Editing John C. Breckinridge (section)

==Political career==
{{main|Political career of John C. Breckinridge}}

===Early political career===
Breckinridge campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee [[James K. Polk]] in the [[1844 United States presidential election|1844 election]].{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=30}} He decided against running for county clerk of [[Scott County, Kentucky|Scott County]] after his law partner complained that he spent too much time in politics.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=31}} In 1845, some local Democrats encouraged him to seek the [[Kentucky's 8th congressional district|Eighth District]]'s congressional seat, but he declined, supporting [[Alexander Keith Marshall]], the party's unsuccessful nominee.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=20}}{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=31}} As a private citizen, he opposed the [[Wilmot Proviso]] that would have banned slavery in the territory acquired in the war with Mexico.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=33}} In the [[1848 United States presidential election|1848 presidential election]], he backed the unsuccessful Democratic ticket of [[Lewis Cass]] and William Butler.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=20}} He did not vote in the election. Defending his decision during a speech in Lexington on September 5, 1860, Breckinridge explained:
{{blockquote|But it so happened that there were six or eight gentlemen also accompanying me, all of them belonging to the Whig Party, and they proposed to me that if I would not return to my own town and vote, they would not. If they would, there would be six or seven votes cast for Taylor and but one cast for Cass. I accepted the proposition, and we went hunting; and had every man done as well as myself, we should have carried the State by 40,000 majority.<ref name="THE PRESIDENCY.; Speech of Hon. John C. Breckinridge, at Lexingtion, Ky.">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1860/09/06/news/presidency-speech-hon-john-c-breckinridge-lexingtion-ky-discussion-issues.html?pagewanted=all |title=The Presidency.; Speech of Hon. John C. Breckinridge, at Lexingtion, Ky. |last=Breckinridge |first=John C. |date=September 5, 1860 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 6, 2017 |archive-date=August 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814145032/http://www.nytimes.com/1860/09/06/news/presidency-speech-hon-john-c-breckinridge-lexingtion-ky-discussion-issues.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

===Kentucky House of Representatives===
In August 1849, Kentuckians elected delegates to a state [[Constitutional convention (political meeting)|constitutional convention]] in addition to state representatives and [[Kentucky Senate|senators]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=26}} Breckinridge's [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] uncles, William and [[Robert Jefferson Breckinridge|Robert]], joined with [[Cassius Marcellus Clay (politician)|Cassius Marcellus Clay]] to nominate slates of like-minded candidates for the constitutional convention and the legislature.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=23}} In response, a bipartisan group of proslavery citizens organized its own slate of candidates, including Breckinridge for one of [[Fayette County, Kentucky|Fayette County]]'s two seats in the House of Representatives.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=24}} Breckinridge, who by this time enslaved five humans, had publicly opposed "impairing in any form" the legal protection of [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=24}}{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=113}} Despite his endorsement of slavery protections, he was a member of the [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]] and the [[First Presbyterian Church, Lexington|First Presbyterian Church in Lexington]], both of which officially opposed slavery.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=43}} He had also previously represented [[Free negro|free blacks]] in court, expressed support for [[Manumission|voluntary emancipation]], and supported the Kentucky Colonization Society, which was dedicated to the relocation of free blacks to [[Liberia]].{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=113}}{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=43}}

[[File:John-C.-Breckinridge-circa-1850.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A man with thick, dark hair wearing a high-collared white shirt under a black jacket and tie, black and white sketch|Breckinridge, ''circa'' 1850]]
Breckinridge received 1,481 votes, over 400 more than his nearest competitor, making this the first time that Fayette County had elected a Democrat to the state House of Representatives.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=104}}{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=45}} Between the election and the legislative session, Breckinridge formed a new law partnership with Owsley's former secretary of state, George B. Kinkead, his previous partner having died in a [[cholera]] epidemic earlier in the year.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=28}} He also co-founded the ''Kentucky Statesman'', a semiweekly Democratic newspaper, and visited his step-cousin, [[Mary Todd Lincoln|Mary Todd]], where he met her husband, Abraham Lincoln, for the first time; despite their political differences, they became friends.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=28}}<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)">{{cite web |url = https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_John_Breckinridge.htm |title = John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857–1861) |publisher = United States Senate |access-date = February 16, 2018 |archive-date = October 21, 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171021160940/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_John_Breckinridge.htm |url-status = live }}</ref>

