Sign-In
Cart
The 25-Day Vice-President: Alabama's Rufus de Vane King
Paperback
Political Biographies19th Century United States History
ISBN13: 9781977279019
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Published: Nov 20 2024
Pages: 192
Weight: 0.64
Height: 0.44 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The 25-Day Vice-President: Alabama's William Rufus de Vane King documents the life and times of an often overlooked 19th Century statesman. Born to wealth and privilege in North Carolina, King grew up to become an attorney and was elected by Tarheel voters to serve in the State Legislator and U.S. Congress.
In 1819, after serving in Europe as Legation Secretary for the American Foreign Minister to the Two Sicilies and Russia, King migrated to the Alabama Territory. He quickly became a prominent member of the territory's rapidly growing, slaveholding, planter-class aristocracy. As an established community leader, King helped construct a new city near his plantation home. Furthermore, he was credited with naming the community Selmz, in honor of a favorite Ossian poem.
After Alabama was admitted to the Union, King was elected as one of the 22nd state's first U.S. Senators. For nearly three decades, he served in the Senate representing his adopted home state. As a slaveholder, King believed perpetuation of the barbaric institution was a Constitutional right. Nonetheless, he never joined forces with the so-called fire-eaters, rabid secessionists who advocated disunion if the federal government threatened to abolish slavery.
As a Moderate Democrat, King was a political conciliator rather than agitator. While serving in the U.S. Senate, he facilitated compromises between pro- and anti-slavery forces, temporarily forestalling inevitable secession and the bloody American Civil War. As a conciliator and compromiser, King was a political anomaly in the Deep South.
King died in March 1853, just 25 days after he was sworn into office as the 13th Vice-President of the United States, and eight years before the onset of the Civil War. Inaugurated while he was seeking treatment for terminal tuberculosis in the island nation of Cuba, King remains the first and only American President or Vice-President to take the oath of office on foreign soil.
King was no doubt an enigmatic figure. He was a respected statesman who vainly sought to save America from disunion. In his later years, he resigned from Congress to serve as Foreign Minister to France where he convinced the European power to refrain from interfering with America's Manifest Destiny expansionist agenda.
While mild-mannered and chivalrous, King was never a shrinking violet. On at least three separate occasions, he accepted challenges to participate in potentially deadly duels when his honor was called into question. As a lifelong bachelor, King was the target of unsubstantiated rumors and innuendo concerning his sexual orientation. Political enemies repeatedly proclaimed King was gay, derisively nicknaming him Miss Fancy.
The 25-Day Vice-President is a compelling narrative. Much of William R. King's life journey unfolded during America's tumultuous Antebellum-era, when the nation was not yet a century-old. While slavery proved to be the most divisive issue, other controversies led to bitter disagreements and the formation of rival political parties.
Given the taboo nature of same-sex relationships in the 19th Century, King's private life is explored under a detailed and objective light. Readers will be challenged to judge whether individuals' personal and private choices detract from their accomplishments or meaningfully alter the historical record.
Undoubtedly, King is one of many lesser-known public figures who helped weave America's complex political and social fabric.
Also from
Smith, Jeffrey K.
A Pea River Progeny: Alabama's Colorful and Controversial Governor James E. "Big Jim Folsom
Smith, Jeffrey K.
Paperback
Museum Effect: How Museums, Libraries, and Cultural Institutions Educate and Civilize Society
Smith, Jeffrey K.
Hardcover
Museum Effect: How Museums, Libraries, and Cultural Institutions Educate and Civilize Society
Smith, Jeffrey K.
Paperback
Also in
Political Biographies
Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America
Murphy, Chris
Hardcover
Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded Usaid
Enrich, Nicholas
Hardcover
American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump
Bird, Kai
Goldmark, Susan
Hardcover
The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation
Clyburn, Jim
Hardcover
Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution
Hemingway, Mollie
Hardcover
Poisoned Ivies: The Inside Account of the Academic and Moral Rot at America's Elite Universities
Stefanik, Elise
Hardcover
The Power Broker (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Caro, Robert A.
