Vice President Thomas Jefferson denouncing the recently enacted Alien and Sedition Acts. They decided that Jefferson would pen the resolutions and that Breckinridge would introduce them in the Kentucky legislature upon his return to that state. In a letter dated October 4, 1798, Nicholas informed Jefferson that he had given "a copy of the resolutions you sent me" to Breckinridge, who would introduce them in Kentucky. Nicholas felt that recipient was too closely associated with Jefferson, risking his being discovered as the resolutions' author. Because of the uncertainty surrounding Breckinridge's activities in Virginia in 1798, the extent of his influence on Jefferson's original draft of the resolutions is unknown. Breckinridge was chosen as chairman of a three-person committee to carry out the governor's charge. The first seven were exactly as Jefferson had written them, but Breckinridge modified the last two, eliminating Jefferson's suggestion of nullifying the unpopular acts. During the debate on the House floor, Breckinridge endorsed nullification if Congress would not repeal the acts after a majority of states declared their opposition to them. Jefferson refused to compose these resolutions, maintaining that there were sufficiently talented individuals in Kentucky to compose them and fearing still that he would be discovered as the author of the first set. The resolutions unanimously passed the House. John Breckinridge asked, "Where is the difference whether I am robbed of my horse by a highway-man, or of my slave by a set of people called a Convention?... If they can by one experiment emancipate our slaves; the same principle pursued, will enable them at a second experiment to extinguish our land titles; both are held by rights equally sound." The desire for a convention was so strong, even in aristocratic Fayette County, that Breckinridge's position nearly cost him his seat in the legislature. Seeking election to a full term in May 1798, he was the seventh-highest vote-getter, securing the last of Fayette County's seats in the legislature by only eight votes. Despite the efforts of conservatives like Breckinridge and George Nicholas, in late 1798, the General Assembly called a convention for July 22, 1799. Out of the fifty-eight men who arrived in Frankfort in late July as convention delegates, 57 were slaveowners and 50 held substantial property. Between the election and the convention, Breckinridge and Judge Caleb Wallace worked with Nicholas (who did not seek election as a delegate) to draft resolutions that Breckinridge would introduce at the convention in an attempt to steer the proceedings toward conservative positions. The largest group of delegates at the convention – about 18 in number – were aristocrats who advocated protection of their wealth and status, including instituting voice voting in the legislature (which left legislators vulnerable to intimidation), safeguarding slavery, and limiting the power of the electorate. He was unable to preserve the electoral college that elected the governor and state senators, but the direct election of these officers was balanced by a provision that county sheriffs and judges be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. Attempts to make judicial decisions subject to legislative approval were defeated after Breckinridge defended the extant judicial system. He was also the architect of the constitution's provisions for amendment, which made changing the document difficult, but not entirely impossible. Because of his leading role in the convention, Breckinridge was regarded as the father of the resultant constitution, which was ratified in 1799, and emerged from the convention as the leader of his party. He was reelected as Speaker of the House in 1800. ==U.S. Senator==