When the House convened, Breckinridge received a plurality of votes for speaker, but fell at least eight votes short of a majority.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=104}} Unable to break the deadlock, he withdrew, and the position went to Whig Thomas Reilly.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=46}} Biographer Frank H. Heck wrote that Breckinridge was the leader of the House Democratic caucus during the session, during which time most of the measures considered were "local or personal and in any case, petty".{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=29}} Breckinridge was assigned to the House's standing committees on federal relations and the judiciary.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=104}} He supported bills allocating funding for [[internal improvements]], a traditionally Whig stance.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=46}} As Congress debated Henry Clay's proposed [[Compromise of 1850]], the four Whigs on the Committee on Federal Relations drew up resolutions urging the Kentucky congressional delegation to support the compromise as a "fair, equitable, and just basis" for settlement of the slavery issue in the newly acquired U.S. territories. Breckinridge felt that the resolution was too vague and authored a minority report that explicitly denied federal authority to interfere with slavery in states and territories. Both sets of resolutions, and a set adopted by the Senate, were all [[Table (parliamentary procedure)|laid on the table]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=30}}

On March 4, 1850, three days before the end of the session, Breckinridge took a leave of absence to care for his son, John Milton, who had become ill; he died on March 18.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=48}} Keeping a busy schedule to cope with his grief, he urged adoption of the proposed constitution at a series of meetings around the state.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=31}} His only concern with the document was its lack of an amendment process.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=48}} The constitution was overwhelmingly ratified in May. Democrats wanted to nominate him for re-election, but he declined, citing problems "of a private and imperative character". Davis wrote "his problem – besides continuing sadness over his son's death – was money."{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=49}}

===U.S. Representative===
====First term (1851–1853)====
Breckinridge was a delegate to the January 8, 1851, state Democratic convention, which nominated [[Lazarus W. Powell]] for governor.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=33}} A week later, he announced that he would seek election to Congress from Kentucky's Eighth District.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=104}} Nicknamed the "Ashland district" because it contained [[Ashland (Henry Clay estate)|Ashland]], the estate of Whig Party founder Henry Clay, and much of the area Clay once represented, the district was a Whig stronghold.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/> In the previous congressional election, Democrats had not even nominated a candidate.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=33}} Breckinridge's opponent, [[Leslie Combs (soldier and politician)|Leslie Combs]], was a former state legislator whose popularity was bolstered by his association with Clay and his participation in the [[War of 1812]]; he was expected to win the election easily.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=104}} In April, the candidates held a debate in Frankfort, and in May, they jointly canvassed the district, making daily speeches.{{sfn|Heck|1976|pp=33–34}} Breckinridge reiterated his [[strict constructionism|strict constructionist]] view of the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]] and denounced the protective tariffs advocated by the Whigs, stating that "free thought needs free trade".{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=53}} His strong voice and charismatic personality contrasted with the campaign style of the much older Combs.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=105}} On election day, he carried only three of the district's seven counties, but accumulated a two-to-one victory margin in [[Owen County, Kentucky|Owen County]], winning the county by 677 votes and the election by 537.{{sfn|Davis|2010|pp=55–56}} Democrats carried five of Kentucky's 10 congressional districts, and Powell was elected as the first Democratic governor since 1834.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=34}}

Supporters promoted Breckinridge for [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]], but he refused to allow his own nomination and voted with the majority to elect fellow Kentuckian [[Linn Boyd]].{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=58}}{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=107}} Despite this, the two were factional enemies, and Boyd assigned Breckinridge to the lightly regarded [[United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs|Committee on Foreign Affairs]].{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=105}}{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=59}} Breckinridge's first speech, and several subsequent ones, were made to defend William Butler, again a presidential aspirant in [[1852 United States presidential election|1852]], from charges leveled by proponents of the [[Young America movement]] that he was too old and had not made his stance on slavery clear.{{sfn|Davis|2010|pp=65–68}} The attacks came from the pages of [[George Nicholas Sanders]]'s ''Democratic Review'', and on the House floor from several men, nearly all of whom supported Stephen Douglas for the nomination. These men included [[California]]'s [[Edward C. Marshall]], who was Breckinridge's cousin.{{sfn|Davis|2010|pp=65–68}} Their attacks ultimately hurt Douglas's chances for the nomination, and Breckinridge's defense of Butler enhanced his own reputation.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=68}} After this controversy, he was more active in the chamber's debates, but introduced few significant pieces of legislation. He defended the constitutionality of the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]] against attacks by [[Ohio]] Representative [[Joshua Reed Giddings|Joshua Giddings]], and opposed Andrew Johnson's proposed [[Homestead Acts|Homestead Act]] out of concern that it would create more territories that excluded slavery.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=68}} Despite his campaign rhetoric that federal funds should only be used for [[internal improvements]] "of a national character", he sought to increase Kentucky's federal allocation for construction and maintenance of rivers and harbors, and supported bills that benefited his district's hemp farmers.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=107}}

