John C. Calhoun: Difference between revisions
Vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832
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John C. Calhoun |
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| In office March 4, 1825 – December 28, 1832 |
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| President | |
| Preceded by | Daniel D. Tompkins |
| Succeeded by | Martin Van Buren |
| In office November 26, 1845 – March 31, 1850 |
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| Preceded by | Daniel Elliott Huger |
| Succeeded by | Franklin H. Elmore |
| In office December 29, 1832 – March 3, 1843 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Y. Hayne |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Elliott Huger |
| In office April 1, 1844 – March 10, 1845 |
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| President | John Tyler James K. Polk |
| Preceded by | Abel P. Upshur |
| Succeeded by | James Buchanan |
| In office December 8, 1817 – March 4, 1825 |
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| President | James Monroe |
| Preceded by | George Graham (acting) William H. Crawford |
| Succeeded by | James Barbour |
| In office March 4, 1811 – November 3, 1817 |
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| Preceded by | Joseph Calhoun |
| Succeeded by | Eldred Simkins |
| Born |
John Caldwell Calhoun March 18, 1782 |
| Died | March 31, 1850 (aged 68) Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. |
| Resting place | St. Philip’s Church |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican (before 1828) Democratic (1828, 1839–1850) Nullifier (1828–1839) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 10, including Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson |
| Parent(s) | Patrick Calhoun Martha Caldwell |
| Education | Yale College Litchfield Law School |
| Signature |  |
John Caldwell Calhoun (;[1] March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist from South Carolina who held many important positions including being the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. He adamantly defended slavery and sought to protect the interests of the white South. He began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer, and proponent of a strong national government and protective tariffs. In the late 1820s, his views changed radically, and he became a leading proponent of states’ rights, limited government, nullification, and opposition to high tariffs. He saw Northern acceptance of those policies as a condition of the South remaining in the Union. His beliefs and warnings heavily influenced the South’s secession from the Union in 1860–1861. He was the first vice president to resign from the position, and the only one to do so until Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973.
Calhoun began his political career with election to the House of Representatives in 1810. As a prominent leader of the war hawk faction, Calhoun strongly supported the War of 1812. He served as Secretary of War under President James Monroe and, in that position, reorganized and modernized the War Department. Calhoun was a candidate for the presidency in the 1824 election. After failing to gain support, he agreed to be a candidate for vice president. The Electoral College elected Calhoun vice president by an overwhelming majority. He served under John Quincy Adams and continued under Andrew Jackson (who defeated Adams in the election of 1828, making Calhoun the most recent U.S. vice president to serve under two different presidents). He was also the most recent vice president re-elected until Thomas R. Marshall got re-elected in 1916, 88 years later.
Calhoun had a difficult relationship with Jackson, primarily because of the Nullification Crisis and the Petticoat affair. In contrast with his previous nationalism, Calhoun vigorously supported South Carolina’s right to nullify federal tariff legislation that he believed unfairly favored the North, which put him into conflict with unionists such as Jackson. In 1832, with only a few months remaining in his second term, Calhoun resigned as vice president and entered the Senate. He sought the Democratic Party nomination for the presidency in 1844 but lost to surprise nominee James K. Polk, who won the general election. Calhoun served as Secretary of State under President John Tyler from 1844 to 1845, and in that role supported the annexation of Texas as a means to extend the slave power and helped to settle the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain. Calhoun returned to the Senate, where he opposed the Mexican–American War, the Wilmot Proviso, and the Compromise of 1850 before he died in 1850. He often served as a virtual independent who variously aligned as needed, with Democrats and Whigs.
Later in life, Calhoun became known as the “cast-iron man” for his rigid defense of white Southern beliefs and practices. His concept of republicanism emphasized approval of slavery and minority states’ rights as particularly embodied by the South. He owned dozens of slaves in Fort Hill, South Carolina. Calhoun asserted that slavery, rather than being a “necessary evil“, was a “positive good” that benefited both slaves and owners.[4] To protect minority rights against majority rule, he called for a concurrent majority by which the minority could block some proposals that it felt infringed on their liberties. To that end, Calhoun supported states’ rights, and nullification through which states could declare null and void federal laws that they viewed as unconstitutional. He was one of the “Great Triumvirate” or the “Immortal Trio” of Congressional leaders,…