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Breckinridge, John Cabell 1821-75
US politician

Born near Lexington, Kentucky, he practised law there until 1847, when he was appointed major of a volunteer regiment for the Mexican War. He sat in Congress from 1851 to 1855, and in 1856 was elected Vice-President, with James Buchanan as President. In 1860 he was the pro-slavery candidate for the presidency, but was defeated by Abraham Lincoln. A senator from March to December 1861, he was appointed a Confederate major-general in 1862, was Secretary of War in Jefferson Davis's Cabinet, and escaped to Europe, returning in 1868.