Returning home from the legislative session, Breckinridge made daily visits with Henry Clay, who lay dying in Lexington, and was chosen to deliver Clay's eulogy in Congress when the next session commenced.{{sfn|Davis|2010|pp=69–70}} The eulogy enhanced his popularity and solidified his position as Clay's political heir apparent.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=107}} He also campaigned for the election of Democrat [[Franklin Pierce]] as president.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=37}} Although Pierce lost Kentucky by 3,200 votes, Breckinridge wielded more influence with him than he had with outgoing Whig President [[Millard Fillmore]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=38}} A week after his inauguration, Pierce offered Breckinridge an appointment as governor of [[Washington Territory]]. He had initially sought the appointment, securing letters of recommendation from Powell and Butler, but by the time it was offered, he had decided to stay in Kentucky and seek re-election to the House.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=76}}

====Second term (1853–1855)====
[[File:RPLetcher.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A short, balding man in a black suit|Former Governor Robert P. Letcher was unable to unseat Breckinridge in 1853.]]
The Whigs, seeking to recapture Breckinridge's seat, nominated Kentucky [[Attorney General of Kentucky]] [[James Harlan (congressman)|James Harlan]], but some Whig factions opposed him, and he withdrew in March.{{sfn|Davis|2010|pp=76–77}} [[Robert P. Letcher]], a former congressman and governor who had won 14 elections in Kentucky without a loss, was the party's second choice.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=77}} Both candidates campaigned vigorously throughout the Eighth District, making multiple speeches a day between May and August.{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=126}} Letcher was an experienced campaigner, but his popular, anecdote-filled oratory was unpolished, and he was prone to outbursts of anger when frustrated.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|pp=105–106}} By contrast, Breckinridge delivered calm, well-reasoned speeches.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=106}} Cassius Clay, a political enemy of Letcher's for years, endorsed Breckinridge, despite their differences on slavery.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=34}} Citing this endorsement and the abolitionism of Breckinridge's uncles, Letcher tried to paint Breckinridge as an enemy of slavery. Breckinridge pointed to his consistent support for slavery and claimed Letcher was actually hostile to the interests of slaveholders.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=106}} Although the district had gone for Whig candidate Winfield Scott by over 600 votes in the [[1852 United States presidential election|previous year's presidential election]], Breckinridge defeated Letcher by 526 votes.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=106}}{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=35}} Once again, he received a large margin in Owen County, which reported 123 more votes than eligible voters living in the county.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=35}} Grateful for the support of the reliably Democratic county, he gave his son John Witherspoon Breckinridge the nickname "Owen".{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=106}}

Of the 234 members of the House, Breckinridge was among the 80 who were returned to their seats for the [[33rd United States Congress|Thirty-third Congress]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=37}} Due to his increased seniority, he was assigned to the more prestigious [[United States House Committee on Ways and Means|Ways and Means Committee]], but he was not given a committee chairmanship as many had expected.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=107}} Although he supported Pierce's proslavery agenda on the principle of states' rights and believed that [[secession]] was legal, he opposed secession as a remedy to the country's immediate problems.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/> This, coupled with his earlier support of manumission and African colonization, balanced his support for slavery; most still considered him a moderate legislator.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" />

An ally of Illinois' Stephen A. Douglas, Breckinridge supported the doctrine of [[Popular sovereignty in the United States|popular sovereignty]] as expressed in Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act. He believed passage of the act would remove the issue of slavery from national politics – although it ultimately had the opposite effect – and acted as a liaison between Douglas and Pierce to secure its passage.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /> During the debate on the House floor, [[New York (state)|New York]]'s [[Francis B. Cutting]], incensed by a statement that Breckinridge had made, demanded that he explain or retract it. Breckinridge interpreted Cutting's demand as a challenge to [[duel]]. Under ''[[code duello]]'', the individual being challenged retained the right to name the weapons used and the distance between the combatants; Breckinridge chose rifles at 60 paces.{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=126}} He also specified that the duel should be held at [[Silver Spring, Maryland]], the home of his friend [[Francis Preston Blair]].<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /> Cutting, who had not intended his initial remark as a challenge, believed that Breckinridge's naming of terms constituted a challenge; he chose to use pistols at a distance of 10 paces. While the two men attempted to clarify who had issued the challenge and who reserved the right to choose the terms, mutual friends resolved the issue, preventing the duel.{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=126}} The recently adopted Kentucky Constitution prevented anyone who participated in a duel from holding elected office, and the peaceful resolution of the issue may have saved Breckinridge's political career.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=45}}

