William R. King
William R. King | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 13th Vice President | |
| In office March 4, 1853 – April 18, 1853 | |
| President | Franklin Pierce |
| Preceded by | Millard Fillmore |
| Succeeded by | John C. Breckinridge |
| Personal details | |
| Born | right April 7, 1786 Sampson County, North Carolina |
| Died | April 18, 1853 Selma, Dallas County, Alabama William Rufus DeVane King |
| Resting place | right frame William Rufus DeVane King |
| Nationality | american |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | None |
| Parent |
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William Rufus DeVane King (April 7, 1786–April 18, 1853) was a U.S. Representative from North Carolina, a Senator from Alabama, and the thirteenth Vice President of the United States. Excluding John Tyler and Andrew Johnson — both of whom ascended to the Presidency — he was the shortest-serving person to occupy that office (45 days, see List of U.S. Vice Presidents by time in office).
Early life and career
King was born in Sampson County, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1803. He was admitted to the bar in 1806 and began practice in Clinton, North Carolina.
He was a member of the North Carolina House of Commons from 1807 to 1809 and city solicitor of Wilmington, North Carolina in 1810. He was elected to the Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1811 until November 4 1816, when he resigned. King was Secretary of the Legation at Naples, Italy and later at St. Petersburg, Russia. He returned to the United States in 1818 and located in Cahawba, Alabama, where he became a planter.
King was a delegate to the convention which organized the State government. Upon the admission of Alabama as a State in 1819 he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate, and was reelected as a Jacksonian in 1822, 1828, 1834, and 1841, serving from December 14, 1819, until April 15, 1844, when he resigned. He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate during the 24th through 27th Congresses. King was Chairman of the Committee on Public Lands and the Committee on Commerce.
He was Minister to France from 1844 to 1846. He was appointed and subsequently elected as a Democrat to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Arthur P. Bagby and served from July 1, 1848 until his resignation on December 20, 1852 due to poor health. He served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Thirty-first and Thirty-second Congresses and was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations and Committee on Pensions.
Vice President
He was elected Vice President of the United States on the Democratic ticket with Franklin Pierce in 1852 and took the oath of office March 4, 1853 in Cuba, where he had gone because of his health. This unusual inauguration took place because it was believed that King, who was terminally ill, would not live much longer. This was a privilege extended by a special act of Congress for his long and distinguished service in government.
Vice President King returned to his plantation, "King's Bend," Alabama, and soon died. He was interred in a vault on his plantation, and was later reinterred in Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Dallas County, Alabama.
Legacy
In honor of his inauguration as Vice President, the newly formed Washington Territory was named King County for him, as well as Pierce County after President Pierce, in hopes of gaining speedy admission to the Union by currying favor with the new administration (Washington did not become a state until 1889). King County still exists, but on February 24, 1986 the county council passed Motion 6461, "setting forth the historical basis for the 'renaming' of King County in honor of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." On April 19, 2005, Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire signed Senate Bill 5332 into law, formalizing the prior resolution and officially designating King County's name to be in honor of Martin Luther King.
Some historians have speculated that King may have been gay, and that he had a long-term intimate relationship with President-to-be James Buchanan (it is not disputed that the two lived together for 16 years in Washington, D.C.). It is also said that King's detractors in the Senate referred to him as "Miss Nancy" (which was actually a term that referred to homosexual men in the 19th century). The theory is controversial and a source of debate among Buchanan and King historians. Historian and author James W. Loewen is one of the theory's better-known proponents.
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