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Clifton Breckinridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Minister to Russia | |
| In office November 1, 1894 – December 10, 1897 | |
| President | Grover Cleveland William McKinley |
| Preceded by | Andrew White |
| Succeeded by | Ethan Hitchcock |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas | |
| In office November 4, 1890 – August 14, 1894 | |
| Preceded by | John Clayton (elect) |
| Succeeded by | John Little |
| Constituency | 2nd district |
| In office March 4, 1885 – September 5, 1890 Unseated | |
| Preceded by | James Kimbrough Jones |
| Succeeded by | John Clayton (elect) |
| Constituency | 2nd district |
| In office March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1885 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency reestablished |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Constituency | at-large district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Clifton Rodes Breckinridge (1846-11-22)November 22, 1846 Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | December 3, 1932(1932-12-03) (aged 86) |
| Resting place | Lexington Cemetery |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | James Mary |
| Parent(s) | John C. Breckinridge (father) Mary Burch (mother) |
| Relatives | Breckinridge family |
| Education | Washington and Lee University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States |
| Branch/service |  Confederate States Army Confederate States Navy |
| Rank | Midshipman |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Clifton Rodes Breckinridge (November 22, 1846 – December 3, 1932) was an American politician who served as aDemocratic Party alderman, U.S. representative, diplomat, and businessman. He also served in both theConfederate States Army andConfederate States Navy in theAmerican Civil War. He was a member of the prominentBreckinridge family, the son ofVice President of the United States and Confederate generalJohn C. Breckinridge and the great-grandson ofU.S. Senator andAttorney General of the United StatesJohn Breckinridge.
Born nearLexington, Kentucky, the son ofJohn Cabell andMary Cyrene BurchBreckinridge, Breckinridge attended rural schools in his hometown as a child. The Breckinridge family had by that time already established itself as a political dynasty. Clifton's grandfather, John Breckinridge, was PresidentThomas Jefferson’s attorney general, while Clifton's father would over the years hold several high-ranking government positions, including vice president of the United States.[1]
At the outbreak of theCivil War, 15-year old Clifton entered theConfederate Army with his father and was later amidshipman in theConfederate Navy.[2]
After the war, he attendedWashington College inLexington, Virginia, for three years where the school's president,ConfederateGeneralRobert E. Lee, encouraged his desire for a career of public service. Afterwards, he joined his older brother in acottonplantation nearPine Bluff, Arkansas, and engaged in cotton planting and in the commission business for thirteen years. In 1876, Breckinridge married Katherine Carson, the daughter of a well-to-doMississippi family, with whom he had four children.[3]
Breckinridge started his political career when he was elected an alderman in the Pine Bluff City Council.
He was later elected aDemocrat to theUnited States House of Representatives in 1882, taking seat in 1883.John G. Carlisle, the newSpeaker of the House and friend of the Breckinridges, saw to it that the new congressman got a place on theCommittee on Ways and Means. He was reelected in 1884 and 1886.
Breckinridge's political career came into great danger after the election of 1888.Arkansas Democrats were found guilty of voting fraud in the election forArkansas's 2nd congressional district after it was discovered that inConway County, Arkansas, four masked and armedwhite men stormed into a predominantlyblack voting precinct and, at gunpoint, stole the ballot box that contained a large majority of votes for hisRepublican opponent,John M. Clayton, the brother of formerArkansas Governor andSenatorPowell Clayton. Under these circumstances, Clayton contested the election and went toPlumerville, Arkansas, to start an investigation on the matter. However, on the evening of January 29, 1889, an unknown assailant shot through the window to the room he was staying in at a local boardinghouse and killed him instantly. After a congressional investigation, Clayton was declared the winner, thus unseating Breckinridge; however, owing to Clayton's death, the seat was declared vacant. Breckinridge was not found guilty in any wrongdoing in the rigged election or in Clayton's assassination and was elected to fill the vacant seat in 1890.
Breckinridge was reelected to the House of Representatives again in 1890 and 1892. He was one of the authors of legislation to repeal theSherman Silver Purchase Act and adopted theWilson–Gorman Tariff Act. He regained trust after the so-called "Clayton Affair" and was greatly respected as a congressman. A featured article inHarper's Weekly described him as "one of the very first men in the House of Representatives." During thePanic of 1893-1894, Breckinridge staunchly supportedPresidentGrover Cleveland's defense of thegold standard. Arkansas farmers, most of whom supportedfree silver, refused to support the incumbent for reelection and Breckinridge lost theDemocratic primary toJohn S. Little who went on to win the election.
Breckinridge resigned from the House of Representatives in 1894 before his final term's expiration to accept President Cleveland's nomination asMinister to Russia where he served until 1897. As Minister, he proved capable of sending reports onRussian aims back to Washington, D.C. His warnings about the end of friendly relations between Russia and China due to Russia's expansion into China did not affect any change in the United States'foreign policy due to its then-prevailing isolationism. Because of this, Breckinridge largely dealt with routine problems of trade and immigration. He was less successful in handling the ceremonial and social aspects of diplomacy inSaint Petersburg as the expense of entertaining amidst the splendor of the aristocratic Russian capital was beyond his means. This was particularly true during the rich festivities that marked the coronation ofTsarNicholas II andEmpressAlexandra Fyodorovna in 1896. To his chagrin, at the coronation, Breckinridge had to wear ceremonialknee breeches required by protocol. Breckinridge feared his former constituents inArkansas would never understand his elaborate attire.
AfterWilliam McKinley, a former colleague of his from the House Ways and Means Committee, took office as President in 1897, McKinley replaced Breckinridge withRepublicanEthan Allen Hitchcock and he returned toPine Bluff, Arkansas. However, in 1900, McKinley appointed him to a position on theDawes Commission to theFive Civilized Tribes inIndian Territory. Given the responsibility of distributing individual allotments of tribal land to theCherokee, Breckinridge and other commissioners were charged with fraudulently acquiringIndian lands in 1903. An investigation handled by theDepartment of Justice cleared Breckinridge of illegal actions and he left the commission in 1905.
After resigning from the Dawes Commission, Breckinridge founded the Arkansas Valley Trust Company inFort Smith, Arkansas, which he served as president of until 1914. He was a delegate to theArkansas Constitutional Convention from 1917 to 1918 where he convinced fellow delegates to approve a unicameral legislature, however the provision later rescinded. He was widowed in 1921 and lived in Fort Smith until 1925 when he moved to Hyden, Kentucky to live with his daughter,Mary Breckinridge, founder of theFrontier Nursing Service. At first they lived in the first Midwife Clinic with the nurses while the big log cabin was being built in Wendover. Clifton looked after the horses for the first frontier nurses.
He died in Wendover on December 3, 1932, at age eighty-six.
He was interred atLexington Cemetery among several members of his family including his wife and children.His Fort Smith house is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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