====Retirement from the House====
[[File:1856DemocraticPoster.png|thumb|right|upright|alt=A campaign poster for Buchanan and Breckinridge|A campaign poster for Buchanan and Breckinridge]]
In February 1854, the Whig majority in the Kentucky General Assembly passed – over Powell's veto – a [[United States congressional apportionment|reapportionment]] bill that redrew Breckinridge's district, removing Owen County and replacing it with [[Harrison County, Kentucky|Harrison]] and [[Nicholas County, Kentucky|Nicholas]] Counties.{{sfn|Heck|1976|pp=46–47}} This, combined with the rise of the [[Know Nothing Party]] in Kentucky, left Breckinridge with little hope of re-election, and he decided to retire from the House at the expiration of his term.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=47}} Following the December 1854 resignation of [[Pierre Soulé]], the [[United States Ambassador to Spain|U.S. Minister to Spain]], who failed to negotiate a U.S. annexation of [[Cuba]] following the controversial [[Ostend Manifesto]], Pierce nominated Breckinridge to the position.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=47}} Although the Senate [[Advise and consent|confirmed]] the nomination, Breckinridge declined it on February 8, 1855, telling Pierce only that his decision was "of a private and domestic nature." His term in the house expired on March 4.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=48}}

Desiring to care for his sick wife and rebuild his personal wealth, Breckinridge returned to his law practice in Lexington.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /> In addition to his legal practice, he engaged in land speculation in [[Minnesota Territory|Minnesota territory]] and [[Wisconsin]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|pp=50–52}} When Governor [[Willis A. Gorman]] of the Minnesota Territory thwarted an attempt by Breckinridge's fellow investors (not including Breckinridge) to secure approval of a railroad connecting [[Dubuque, Iowa]], with their investments near [[Superior, Wisconsin]], they petitioned Pierce to remove Gorman and appoint Breckinridge in his place. In 1855, Pierce authorized two successive investigations of Gorman, but failed to uncover any wrongdoing that would justify his removal.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=51}} During his time away from politics, Breckinridge also promoted the advancement of horse racing in his native state and was chosen president of the Kentucky Association for the Improvement of the Breed of Horses.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=110}}

===Vice presidency (1857–1861)===
[[File:Gen. John. C. Breckenridge, Ky. C.S.A - NARA - 528274.jpg|right|thumb|Breckinridge, photograph by [[Mathew Brady]]]]
As a delegate to the [[1856 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, Breckinridge favored Pierce's renomination for president. When Pierce's hopes of securing the nomination faltered, Breckinridge joined other erstwhile Pierce backers by throwing his support behind his friend, Stephen Douglas. Even with this additional support, Douglas was still unable to garner two third's majority of the delegates' votes, and he withdrew, leaving James Buchanan as the Democratic presidential nominee.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=110}} [[William Alexander Richardson]], a Kentucky-born Representative from Illinois, then suggested that nominating Breckinridge for vice president would balance Buchanan's ticket and placate disgruntled supporters of Douglas or Pierce.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=111}} A delegate from [[Louisiana]] placed his name before the convention, and although Breckinridge desired the vice presidential nomination, he declined, citing his deference to fellow Kentuckian and former House Speaker Linn Boyd, who was supported by the Kentucky delegation.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" />

Ten men received votes on the first vice-presidential ballot. [[Mississippi]]'s [[John A. Quitman]] had the most support with 59 votes. Eight state delegations – with a total of 55 votes – voted for Breckinridge in spite of his refusal of the nomination, making him the second-highest vote getter. Kentucky cast its 12 votes for Boyd, bringing his third-place total to 33 votes. Seeing Breckinridge's strength on the first ballot, large numbers of delegates voted for him on the second ballot, and those who did not soon saw that his nomination was inevitable and changed their votes to make it unanimous.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=59}}

