Passed Vice Presidents - # 13 – William Rufus King

Grave of William Rufus. King (20 May 2024)

Served under Franklin Pierce

4 March 1853 – 18 April 1853 (died in office)

Preceded by # 12 – Millard Fillmore

Succeeded by # 14 – John C. Breckinridge

Born – 7 April 1786

Died – 18 April 1853 (age 67)

Buried – Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, AL

Date Visited – 20 May 2024

It was during the Great Sweaty Drive-Away of 2024 (the last time this old body does a road trip into the Deep South between April and October) when we collected two more American vice presidents. One was the traitor Alexander Stevens, Jeff Davis’s second in command. Five days later, we were in Selma, Alabama, the current residence of our thirteenth vice president, William Rufus King.

Live Oak Cemetery is a classic, moss-draped Southern gothic burial ground…liberally festooned with Spanish moss and Confederate imagery.

Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama (20 May 2024)

Just because most of you have not heard of most of our nation’s vice presidents, doesn’t mean they didn’t have interesting stories of their own. Number Thirteen is no exception. Then Senator King joined Franklin Pierce from New Hampshire to win the election of 1852 after which he became the only vice president who took the oath of office outside the United States.

By this time in his career, he certainly had more of a resume than our modern-day Dan Quayle or Mike Pence running mates. The only vice president from Alabama was born in North Carolina, rose through state politics at a young age and was elected to the U.S. House in 1810. Unfortunately, at age 24, he was constitutionally prohibited from holding that office. Fortunately, he turned 25 by the time he was sworn in and away we go.

Historical Marker for William Rufus King

Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama (20 May 2024)

He resigned from the House to work diplomatic assignments in Europe. Later, he would serve as Minister to France. After representing Carolina, King moved to the Alabama Territory, established one of the area’s largest slave-operated cotton plantations, and returned to Washington as the new state’s first senator in 1819.

As Senate President pro Tempore when Zachary Taylor passed and VP Millard Filmore became president, King was next in line for the Oval Office…in those dangerous times when two presidents died in the prior nine years. Tuberculosis encouraged King to escape to the friendly climate of Cuba where he took the oath of office…the only time a president or vice president took the oath on foreign soil. He was sworn in on March 24, 1853, and died April 18. The office was vacant for almost four years.

Confederate Soldiers Memorial

Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama (20 May 2024)

A portion of the cemetery is private property owned by the United

Daughters of the Confederacy. Of course, it is a concentration of

installations dedicated to the glory of the Lost Cause. The Soldiers’

Memorial was dedicated in 1878 and refers to the conflict as the

“War for Southern Independence.”

Grave of John Tyler Morgan

Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, AL (20 May 2024)

John T. Morgan was a general in the Confederate army.

After the war, he became the Grand Dragon of the Klan and

leading opponent of Reconstruction. He served six terms

in the U. S. Senate and was as responsible as anyone

for the rise of Jim Crow apartheid government in the South.

Memorial to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest

Old Live Oak Cemetery, Selma, Alabama (20 May 2024)

I don’t get the South’s fascination with this guy. After Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, no one has more memorials than the general who massacred Black Union prisoners (see Fort Pillow) and later formed the Ku Klux Klan. Originally approved and placed at a Selma museum in 2000, it proved unpopular and was vandalized. It was relocated to the sanctuary space in the Confederate Circle where it fits right in with the Jefferson Davis memorial chair and the cannons that point to the north.

William Rufus King [1839]

By George Cooke

Finally, another thing that places Mr. King apart is his relationship with future president James Buchanan. For over a decade, as both served in various federal positions, the two never-married men lived together in Washington. They were a conspicuous couple that Andrew Jackson referred to as ‘Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy.’ As noted in the Buchanan post, I’d like to think we had a gay president over 150 years ago.

Our 13th VP was already the third to die on the job…after # 4 – George Clinton (1812) and # 5 - Elbridge Gerry (1814). One might think that his 45-day tenure as vice president would be the shortest on record, but the span is good for only third place behind promoted VP’s Andrew Johnson (42 days) and John Tyler (31 days) after Presidents Lincoln and Harrison died.

