King, William Rufus de Vane

King, William Rufus de Vane
born April 7, 1786, Sampson county, N.C., U.S.
died April 18, 1853, Cahaba, Ala.

U.S. politician.

A member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina from 1811, he resigned from the House in 1816 to serve as secretary of legation to William Pinkney, the U.S. minister plenipotentiary to Russia. Upon his return, he moved to Alabama and became one of the state's first U.S. senators (1819–44, 1848–52). As minister to France from 1844 to 1846, he convinced the French government not to interfere with the U.S. annexation of Texas. In 1852 he was elected U.S. vice president under Franklin Pierce, but he died shortly after taking the oath of office.

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▪ vice president of United States
born April 7, 1786, Sampson County, N.C., U.S.
died April 18, 1853, Cahaba, Ala.
 13th vice president of the United States (1853) in the Democratic administration of Franklin Pierce (Pierce, Franklin). Although elected and sworn in as vice president, he did not live to perform any of the official duties of that office.

      After graduating from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) in 1803, King studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1806. He turned almost immediately to politics, serving in the state legislature and later in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the House he was part of the War Hawk faction.

      King resigned from the House in 1816 to serve as secretary of legation to William Pinkney (Pinkney, William), the U.S. minister plenipotentiary to Russia. When King returned in 1818, he moved to Alabama. Again he entered politics, serving in Alabama's first constitutional convention and later becoming one of the state's first U.S. senators. In 1836–41 he was president pro tempore of the Senate, and he remained a senator until 1844.

      In April of that year, President John Tyler (Tyler, John) appointed King U.S. minister to France. His mission was to keep France from interfering with the annexation of Texas from Mexico. France did not interfere, and in 1846 King returned to the United States. He ran for the Senate once again but was defeated. Appointed in 1848 to fill an unexpired term in the Senate, he remained in office until 1852.

      At the Democratic Party convention that year, King was the beneficiary of Franklin Pierce (Pierce, Franklin)'s victory over James Buchanan (Buchanan, James) for the presidential nomination. King, a Buchanan backer, was offered the vice-presidential nomination in an effort to placate Buchanan's supporters. The Pierce–King ticket won the election, but King was too ill with tuberculosis to attend the inauguration in March 1853. Taking the oath of office in Cuba, where he had gone in search of a cure, King became the only vice president to be sworn in on foreign soil. He returned to Alabama a few weeks later, determined to assume his responsibilities, but died the day after he reached his plantation.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • King, William Rufus de Vane — (7 abr. 1786, cond. de Sampson, N.C., EE.UU.–18 abr. 1853, Cahaba, Ala.). Político estadounidense. Fue miembro de la Cámara de Representantes por Carolina del Norte desde 1811; renunció en 1816 para ocupar el cargo de secretario de legación con… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • King — /king/, n. 1. Billie Jean (Moffitt) /mof it/, born 1943, U.S. tennis player. 2. Clarence, 1842 1901, U.S. geologist and cartographer. 3. Ernest Joseph, 1878 1956, U.S. naval officer. 4. Martin Luther, Jr., 1929 68, U.S. Baptist minister: civil… …   Universalium

  • King — King, Martin Luther King, William Lyon Mackenzie * * * (as used in expressions) Cole, Nat King Leslie Lynch King, Jr. King Cotton King George Sound, bahía King, B. B. Riley B. King King, Billie Jean …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Vane — Vane, John R. * * * (as used in expressions) King, William Rufus de Vane Vane, Sir Henry Sir Henry Vane, el Joven …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • William — /wil yeuhm/, n. 1. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter W. 2. a male given name: from Germanic words meaning will and helmet. * * * (as used in expressions) Huddie William Ledbetter Aberhart William George William… …   Universalium

  • king — kingless, adj. kinglessness, n. kinglike, adj. /king/, n. 1. a male sovereign or monarch; a man who holds by life tenure, and usually by hereditary right, the chief authority over a country and people. 2. (cap.) God or Christ. 3. a person or… …   Universalium

  • Rufus — /rooh feuhs/, n. a male given name: from a Latin word meaning red headed. * * * (as used in expressions) King Rufus King William Rufus de Vane Putnam Rufus William Rufus * * * …   Universalium

  • Rufus — (as used in expressions) King, Rufus King, William Rufus de Vane Putnam, Rufus …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • vane — vaned, adj. vaneless, adj. /vayn/, n. 1. See weather vane. 2. a blade, plate, sail, etc., in the wheel of a windmill, to be moved by the air. 3. any of a number of blades or plates attached radially to a rotating drum or cylinder, as in a turbine …   Universalium

  • Vane — /vayn/, n. Sir Henry (Sir Harry Vane), 1613 62, British statesman and author. * * * (as used in expressions) King William Rufus de Vane Vane Sir Henry Sir Henry Vane the Younger * * * …   Universalium

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