Unlike many political nominees of his time, Breckinridge actively campaigned for  Buchanan and his election.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/> During the first 10 days of September 1856, he spoke in [[Hamilton, Ohio|Hamilton]] and Cincinnati, Ohio; [[Lafayette, Indiana|Lafayette]] and [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]]; [[Kalamazoo, Michigan]]; [[Covington, Kentucky]]; and [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=61}} His speeches stressed the idea that Republicans were fanatically devoted to emancipation, and their election would prompt the dissolution of the Union.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=111}} Breckinridge's presence on the ticket helped the Democrats carry his home state of Kentucky, which the party had not won since [[1828 United States presidential election|1828]], by 6,000 votes.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/>{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=127}} Buchanan and Breckinridge received 174 electoral votes to 114 for Republicans [[John C. Frémont]] and [[William L. Dayton]] and eight for Know Nothing candidates [[Millard Fillmore]] and [[Andrew Jackson Donelson]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=63}}  Thirty-six years old at the time of his inauguration on March 4, 1857, Breckinridge was the [[List of vice presidents of the United States by age|youngest]] vice president in U.S. history, exceeding the minimum age required under the Constitution by only a year.{{sfn|Sifakis|1988|p=71}}<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" />

Buchanan resented that Breckinridge had supported both Pierce and Douglas before endorsing his nomination.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=112}} Relations between the two were further strained, when upon asking for a private interview with Buchanan, Breckinridge was told to come to the White House and ask for [[Harriet Lane]], who acted as the mansion's host for the unmarried president. Feeling slighted by the response, Breckinridge refused to carry out these instructions; later, three of Buchanan's intimates informed Breckinridge that requesting to speak to Miss Lane was actually a secret instruction to White House staff to usher the requestor into a private audience with the president.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=67}} They also conveyed Buchanan's apologies for the misunderstanding.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=68}}

[[File:John-C.-Breckinridge-bust-by-James-Paxton-Voorhees.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=A marble bust of Breckinridge|A marble bust of Breckinridge from the Senate's vice-presidential bust collection]]
Buchanan rarely consulted Breckinridge when making patronage appointments, and meetings between the two were infrequent.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=112}} When Buchanan and Breckinridge endorsed the Lecompton Constitution, which would have admitted Kansas as a slave state instead of allowing the people to vote, they managed to alienate most Northern Democrats, including Douglas.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" />{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=72}} This disagreement ended plans for Breckinridge, Douglas, and Minnesota's [[Henry Mower Rice]] to build a series of three elaborate, conjoined [[row house]]s in which to live during their time in [[Washington, DC]].<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /> In November 1857, after Breckinridge found alternative lodging in Washington, he sold a slave woman and her young infant, which according to historian [[James C. Klotter]], probably ended his days as a slaveholder.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=113}} When Breckinridge did not travel to Illinois to campaign for Douglas's re-election to the Senate and gave him only a lukewarm endorsement, relations between them worsened.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=75}}

Functioning as the Senate's presiding officer, Breckinridge's participation in the chamber's debates was also restricted, but he won respect for presiding "gracefully and impartially."<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /> On January 4, 1859, he was asked to deliver the final address in the [[Old Senate Chamber]]; in the speech, he expressed his desire that the Congress find a solution that would preserve the Union.{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=127}} During its half century in the chamber, the Senate had grown from 32 to 64 members. During those years, he observed, the Constitution had "survived peace and war, prosperity and adversity" to protect "the larger personal freedom compatible with public order." Breckinridge expressed hope that eventually "another Senate, in another age, shall bear to a new and larger Chamber, this Constitution vigorous and inviolate, and that the last generation of posterity shall witness the deliberations of the Representatives of American States, still united, prosperous, and free."<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/addressofhonjohn00brec#page/n1/mode/2up |title=Address of the Hon. John C. Breckinridge, vice president of the United States |last=Breckinridge |first=John C. |date=January 4, 1859 |access-date=June 11, 2017}}</ref> Breckinridge then led a procession to the new chamber.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /> Breckinridge opposed the idea that the federal government could coerce action by a state, but maintained that secession, while legal, was not the solution to the country's problems.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/>

Although John Crittenden's Senate term did not expire until 1861, the [[Kentucky General Assembly]] met to choose his successor in 1859.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=112}} Until just days before the election, the contest was expected to be between Breckinridge and Boyd, who had been elected [[Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky|lieutenant governor]] in August; Boyd's worsening health prompted his withdrawal on November 28, 1859. On December 12, the Assembly chose Breckinridge over [[Joshua Fry Bell]], the defeated candidate in the August gubernatorial election, by a vote of 81–53.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=79}} In his acceptance speech, delivered to the Kentucky House of Representatives on December 21, Breckinridge endorsed the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]'s decision in ''[[Dred Scott v. Sandford]]'', which ruled that Congress could not restrict slavery in the territories, and insisted that [[John Brown (abolitionist)|John Brown]]'s recent [[John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry|raid on Harpers Ferry]] was evidence of Republicans' insistence on either "negro equality" or violence.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=112}}{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=208}} Resistance in some form, he predicted, would eventually be necessary.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=113}} He still urged the assembly against secession – "God forbid that the step shall ever be taken!" – but his discussion of growing sectional conflict bothered some, including his uncle Robert.{{sfn|Davis|2010|p=209}}

