John C. Calhoun

John C. Calhoun
Portrait of Calhoun, c. 1845
7th Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1825 – December 28, 1832
President	John Quincy Adams (1825–1829) Andrew Jackson (1829–1832)
Preceded by	Daniel D. Tompkins
Succeeded by	Martin Van Buren
United States Senator from South Carolina
In office November 26, 1845 – March 31, 1850
Preceded by	Daniel Elliott Huger
Succeeded by	Franklin H. Elmore
In office December 29, 1832 – March 3, 1843
Preceded by	Robert Y. Hayne
Succeeded by	Daniel Elliott Huger
16th United States Secretary of State
In office April 1, 1844 – March 10, 1845
President	John Tyler James K. Polk
Preceded by	Abel P. Upshur
Succeeded by	James Buchanan
10th United States Secretary of War
In office December 8, 1817 – March 4, 1825
President	James Monroe
Preceded by	George Graham (acting) William H. Crawford
Succeeded by	James Barbour
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 6th district
In office March 4, 1811 – November 3, 1817
Preceded by	Joseph Calhoun
Succeeded by	Eldred Simkins
Personal details
Born	John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-03-18)March 18, 1782 Abbeville, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	March 31, 1850(1850-03-31) (aged 68) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	St. Philip's Church
Political party	Democratic-Republican (before 1828) Democratic (1828, 1839–1850) Nullifier (1828–1839)
Spouse	Floride Bonneau Calhoun ​ ​ (m. 1811)​
Children	10, including Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson
Parent(s)	Patrick Calhoun Martha Caldwell
Education	Yale College Litchfield Law School
Signature

John Caldwell Calhoun (/kælˈhuːn/;^[1] March 18, 1782 – March 31, 1850) was an American statesman and political theorist who served as the seventh vice president of the United States from 1825 to 1832. Born in South Carolina, he adamantly defended American slavery and sought to protect the interests of white Southerners. Calhoun began his political career as a nationalist, modernizer and proponent of a strong federal government and protective tariffs. In the late 1820s, his views changed radically, and he became a leading proponent of states' rights, limited government, nullification, and opposition to high tariffs. Calhoun saw Northern acceptance of those policies as a condition of the South's remaining in the Union. His beliefs heavily influenced the South's secession from the Union in 1860 and 1861. Calhoun was the first of two vice presidents to resign from the position, the second being Spiro Agnew, who resigned in 1973.

Calhoun began his political career with election to the House of Representatives in 1810. As a prominent leader of the war hawk faction, he strongly supported the War of 1812. Calhoun served as Secretary of War under President James Monroe and, in that position, reorganized and modernized the War Department. He was a candidate for the presidency in the 1824 election. After failing to gain support, Calhoun agreed to be a candidate for vice president. The Electoral College elected him vice president by an overwhelming majority. He served under John Quincy Adams and continued under Andrew Jackson, who defeated Adams in the election of 1828, making Calhoun the most recent U.S. vice president to serve under two different presidents.

Calhoun had a difficult relationship with Jackson, primarily because of the Nullification Crisis and the Petticoat affair. In contrast with his previous nationalist sentiments, Calhoun vigorously supported South Carolina's right to nullify federal tariff legislation that he believed unfairly favored the North, which put him into conflict with Unionists such as Jackson. In 1832, with only a few months remaining in his second term, Calhoun resigned as vice president and was elected to the Senate. He sought the Democratic Party nomination for the presidency in 1844 but lost to surprise nominee James K. Polk, who won the general election. Calhoun served as Secretary of State under President John Tyler from 1844 to 1845, and in that role supported the annexation of Texas as a means to extend the Slave Power and helped to settle the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain. Calhoun returned to the Senate, where he opposed the Mexican–American War, the Wilmot Proviso and the Compromise of 1850 before he died of tuberculosis in 1850. He often served as a virtual independent who variously aligned as needed, with Democrats and Whigs.

Later in life, Calhoun became known as the "cast-iron man" for his rigid defense of white Southern beliefs and practices.^[2][3] His concept of republicanism emphasized proslavery thought and minority states' rights as embodied by the South. He owned dozens of slaves in Fort Hill, South Carolina, and asserted that slavery, rather than being a "necessary evil", was a "positive good" that benefited both slaves and enslavers.^[4] To protect minority rights against majority rule, he called for a concurrent majority by which the minority could block some proposals that it felt infringed on their liberties. To that end, Calhoun supported states' rights, and nullification, through which states could declare null and void federal laws that they viewed as unconstitutional. He was one of the "Great Triumvirate" or the "Immortal Trio" of congressional leaders, along with his colleagues Daniel Webster and Henry Clay.