On November 20, 1800, the Kentucky General Assembly elected Breckinridge to the U.S. Senate by a vote of 68–13 over John Adair. He was eligible for the special congressional session called for March 4, 1801, but his summons to the session remained undelivered at the Lexington post office until March 5, and he consequently missed the entire session. Although Democratic-Republicans held a narrow majority in the Senate, the Federalist senators were both experienced and devoted to their cause. On January 4, 1802, he presented caseload data to argue that the new courts and judges were unnecessary. On January 20, Federalist Jonathan Dayton moved to return the bill to a committee to consider amendments. South Carolina's John E. Colhoun, a Democratic-Republican, voted with the Federalists, and the result was a 15–15 tie. In one last attempt to derail the legislation in debate, Federalists argued that the judiciary would strike down the repeal as unconstitutional; Breckinridge denied the notion that the courts had the power to invalidate an act of Congress. Spanish revocation of Kentucky's right of deposit at New Orleans – in violation of Pinckney's Treaty – further frustrated and angered frontier residents. Although many desired war with Spain, Jefferson believed a diplomatic resolution was possible and urged restraint. Federalists, seeking to divide the Democratic-Republicans and curry favor with the West, abandoned their usual advocacy of peace. Breckinridge ignored the proposed amendment and immediately formed a coalition of western senators to approve the purchase. Fearing that the Federalists would oppose any system he had devised, he delivered his draft to Breckinridge and asked him to introduce it in the Senate as his own. To maintain the ruse, Breckinridge moved that a committee be formed to recommend a plan for governing Louisiana Territory. Working through the committee, he brought Jefferson's plan to the Senate floor with its essentials intact. Consideration for the vice presidency By July 1803, citizens of the western states, desiring more representation in the federal government and intent on breaking the pattern of nominating a Virginians and New Yorkers for most important federal offices, were advocating Breckinridge's nomination as vice president in the 1804 presidential election. Thomas Jefferson was expected to be reelected, but most Democratic-Republicans had grown disenchanted with Vice President Aaron Burr; he would not be Jefferson's running mate. Breckinridge's service as Senate floor leader made him a natural choice. Contrary to previous conventions, the proceedings were open and formal. The June 29, 1804, edition of Philadelphia's Independent Gazetteer carried an editorial, signed "True American", that denounced the Virginia–New York coalition, attacked Clinton as too old, and called for electors to vote for Breckinridge for vice president. Allan B. Magruder attempted to warn Breckinridge in advance of the editorial's publication, but his letter – dated June 23, 1804 – did not reach Breckinridge until July 1. On July 5, Breckinridge published a response in the Kentucky Palladium denouncing the proposal and encouraging electors to vote for the Democratic-Republican slate as nominated. Bradford had been at odds with Breckinridge since the 1799 constitutional convention, and his dislike intensified when Breckinridge refused to use his influence to gain appointments for Bradford's relatives – John Bradford and James Bradford – as Public Printer of the United States and Secretary of Louisiana Territory, respectively. Bradford's claims were quickly endorsed by anonymous editorial writers in newspapers across the west. Stevenson swore under oath that Breckinridge had no part in composing the "True American" article. Every Kentucky elector voted for both Jefferson and Clinton. He did not agree with all the changes effected by the amendment, the primary purpose of which was to direct presidential electors to vote separately for president and vice president; he supported abolishing the electoral college, electing both officials by popular vote. Democratic-Republicans wanted the amendment adopted before the 1804 election to avoid Jefferson's being saddled with a hostile vice president again, and Breckinridge announced his support for the amendment in late October. By 10:00 p.m., senators clamored for a vote, and the measure was approved 22–10. He feared that passage of an act making permanent the pay raises for executive administrative personnel first enacted in 1799 would hurt his party in the upcoming elections, especially in the House, but the act passed and there was no significant backlash at the polls. Robert Wright's measure adjourning Congress to Baltimore, Maryland, in protest of legislators' poor accommodations in Washington, D.C., was defeated by a vote of 9–19, but Breckinridge considered the issue of moving the U.S. capital worthy of further study. Breckinridge supported the successful impeachment of federal judge John Pickering and also served on the Senate committee that prepared the rules governing the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase. The latter impeachment was widely seen as politically motivated, and some Democratic-Republicans joined the Federalist minority in voting for acquittal. Majorities were obtained on only three of the eight articles of impeachment, and each of those fell at least three votes short of the required two-thirds majority. Breckinridge and three other Democratic-Republicans voted to convict on every article except the fifth, on which every senator sided with Chase. ==U.S. Attorney General==

When U.S. Attorney General Levi Lincoln resigned in December 1804, Jefferson and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin sought a replacement. Virginia's John Thomson Mason, Gallatin's first choice, declined the appointment. U.S. Navy Secretary Robert Smith desired the office, and Jefferson agreed to appoint him, contingent upon finding a suitable replacement for Smith as Secretary of the Navy. Jefferson appointed Massachusetts Congressman Jacob Crowninshield to replace Smith, and both appointments were confirmed by the Senate March 3, 1805. He noted that after Breckinridge's departure from the chamber, the Federalist minority experienced a revival of influence under the leadership of Connecticut's Uriah Tracy. Stopping to visit with friends en route to Washington, D.C., Breckinridge arrived on December 7, 1805. He was influential in Jefferson's infrequent cabinet meetings, where he served as the lone voice of the west. He was spared the awkwardness of practicing before a judge he had voted to impeach because Samuel Chase was absent for the Court's entire six-week term. The court heard only six cases during the term; most of them were cases Breckinridge had inherited from his predecessor, and Harrison wrote that none were of lasting importance. Cases such as Maley v. Shattuck involved international maritime law – an area with which Breckinridge was not familiar – and arose from the Napoleonic Wars, which complicated neutral American trade with both Britain and France. During the term, Breckinridge lost four cases, won one, and the justices sent one back for retrial in a lower court. ==Death and legacy==

Breckinridge returned to Cabell's Dale in early 1806 and fell ill in June. Doctors disagreed on the cause of his illness, with diagnoses ranging from typhus fever to stomach ailments. Friends and relatives hoped for a recovery that never came, and he died on December 14, 1806. Breckinridge was first buried at Cabell's Dale on December 16 but was later reinterred in Lexington Cemetery. With a workforce of nearly 70 slaves, he was one of the largest slaveholders in the state. The breeding of horses and mules at Cabell's Dale had become more profitable than selling the excess crops raised there. His daughter, Mary Ann, and her husband, David Castleman, inherited the horse and mule breeding operations, which eventually became the thoroughbred stable of Castleton Lyons. Breckinridge County, Kentucky, created from a portion of Hardin County in 1799, was named in Breckinridge's honor. ==Notes==