1. John Breathitt was an American politician and lawyer who was the 11th Governor of Kentucky.
31 Facts About John Breathitt
1. 2.
John Breathitt was the first Democrat to hold this office and was the second Kentucky governor to die in office.
3.
Early in life, John Breathitt was appointed a deputy surveyor in Illinois Territory.
4.
In 1811, John Breathitt was elected to the first of several terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives.
5.
John Breathitt was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1828.
6.
John Breathitt won, but James Turner Morehead, the Whig candidate for lieutenant governor, defeated John Breathitt's running mate.
7.
John Breathitt died in office of tuberculosis on February 21,1834.
8.
John Breathitt was the eldest of five sons and four daughters born to William and Elizabeth Breathitt.
9.
William John Breathitt had immigrated to Maryland from Scotland, then settled in Virginia.
10.
Two younger brothers later became active in politics: George John Breathitt served as a private secretary to President Andrew Jackson.
11.
James John Breathitt became Commonwealth's Attorney for the state of Kentucky.
12.
John Breathitt manufactured and sold the pills, which became national bestsellers.
13.
John Breathitt was educated at home and in the few public schools of his native state.
14.
John Breathitt's family moved to Logan County, Kentucky in 1800, where he continued his education.
15.
John Breathitt returned to Kentucky, where he taught in a country school.
16.
John Breathitt invested his income in land purchases, and shortly amassed enough wealth to sustain him for a few years.
17.
John Breathitt studied or read law under Judge Caleb Wallace.
18.
John Breathitt was admitted to the bar of Russellville, Kentucky in 1810 and opened his practice there.
19.
John Breathitt was elected to represent Logan County in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1811, and was re-elected every year until 1815.
20.
Barry lost the governorship to National Republican Thomas Metcalfe, but Breathitt defeated Metcalfe's running mate Joseph R Underwood by more than 1,000 votes.
21.
In 1833, John Breathitt became president of the Kentucky Common School Society.
22.
John Breathitt received 66 of 137 votes, 3 votes short of a majority.
23.
John Breathitt defeated Buckner by a small margin, but Morehead defeated Taylor, John Breathitt's little-known running mate.
24.
John Breathitt's election marked the first time a Democrat was elected to the governorship of Kentucky.
25.
Early in his term, John Breathitt won favor from both Whigs and Democrats by opposing South Carolina's actions during the Nullification Crisis.
26.
John Breathitt ardently supported Jacksonian principles, and wielded his veto against bills critical of President Jackson's land policy.
27.
John Breathitt supported Jackson's desire to dissolve the Second Bank of the United States.
28.
John Breathitt favored completion of the Lexington and Ohio Railroad to improve infrastructure and access to markets.
29.
John Breathitt supported a $300,000 loan from the state Board of Internal Improvements for that purpose.
30.
John Breathitt died in office of tuberculosis in the governor's mansion in Frankfort on February 21,1834.
31.
John Breathitt was the second sitting governor of Kentucky to die in office.