William Rufus DeVane King (April 7, 1786 – April 18, 1853) was an American politician and diplomat. He was the 13th

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...

from March 4 until his death in April 1853. Earlier he had served as a

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

and a senator from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

. He also served as minister to France under President

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, 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 The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. He helped draft the

Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that defused a political confrontation between slave and free states on the status of territories acquired in the Mexican–Am ...

. He is the only United States vice president to take the oath of office on foreign soil; he was inaugurated in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, due to his poor health. He died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

45 days later, becoming the third vice president to die in office. Only

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...

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 A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1803, where he was also a member of the Philanthropic Society.

William Alexander Graham William Alexander Graham (September 5, 1804August 11, 1875) was a United States senator from North Carolina from 1840 to 1843, a senator later in the Confederate States Senate from 1864 to 1865, the 30th governor of North Carolina from 1845 to ...

, 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 Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

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

North Carolina House of Commons The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

, where he served from 1807 to 1809, and he became city solicitor of

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, in 1810. He was elected to the Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1811, until November 4, 1816, when he resigned to become Secretary of the Legation for

William Pinkney William Pinkney (March 17, 1764February 25, 1822) was an American statesman and diplomat, and was appointed the seventh U.S. Attorney General by President James Madison. Biography William Pinkney was born in 1764 in Annapolis in the Province ...

during Pinkney's appointment as Minister to Russia and to a special diplomatic mission in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. King was only 24 years old when he became a congressman for the first time. (He did not reach the constitutional age of 25 for service in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

until after the term began, but the Twelfth Congress did not convene until November 4, 1811, and King was not sworn in until then.) 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

Selma Selma may refer to: Places *Selma, Algeria *Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada *Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons United States: *Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches *Selma, Arkansas *Selma, Cali ...

and Cahaba on the Alabama River in

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nin ...

of the new

Alabama Territory The Territory of Alabama (sometimes Alabama Territory) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Alabama Territory was carved from the Mississippi Territory on August 15, 1817 and lasted until December 14, 1819, when it ...

, which had been recently separated from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. He developed a large cotton

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

based on slave labor, calling the property "Chestnut Hill". King and his relatives formed one of the state's largest slaveholding families, collectively owning as many as 500 people. William Rufus King was a delegate to the convention which organized the Alabama state government. Upon the admission of Alabama as the twenty-second state in 1819, he was elected by the State Legislature as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. King was a follower of

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

, and was re-elected to the Senate as a Jacksonian in 1822, 1828, 1834, and 1841, serving from December 14, 1819, until his resignation on April 15, 1844. During this time, in March–April 1824, William R. King was honored with a single vote at the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...

caucus to be the party's candidate for the office of vice president of the United States for the upcoming 1824 presidential election. Later he served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate during the 24th through

27th 27 (twenty-seven; Roman numeral XXVII) is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. In mathematics * Twenty-seven is a cube of 3: 3^3=3\times 3\times 3. 27 is also 23 (see tetration). There are exactly 27 straight lines on a smooth ...

Congresses. King was Chairman of the Senate's Committee on Public Lands and the

Committee on Commerce The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is a standing committee of the United States Senate. Besides having broad jurisdiction over all matters concerning interstate commerce, science and technology policy, a ...

. He was appointed as Minister to France, and served from 1844 to 1846. After his return, King resumed serving in the Senate, appointed and subsequently elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Arthur P. Bagby Arthur Pendleton Bagby (1794 – September 21, 1858) was a slave owner and the tenth Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1837 to 1841. Born in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1794, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1819, practic ...

. He held his seat from July 1, 1848, until his resignation on December 20, 1852, because of ill health and his having been elected vice president of the United States. During the conflicts leading up to the

, King supported the Senate's

gag rule A gag rule is a rule that limits or forbids the raising, consideration, or discussion of a particular topic, often but not always by members of a legislative or decision-making body. A famous example of gag rules is the series of rules concernin ...

against debate on antislavery petitions and opposed proposals to abolish slavery in the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, which Congress administered. King supported a pro-slavery position, arguing that the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

protected the institution of slavery in both the Southern states and the federal territories. He opposed both the

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

' efforts to abolish slavery in the territories as well as the

Fire-Eaters In American history, the Fire-Eaters were a group of pro-slavery Democrats in the Antebellum South who urged the separation of Southern states into a new nation, which became the Confederate States of America. The dean of the group was Robert R ...