…and with that, we entered another long period of VP vacancy.
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PS – Speaking of tuberculosis, it was reported today that the state of Kansas in the Exceptional U. S. of A. is experiencing the largest TB outbreak since monitoring began. However, since the new administration has suspended all public health announcements from the Centers for Disease Control and other federal health agencies, you will have to learn things like that from other sources…just don’t expect Fox News to be one of them. The stated reason for muzzling public health communication is…who the f—k knows? We’ll see how long the public will be happy with that. I said it years ago…we elect people who hate government to run government. If you prefer these agencies be eliminated, be prepared to deal with what happens next.

Shot of the Day - # 50 – Brutalism with a Flair

Brutalism with a Flair

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco (30 November 2024)

By now, you understand that my photographic interests clearly do not involve living human subjects. I am drawn to landscapes and living, natural things but I also appreciate architecture and the designs of man-made objects. My State House Odyssey is as much about the beauty of rotundas, stairways and chambers as it is about the history of the place.

In 2017, there was the ‘Urban Abstracts’ post that presented portions of modern buildings connected or rotated to create new perspectives. I also enjoy framing a discrete view of a constructed space…one that emphasizes its balance of geometric shapes or patterns.

A new movie has reintroduced the concept of ‘brutalist’ architecture, the post WW II style that emphasized concrete form and function over decorative design elements. Our most recent vacation included a visit to Casablanca, Morocco. While the grand Hassan II Mosque has artistic features and magnificent details throughout, I wanted to isolate this one stairway…simple…balanced. Half angular. Half decorative. To my eye, totally exquisite.

Passed Presidents – Jimmy Carter and Me

On January 9, Jimmy Carter will be laid to rest next to Rosalynn and the fishing pond he created at their home in Plains, Georgia. The residence will become the Jimmy Carter National Historical Site, and the public will eventually be permitted access. While I expect one day to get there and keep my collection up to date, I have no idea when that might be. However, I can report on some personal exposure to the former president.

With the passing of our 39th president, it occurred to me that I have never actually seen in person a sitting president…no speech or stadium or parade. On only two occasions was I ever in the audience of any man who later became or had been president. Both times the person in question was Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter Rally, New Orleans (30 October 1976)

As it happened, candidate Carter came to New Orleans four days before the 1976 election. He was sprinting to the finish line in the South, which he hoped would carry him to victory. I was in the crowd in Jackson Square. Not that I was one of his adoring ‘Peanut Heads.’ He had my vote in ’76 because, while Mr. Ford was a nice guy, he pardoned that scum bucket Nixon. I was a ‘single issue’ voter that year.

I was too far away to photograph anything good and close, so I popped off a couple of shots and paid attention to the speeches. It was during my brief ‘Black and White Period’…one that developed negatives but never advanced into serious darkroom work. Now, thanks to the cool Wolverine digital converter, I can turn a film negative into a positive digital file. Then, as noted recently, one can seriously crop a shot to make more from less. When I did that, some recognizable figures emerge.

Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards Speaking at

Jimmy Carter Rally, New Orleans (30 October 1976)

Here our fabulously crooked governor, elected, scandalized and

re-elected, Edwin Edwards introduces Mr. Carter, visible on the far left.

It was reported that the state’s entire Congressional

delegation and New Orleans mayor Moon Landrieu were present.

Jimmy Carter Speaking at French Quarter Rally, New Orleans, (30 October 1976)

Candidate Carter speaks. Wife Rosalynn is seated in the front row.

Inflation was modest at the start of his term but increased to double-digit levels in his final year in office. As a Washington outsider, he had difficulty working with party leadership and then there was the Iran hostage crisis and his failed attempt at a rescue. Ronald Reagan’s victory in 1980 was overwhelming.

Cover of ‘Direction 85’ Program

Time passes. Carter and Ford got over their bitter campaign and began making public appearances together. No two former presidents became closer friends. For the rest of their active lives, Jimmy and Jerry worked together on dozens of public policy projects.

The above program from Tulane University’s public policy series notes their appearance on March 11, 1985 to discuss ‘The Presidency.’ I attended and remember the impact being in an auditorium with two former presidents. Their bipartisan friendliness feels prehistoric now.

When I get to Plains, we will drop a proper Passed President post for the man who, more than any former president, devoted his life to public service.