===Presidential campaign of 1860===
{{main|1860 United States presidential election}}
[[File:John C. Breckinridge by Jules Émile Saintin 1860.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A man with dark hair and large, round eyes wearing a high-collared white shirt, black jacket, and black tie|Breckinridge in 1860 by [[Jules-Émile Saintin]]]]
Early in 1859, Senator [[James Henry Hammond]] of [[South Carolina]] reported to a friend that Breckinridge was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, but as late as January 1860, Breckinridge told family members that he had no desire for the nomination.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=114}} A ''[[New York Times]]'' editorial noted that while Buchanan was falling "in prestige and political consequence, the star of the Vice President rises higher above the clouds."<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /> Douglas, considered the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, was convinced that Breckinridge would be a candidate; this, combined with Buchanan's reluctant support of Breckinridge and Breckinridge's public support for a federal slave code, deepened the rift between the two.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=114}}

Among Breckinridge's supporters at the [[1860 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], were several prominent Kentuckians. They were former Kentucky Governor and current Senator [[Lazarus W. Powell]], former Kentucky Representative [[William Preston (Kentucky soldier)|William Preston]] (a distant relative), law partner [[James Brown Clay]], and [[James B. Beck]].{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=114}} Breckinridge did not attend the convention, but instructed his supporters not to nominate him as long as [[James Guthrie (Kentucky politician)|James Guthrie]] remained a candidate.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=82}} Accordingly, when a delegate from Arkansas nominated Breckinridge for president on the 36th ballot, Beck asked that it be withdrawn, and the request was honored.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=83}} Over the course of 57 ballots, Douglas maintained a wide plurality, but failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority; Guthrie consistently ran second.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=114}} Unable to nominate a candidate, delegates voted to reconvene in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 18.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=83}}

Pro-Southern delegates, who had walked out of the Charleston convention in protest of its failure to adopt a federal slave code plank in its platform, did not participate in the Baltimore convention.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=82}}{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=115}} The delegates from Alabama and Louisiana – all of whom had walked out at Charleston – had been replaced, after five days of debate and holding votes on the issue, with Douglas supporters from those states, leading to the nomination of Douglas and [[Herschel Vespasian Johnson]] for president and vice president, respectively, on the sixth day.{{sfn|Heck|1976|pp=83–84}} The protesting delegates convened on the same day in Baltimore.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=115}} On the first ballot, Breckinridge received 81 votes, with 24 going to former senator [[Daniel S. Dickinson]] of New York. Dickinson supporters gradually changed their support to Breckinridge to make his nomination unanimous, and [[Joseph Lane]] of Oregon was chosen by acclamation as his vice presidential running mate.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=84}} Despite concerns about the breakup of the party, Breckinridge accepted the presidential nomination.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/> In August, Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis attempted to broker a compromise under which Douglas, Breckinridge, and Tennessee's [[John Bell (Tennessee politician)|John Bell]], the nominee of the [[Constitutional Union Party (United States)|Constitutional Union Party]], would all withdraw in favor of a compromise candidate. Both Breckinridge and Bell readily agreed to the plan, but Douglas was opposed to compromising with the "Bolters", and his supporters retained an intense dislike for Breckinridge that made them averse to Davis's proposal.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" />{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=115}}

Opponents knew Breckinridge believed in the right of secession and accused him of favoring the breakup of the Union; he denied the latter during a speech in Frankfort: "I am an American citizen, a Kentuckian who never did an act nor cherished a thought that was not full of devotion to the Constitution and the Union."{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=128}} While he had very little support in the northern states, most, if not all, of the southern states were expected to go for Breckinridge.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=90}} This would give him only 120 of 303 electoral votes, but to gain support from any northern states, he had to minimize his connections with the southern states and risked losing their support to Bell.{{sfn|Klotter|1992|p=118}} Some Breckinridge supporters believed his best hope was for the election to be thrown to the House of Representatives; if he could add the support of some Douglas or Bell states to the 13 believed to support him, he could beat Lincoln, who was believed to carry the support of 15 states.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=90}} To Davis's wife, [[Varina Davis|Varina]], Breckinridge wrote, "I trust I have the courage to lead a forlorn hope."{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=117}}

