William R. King
William R. King | |
---|---|
Thomas Kenan | |
Succeeded by | Charles Hooks |
Member of the North Carolina House of Commons | |
In office 1807–1809 | |
Personal details | |
Born | William Rufus DeVane King April 7, 1786 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (BA) |
Signature | |
William Rufus DeVane King (April 7, 1786 – April 18, 1853) was an American politician and diplomat. He was the 13th
A Democrat, he was a Unionist and his contemporaries considered him to be a moderate on the issues of sectionalism, slavery, and westward expansion, which contributed to the American Civil War. He helped draft the Compromise of 1850.[1] He is the only United States vice president to take the oath of office on foreign soil; he was inaugurated in Cuba, due to his poor health. He died of tuberculosis 45 days later, becoming the third vice president to die in office. Only John Tyler and Andrew Johnson, both of whom succeeded to the presidency, have had shorter tenures. King was the only U.S. vice president from Alabama.
Early life
King was born in Sampson County, North Carolina, to William King and Margaret DeVane. His family was large, wealthy, and well-connected. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1803, where he was also a member of the Philanthropic Society. William Alexander Graham, whom King would later oppose in the election of 1852, attended the university at the same time (Graham was a member of the rival Dialectic Society). Admitted to the bar in 1806 after reading the law with Judge William Duffy of Fayetteville, North Carolina, he began practice in Clinton. King was an ardent Freemason and was a member of Fayetteville's Phoenix Lodge No. 8.
Political career
King entered politics and was elected as a member of the
When he returned to the United States in 1818, King joined the westward migration of the cotton culture to the Deep South, purchasing property at what would later be known as "King's Bend" between present-day
William Rufus King was a delegate to the convention that organized the
King was a follower of
He was appointed
During the conflicts leading up to the
On July 11, 1850, two days after the death of
Relationship with James Buchanan
The argument for King's homosexuality has been put forward by biographer Jean Baker.[3] It has been supported by Shelley Ross, James W. Loewen, and Robert P. Watson. It focuses essentially on his close and intimate relationship with President James Buchanan. The two men lived together for 13 years, from 1840 until King's death in 1853. Buchanan referred to the relationship as a "communion",[4] and the two often attended official functions together. Contemporaries also noted and commented on the unusual closeness. Andrew Jackson mockingly called them "Miss Nancy" and "Aunt Fancy" (the former being a 19th-century euphemism for an effeminate man[5]), while Aaron V. Brown referred to King as Buchanan's "better half".[6]
However, historian Lewis Saum has pointed out, "Customs and expressions were different in the mid-1800s than they are today... "Miss Nancy" was "a fairly common designation for people who wore clean clothes and had good manners". He also noted that Aaron Brown was a political rival of King.[7]
Loewen has described Buchanan and King as "Siamese twins". Sol Barzman, a biographer of vice presidents, wrote that King's "fastidious habits and conspicuous intimacy with the bachelor Buchanan gave rise to some cruel jibes." Buchanan adopted King's mannerisms and romanticized southern culture. Both had strong political ambitions, and in 1844, they planned to run as president and vice president.[4] They spent some time apart while King was on overseas missions in France, and their letters remain cryptic and avoid revealing any personal feelings at all. In May 1844, Buchanan wrote to Cornelia Roosevelt, "I am now 'solitary and alone,' having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone, and [I] should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection." After King died in 1853, Buchanan described him as "among the best, the purest, and most consistent public men I have known."[4]
Baker concluded that while some of their correspondence was destroyed by family members, the length and intimacy of the surviving letters illustrate "the affection of a special friendship" between King and Buchanan, with no way to know for certain whether it was a romantic relationship.[8]
Vice presidency and death (1853)
The 1852 Democratic National Convention was held at the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts Hall in Baltimore. Franklin Pierce was nominated for president, and King was nominated for vice president.
Pierce and King defeated the
King is the first and, to date, only vice president or president of the United States to take the oath of office on foreign soil.Shortly afterward, King made the journey to return to Chestnut Hill. He died within two days of his arrival on April 18, 1853, aged 67, of tuberculosis. He was interred in a vault on the plantation and later reburied in Selma's Old Live Oak Cemetery.[12][13] King never carried out any duties of the office.[14]
Following King's death, the office of vice president was vacant until John C. Breckinridge was inaugurated with President James Buchanan in March 1857.
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Engraving of Chestnut Hill, published following King's death in the Illustrated News, New York, April 30, 1853. The house was destroyed by fire during the 1920s.
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Crypt of William R. King in Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama.
Legacy and honors
- In 1852, the Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968).[15] The change was made official April 19, 2005, when Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law Senate Bill 5332, effective July 24, 2005.[16][17][18][19]
- The King Residence Quadrangle at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his alma mater, is named for him.
- An 1830 portrait of King is held at New East Hall in the Philanthropic Chambers of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, a debating society which he had joined during college.
- King was a co-founder of Live Oak Cemetery under a white marble mausoleum erected by the city.[20]
Notes
- Spanish colony of Cuba—twenty days after his term began (March 4) due to poor health. He was the first and only vice president of the United States to be sworn in on foreign soil.
References
- ^ a b Daniel Fate Brooks (2003). "The Faces of William R. King" (PDF). Alabama Heritage. 69 (Summer). University of Alabama, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama Department of Archives and History: 14–23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- ^ a b c "U.S. Senate: William Rufus King, 13th Vice President (1853)". www.senate.gov.
- ^ Jean H. Baker, James Buchanan: The American Presidents Series: The 15th President, 1857–1861, 2004, page 26
- ^ a b c Robert Watson, Affairs of State: The untold story of presidential love sex and scandal, 1789-1900, Plymouth, 2012
- ^ The Wordsworth Book of Euphemisms by Judith S. Neaman and Carole G. Silver (Wordsworth Editions Ltd., Hertfordshire)
- ^ Jean H. Baker, James Buchanan: The American Presidents Series: The 15th President, 1857–1861, 2004, page 75
- ^ Lewis Suam, Pacific Northwest Quarterly, University of Washington, 2001.
- ^ Jean H. Baker, James Buchanan: The American Presidents Series: The 15th President, 1857–1861, 2004, pp. 25-26.
- ^ 32nd Congress, Sess. 2, Chapter 93, 10 Stat. 180
- Harper & Brothers. p. 195. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ "Vice Presidential Inaugurations". Architect of the Capitol. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Bennett, Jim (April 2014). "Alabamians With National Aspirations". JCHA Newsletter. Birmingham, Alabama: Jefferson County Historical Association. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
- ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25688-25689). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
- ISBN 978-0-19-514273-0. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
king, william.
- ^ "Motion No. 6461". King County, WA. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ "State law changed to rename King County". King County, Washington. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
- ^ "2005 Senate Bill 5332: Honoring the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr". WashingtonVotes.org. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
- ^ "Bill Information, SB 5332 - 2005-06 - Honoring the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr". Washington State Legislature. Archived from the original on 2018-09-26. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
- ^ ENGROSSED SENATE BILL 5332, 59th Legislature of the State of Washington, 2005 Regular Session.
- ISBN 0-451-08614-7.
External links
- United States Congress. "William R. King (id: K000217)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Who is William Rufus King?
- Obituary addresses on the occasion of the death of the Hon. William R. King, of Alabama, vice-president of the United States : delivered in the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, eighth of December, 1853