Paperback
King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation
Anderson, Scott
Hardcover
The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the Cia, and the Rise of America's Secret Government
Talbot, David
Paperback
How to Test Negative for Stupid: And Why Washington Never Will (Large Print Edition)
Kennedy, John
Paperback
Don't Tell the President: The Best, Worst, and Mostly Untold Stories from Presidential Advance
Collamore, Tom
Becker, Jean
Hardcover
Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress
Rinehart, Lorissa
Hardcover
Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines
Jean-Pierre, Karine
Hardcover
The Assassination of Leon Trotsky: Espionage, Scandal, and the Crime of the Century
West, Nigel
Melton, H. Keith
Hardcover
Finding the Third Way: Lessons in the Politics of Civility from My Journey Through History
Davis, Lanny J.
Hardcover
The Game Changer: How Harry Reid Remade the Rules and Showed Democrats How to Fight
Ralston, Jon
Hardcover
Slow Poison: IDI Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State
Mamdani, Mahmood
Hardcover
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
Browder, Bill
Paperback
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man
Trump, Mary L.
Paperback
Starting Somewhere: Community Organizing for Socially Awkward People Who've Had Enough
Douglass, Roderick
Paperback
Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary
Griffin-Gracy, Major
Meronek, Toshio
Paperback
King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation
Anderson, Scott
Paperback
The First Fascist: The Sensational Life and Dark Legacy of the Marquis de Morès
Luzzatto, Sergio
Hardcover
The Road to Unafraid: How the Army's Top Ranger Faced Fear and Found Courage Through
Struecker, Jeff
Paperback
The Power Broker (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
Caro, Robert A.
Hardcover
The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist
Day, Dorothy
Paperback
Dreams of a White Snow Lion: The Remarkable Life, Vision, and Deeds of the Dalai Lama
Dhargye, Sherab
Bianca, Mariateresa
Hardcover
My Struggle: English Translation of Mein Kamphf - Mein Kampt - Mein Kampf
Hitler, Adolf
Murphy, James
Mein Kampf, Kamphf English Kampt
Paperback
The Architect of Espionage: The Man Who Built Israel's Mossad Into the World's Boldest Intelligence Force
Katz, Samuel M.
Hardcover
Glory, Grief, and the Gavel: An Inside Guide to Running for Speaker of the House
Leganski, John
Hardcover
Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?: And Other True Stories of Staggering Depth
Yang, Andrew
Hardcover
Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill
Millard, Candice
Paperback
G-Man (Pulitzer Prize Winner): J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century
Gage, Beverly
Paperback
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
Larson, Erik
Hardcover
A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid
Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla
Paperback
Ni Venganza Ni Perdón: Una Amistad Al Filo del Poder / Neither Revenge Nor Forgiveness: A Friendship on the Edge of Power
Scherer Ibarra, Julio
Fernández Menéndez, Jorge
Paperback
One Man in: The Explosive Firsthand Account of the Lone Special-Ops Commando Who Fought Off a Major Terrorist Attack in Kenya
Craighead, Christian
Hardcover
Detenido: El Diario de Supervivencia Y Determinación de Un Niño
Morales, Gerardo Iván
Esperanza, David
Paperback
I Wish Someone Had Told Me . . .: The Best Advice for Building a Great Career and a Meaningful Life
Perino, Dana
Hardcover
The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon's Enduring Impact on America
Whitaker, Mark
Hardcover
With a Name Like Chief: Reflections on Recovery and Identity Through the Seven Sacred Teachings
Chief, Kevin
Slayen, Stu
Paperback
The Afterlife of Malcolm X: An Outcast Turned Icon's Enduring Impact on America
Whitaker, Mark
Paperback
This Cursed Beautiful Land: A Russian-American Story (Large Print Edition)
Gershkovich, Evan
Paperback
Mitos de la Historia Mexicana: de Hidalgo a Zedillo / Myths of Mexican History
Rosas, Alejandro
Paperback
Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods
Hill, Julia
Paperback
Presidenta: La Victoria de Una Mujer En Un País de Hombres / Madam President: A Woman's Victory in a Country of Men
Zepeda Patterson, Jorge
Paperback