[[File:ElectoralCollege1860.svg|thumb|left|300px|alt=A map showing which states voted for which candidate|States' electoral votes by candidate; Lincoln states are red, Breckinridge states are green, Bell states are orange, and Douglas states are blue]]
In the four-way contest, Breckinridge came in third in the popular vote, with 18.1%, but second in the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]].{{sfn|Sifakis|1988|p=71}} The final electoral vote was 180 for Lincoln, 72 for Breckinridge, 39 for Bell, and 12 for Douglas.{{sfn|Klotter|1992|p=118}} Although Breckinridge won the states of the [[Deep South]], his support in those states came mostly from rural areas with low slave populations; the urban areas with higher slave populations generally went for Bell or Douglas.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=117}} Breckinridge also carried the [[Border states (American Civil War)|border states]] of Maryland and Delaware. Historian [[James C. Klotter]] points out in light of these results that, while Douglas maintained that there was "not a disunionist in America who is not a Breckinridge man", it is more likely that party loyalty and economic status played a more prominent role in Breckinridge's support than did issues of slavery and secession.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=118}} He lost to Douglas in [[Missouri]] and Bell in [[Virginia]] and Tennessee.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=91}} Bell also captured Breckinridge's home state, Kentucky.{{sfn|Klotter|1992|p=118}} Lincoln swept most of the northern states, although [[New Jersey]] split its electoral votes, giving four to Lincoln and three to Douglas.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=90}} As the candidate of the Buchanan faction, Breckinridge outpolled Douglas in [[Pennsylvania]] and received support comparable to Douglas in [[Connecticut]], although he received very little support elsewhere in the North. It was Breckinridge's duty as vice president to announce Lincoln as the winner of the electoral college vote on February 13, 1861.{{sfn|Klotter|1992|p=118}}

On February 24, Breckinridge visited Lincoln at [[Willard InterContinental Washington|Willard's Hotel]] in Washington, DC, and frequently thereafter he visited his step-cousin, now the [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]], at the White House.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" />{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=97}} In the [[lame duck session]] following the election, Congress adopted a resolution authored by Lazarus Powell, now in the Senate, calling for a committee of thirteen (Committee of Thirteen on the Disturbed Condition of the Country) "to consider that portion of the President's message relating to the disturbances of the country." Frank Heck wrote that Breckinridge appointed "an able committee, representing every major faction."{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=94}} He endorsed [[Crittenden Compromise|Crittenden's proposed compromise]], a collection of constitutional amendments designed to avert secession and appease the South. Breckinridge used his influence as the Senate's presiding officer in an unsuccessful attempt to get it approved by either the committee or the Senate.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/> Ultimately, the committee reported that they were unable to agree on a recommendation.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=95}} On March 4, 1861, the last day of the session, Breckinridge swore in [[Hannibal Hamlin]] as his successor as vice president. Hamlin, in turn, swore in the newly elected senators, including Breckinridge.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=118}}

===U.S. Senator===
Seven states had already seceded when Breckinridge took his seat as a senator, leaving the remaining Southern senators more outnumbered in their defense of slavery.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=118}} Seeking to find a compromise that would reunite the states under constitutional principles, he urged Lincoln to withdraw federal forces from the Confederate states to avert war.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=119}}{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=98}} The congressional session ended on March 28, and in an April 2 address to the Kentucky General Assembly, he continued to advocate peaceful reconciliation of the states and proposed a conference of border states to seek a solution.{{sfn|Heck|1976|pp=98–99}} On April 12, [[Battle of Fort Sumter|Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter]], ending plans for the conference.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=100}} Breckinridge recommended that Governor [[Beriah Magoffin]] call a sovereignty convention to determine whether Kentucky would side with the Union or the Confederacy.{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=129}} On May 10, he was chosen by the legislature as one of six delegates to a conference to decide the state's next action.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/> The states' rights delegates were Breckinridge, Magoffin, and [[Richard Hawes]]; the Unionist delegates were Crittenden, [[Archibald Dixon]], and [[Samuel Smith Nicholas|S.S. Nicholas]].{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=129}} Unable to agree on substantial issues, the delegates recommended that Kentucky adopt a neutral stance in the Civil War and arm itself to prevent invasion by either federal or Confederate forces.{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=101}} Breckinridge did not support this recommendation, but he agreed to abide by it once it was approved by the legislature.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/>

