1865 - 1880 photograph of John C. Breckinridge, attributed to Mathew Brady or Levin Handy. Scanned from original negative and retouched.
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| Imagesize | 250px |
| Caption | 1865 - 1880 photograph of John C. Breckinridge, attributed to Mathew Brady or Levin Handy. Scanned from original negative and retouched. |
| Order | 14th Vice President of the United States |
| Term start | March 4, 1857 |
| Term end | March 4, 1861 |
| President | James Buchanan |
| Predecessor | William R. King |
| Successor | Hannibal Hamlin |
| Order | United States Senator
from Kentucky |
| Term start | March 4, 1861 |
| Term end | December 4, 1861 |
| Predecessor | John J. Crittenden |
| Successor | Garrett Davis |
| Order | 5th Confederate States Secretary of War |
| Term start | February 6, 1865 |
| Term end | May 10, 1865 |
| President | Jefferson Davis |
| Predecessor | James A. Seddon |
| Successor | Office abolished |
| Order | U.S. Representative from Kentucky's 8th congressional district |
| Term start | March 4, 1851 |
| Term end | March 3, 1855 |
| Predecessor | Charles Morehead |
| Successor | Alexander Keith Marshall |
| Date of birth | January 16, 1821 |
| Birth place | Lexington, Kentucky |
| Death date | May 17, 1875(age 54) |
| Death place | Lexington, Kentucky |
| Spouse | Mary Cyrene Burch Breckinridge |
| Party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Centre College, College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), Transylvania University |
| Branch | Kentucky Volunteers
Confederate States Army |
| Rank | Major General |
| Battles | Mexican-American War
American Civil War |
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John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 - May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Kentucky and was the 14th Vice President of the United States, to date the youngest vice president in U.S. history, inaugurated at age 36.
In the 1860 presidential election, he ran as one of two candidates of the fractured Democratic Party, representing Southern Democrats. Breckinridge came in third place in the popular vote, behind winner Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, and Stephen Douglas, a Northern Democrat, but finished second in the Electoral College vote.
Following the outbreak of the American Civil War, he served in the Confederate States Army as a general and commander of Confederate forces, including young Virginia Military Institute cadets, at the Battle of New Market. He also served as the fifth and final Confederate Secretary of War.
A member of the prominent Breckinridge family of Kentucky, Breckinridge was the grandson of John Breckinridge (1760-1806), who served as a Senator and Attorney General; the father of congressman and diplomat Clifton Rodes Breckinridge; and the great-grandfather of actor John Cabell "Bunny" Breckinridge.
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