' calls for Southern

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...

. On July 11, 1850, two days after the death of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...

, King was appointed Senate President pro tempore. Because

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

ascended to the presidency, the vice presidency was vacant, making King first in the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Pensions.

Relationship with James Buchanan

The argument for King's

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

has been put forward by biographer Jean Baker. 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",Robert Watson, ''Affairs of State: The untold story of presidential love sex and scandal, 1789-1900'', Plymouth, 2012 and the two often attended official functions together. Contemporaries also noted and commented upon the unusual closeness.

mockingly called them "Miss Nancy" and "Aunt Fancy" (the former being a 19th-century euphemism for an effeminate man), while Aaron V. Brown referred to King as Buchanan's "better half". Baker (2004), p. 75. 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 enemy of King. 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 view of southern culture. Both had strong political ambitions, and in 1844, they planned to run as president and vice president. Both men were soft, effeminate, and eccentric. 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 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." Baker concluded that while some of their correspondence was destroyed by family members, the length and the intimacy of 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.

Vice presidency and death (1853)

The

1852 Democratic National Convention The 1852 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that met from June 1 to June 5 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1852 electi ...

was held at the 1851 Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts Hall in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. Franklin Pierce was nominated for president, and King was nominated for vice president. Pierce and King defeated the Whig candidates,

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

and William Alexander Graham. Because King was ill with tuberculosis and had traveled to

in an effort to regain his health, he was not able to be in Washington to take his oath of office on March 4, 1853. By a special Act of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

passed on March 2, he was allowed to take the oath outside the United States, and was sworn in on March 24, 1853, near

Matanzas, Cuba Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

, by the US consul to Cuba,

William L. Sharkey William Lewis Sharkey (July 12, 1798 – March 30, 1873) was an American judge and politician from Mississippi. A staunch Unionists (American), Unionist during the American Civil War, Civil War, he opposed the 1861 secession of Mississippi. Afte ...

. King is the first and, to date, only vice 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

's Old Live Oak Cemetery. King never carried out any duties of the office. Following King's death, the office of vice president was vacant until

John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving ...

was inaugurated with President James Buchanan in March 1857. File:Chestnut Hill King's Bend Alabama.jpg, 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. File:Crypt of William R. King.jpg, Crypt of William R. King in Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama.

Legacy and honors

* In 1852, the

Oregon Territorial Legislature Oregon's Territorial Legislature was a bicameral legislative body created by the United States Congress in 1848 as the legislative branch of the government of the Oregon Territory. The upper chamber Council and lower chamber House of Representati ...

named King County for him. King County became part of

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

when it was created the following year, and then part of the State of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in 1889. In 1985, the King County government amended its designation and its logo to honor instead the late national

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

leader

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

(no relation) (1929–1968). The change was made official April 19, 2005, when Governor

Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Washington from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she defeated Republican candidate Dino Rossi in 2004, and ag ...

signed into law Senate Bill 5332, effective July 24, 2005. * The King Residence Quadrangle at the

, 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 The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies, commonly known as DiPhi or The Societies, are the original collegiate debating societies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and together comprise the oldest student organization at the Uni ...

, a debating society which he had joined during college. * King was a co-founder of (and named) Selma, Alabama, which he named after the Ossianic poem "The Songs of Selma". After his death, city officials and some of King's family wanted to move his body to Selma. Other family members wanted his body to remain at Chestnut Hill. In 1882, the Selma City Council appointed a committee to select a new plot for King's body. His remains were then reinterred in the city's Live Oak Cemetery under a white marble mausoleum erected by the city.

References

External links

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
' {{DEFAULTSORT:King, William R. 1786 births 1853 deaths People from Sampson County, North Carolina American people of English descent Democratic Party vice presidents of the United States Pierce administration cabinet members Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Alabama Jacksonian United States senators from Alabama Democratic Party United States senators from Alabama Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Ambassadors of the United States to France 1852 United States vice-presidential candidates Democratic Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives People from Clinton, North Carolina People from Dallas County, Alabama American Freemasons American planters American slave owners North Carolina lawyers LGBT members of the United States Congress 19th-century vice presidents of the United States 19th-century LGBT people 19th-century American diplomats University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Tuberculosis deaths in Alabama 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Burials in Alabama United States senators who owned slaves