In special elections in June, pro-Union candidates captured 9 of 10 seats in Kentucky's House delegation.{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=129}} Returning to the Senate for a special session in July, Breckinridge was regarded as a traitor by most of his fellow legislators because of his [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] sympathies.{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=130}} He condemned as unconstitutional Lincoln's enlistment and arming of men for a war Congress had not officially declared, his expending funds for the war that had not been allocated by Congress, and his suspension of the writ of [[habeas corpus]].{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=119}} He was the only senator to vote against a resolution authorizing Lincoln to use "the entire resources of the government" for the war.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=120}} Asked what he would do if he were president, he replied, "I would prefer to see these States all reunited upon true constitutional principles to any other object that could be offered me in life. But I infinitely prefer to see a peaceful separation of these States than to see endless, aimless, devastating war, at the end of which I see the grave of public liberty and of personal freedom." On August 1, he declared that, if Kentucky sided with the federal government against the Confederacy, "she will be represented by some other man on the floor of this Senate."{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=130}}

Kentucky's neutrality was breached by both federal and Confederate forces in early September 1861 (the Federal forces maintained that there had been no breach, as Kentucky was an integral part of the Union).{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=130}} Confederate forces invaded Kentucky on September 3; they were followed by a Union force commanded by Brigadier General [[Ulysses S. Grant]], which on the morning of September 6 occupied the town of [[Paducah, Kentucky|Paducah]] on the [[Ohio River]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Important from Kentucky: Paducah in Possession of the National Troops |work=The New York Times |date=September 7, 1861 |page=1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13048608/the_new_york_times/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=August 12, 2017 |archive-date=August 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813054426/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13048608/the_new_york_times/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Soon after, Unionists in the state arrested former governor [[Charles S. Morehead]] for his suspected Confederate sympathies and shut down the ''[[Louisville Courier-Journal|Louisville Courier]]'' because of its pro-Confederate editorials.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=120}} Word reached Breckinridge that [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] General [[Thomas E. Bramlette]] intended to arrest him next.{{sfn|Klotter|1986|p=120}} To avoid detainment, on September 19, 1861, he left Lexington. Joined in [[Prestonsburg, Kentucky|Prestonsburg]] by Confederate sympathizers [[George W. Johnson (governor)|George W. Johnson]], [[George Baird Hodge]], William Preston, and [[William E. Simms]], he continued to [[Abingdon, Virginia]], and from there by rail to Confederate-held [[Bowling Green, Kentucky]].{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=104}} The state legislature immediately requested his resignation.{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=130}}

In an open letter to his constituents dated October 8, 1861, Breckinridge maintained that the Union no longer existed and that Kentucky should be free to choose her own course; he defended his sympathy to the Southern cause and denounced the Unionist state legislature, declaring, "I exchange with proud satisfaction a term of six years in the Senate of the United States for the musket of a soldier."{{sfn|Harrison|1973|p=130}}{{sfn|Heck|1976|p=105}} He was indicted for [[treason]] in U.S. federal district court in Frankfort on November 6, 1861, having officially enlisted in the Confederate army days earlier.<ref name="Dictionary of America Biography: John Cabell Breckinridge"/> On December 2, 1861, he was declared a traitor by the U.S. Senate.{{sfn|Eicher|Eicher|2001|p=143}} A resolution stating "Whereas John C. Breckinridge, a member of this body from the State of Kentucky, has joined the enemies of his country, and is now in arms against the government he had sworn to support: Therefore—Resolved, That said John C. Breckinridge, the traitor, be, and he hereby is, expelled from the Senate," was adopted by a vote of 36–0 on December 4.<ref name="John Cabell Breckinridge, 14th Vice President (1857-1861)" /><ref>{{cite book |last=U.S. Senate Historical Office |title=United States Senate Election, Expulsion and Censure Cases: 1793–1990 |date=1995 |publisher=Government Printing Office |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=0-1606-3264-1 |pages=102–103}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Senate Journal. 37th Cong., 2nd sess., 4 December 1861, 23|url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsj&fileName=054/llsj054.db&recNum=22&itemLink=D?hlaw:9:./temp/~ammem_efM8::%230540023&linkText=1|access-date=November 17, 2012|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225044644/http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsj&fileName=054%2Fllsj054.db&recNum=22&itemLink=D%3Fhlaw%3A9%3A.%2Ftemp%2F~ammem_efM8%3A%3A%230540023&linkText=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Ten Southern Senators had been expelled earlier that year in July.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Ten_Senators_Expelled.htm |title=July 11, 1861: Ten Senators Expelled |publisher=United States Senate |access-date=July 17, 2016 |archive-date=June 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623175206/http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Ten_Senators_Expelled.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>