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John B. Breckinridge

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John Bayne Breckinridge
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 6th district
In office
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded byWilliam P. Curlin Jr.
Succeeded byLarry Hopkins
38th & 40th Attorney General of Kentucky
In office
January 1, 1968 – January 3, 1972
GovernorLouie Nunn
Wendell Ford
Preceded byRobert F. Matthews Jr.
Succeeded byEd W. Hancock
In office
January 4, 1960 – January 6, 1964
GovernorBert Combs
Ned Breathitt
Preceded byJo M. Ferguson
Succeeded byRobert F. Matthews Jr.
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 49th district
In office
1956–1960
Personal details
BornNovember 29, 1913
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedJuly 29, 1979(1979-07-29) (aged 65)
Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Resting placeLexington Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseHelen Congleton
RelationsSee Breckinridge family
Children2
Parent(s)Scott Dudley Breckinridge Sr.
Gertrude Ashby Bayne

John Bayne Breckinridge (November 29, 1913 – July 29, 1979) was an American politician, a Democrat who served as Attorney General of Kentucky twice and also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky.

Early life

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Breckinridge was born in the District of Columbia on November 29, 1913. His father was Dr. Scott Dudley Breckinridge Sr. and his mother was Gertrude Ashby (née Bayne) Breckinridge. His father was an fencer who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics,[1] and was a gynecologist in Lexington.[2]

The Breckinridge family has been one of Kentucky's most prominent. John B.'s grandfather was Joseph Cabell Breckinridge Sr. and his great-uncle was John C. Breckinridge, who was vice president under James Buchanan, the Southern Democratic nominee for president in 1860 and a major general in the Confederate Army. Among John B.'s uncles were Joseph Cabell Breckinridge Jr., an officer in the United States Navy during the Spanish–American War, and Henry Skillman Breckinridge, who served as the United States Assistant Secretary of War under President Woodrow Wilson. He was the great-great-grandson of John Breckinridge, who had served as the second Attorney General of Kentucky and in the Kentucky House of Representatives and who also served as a member of the United States Senate and as Attorney General of the United States. John B. Breckinridge was also the great-nephew of William Campbell Preston Breckinridge who also represented Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives.[3]

He received his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Kentucky. He was admitted to the Kentucky Bar in 1940 and practiced law in Lexington, Kentucky. He worked in the Anti-Trust Division of the United States Department of Justice in 1940–1941. He served in the United States Army from April 18, 1941, to October 30, 1946, during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.[4][5]

Political career

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Breckinridge was twice elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 49th district and served from 1956 through 1959.[3]

Breckinridge was elected Attorney General of Kentucky in 1959 when Bert T. Combs led the Democratic ticket to victory. He served his first term in that office from 1960 through 1963, also serving on the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law and as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1960. Under state law at that time Breckinridge could not run for a second consecutive term as attorney general. He ran in 1963 for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky but lost in the Democratic primary to Harry Lee Waterfield. After that defeat Breckinridge returned to his law practice and began planning for a return to public office.[3]

Breckinridge was elected to a second, non-consecutive term as Attorney General of Kentucky in 1967. He was one of three statewide Democratic candidates elected while the Republican ticket, led by Louie B. Nunn, won the governorship. Breckinridge served his second term as Attorney General of Kentucky from 1968 through 1971. He ran for lieutenant governor in 1971 but again lost in the Democratic primary, this time to the Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives Julian Carroll,[3] who was running on an informal slate with former Gov. Bert Combs, who lost to Lt. Gov. Wendell Ford.

In 1972 Breckinridge was elected to an open seat in the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky's Sixth Congressional District (Lexington and the central Bluegrass). He defeated Republican Laban P. Jackson. He was re-elected in 1974 and 1976 but was defeated in the 1978 Democratic primary by state Sen. Tom Easterly of Frankfort, who in turn lost the seat to Republican Larry Hopkins.[3]

After his defeat Breckinridge returned to the practice of law in Lexington, Kentucky, where he died less than a year later on July 29, 1979.[4] His ashes were interred at Lexington Cemetery.[3]

Legacy

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As a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives and the United States House of Representatives, Breckinridge was regarded as an independent moderate.[4]

Personal life

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Breckinridge was married to Helen Congleton, whom he would have two children with, Knight Osheroff and John B. Breckinridge, Jr.[6]

Electoral history

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Kentucky Attorney General Election, 1959[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge 477,288 61.93%
Republican Samuel S. Cannon 293,375 38.07%
Total votes 770,663 100.00%
Democratic hold
Kentucky Lieutenant Gubernatorial Democratic primary results, 1963
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Harry Lee Waterfield 247,464 55.90%
Democratic John B. Breckinridge 195,238 44.10%
Total votes 442,702 100.00%
Kentucky Attorney General Democratic primary results, 1967
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge 134,280 68.16%
Democratic M. R. "Mike" Mills 62,709 31.84%
Total votes 196,989 100.00%
Kentucky Attorney General Election, 1967
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge 403,204 50.79%
Republican Lester H. Burns, Jr. 385,325 48.53%
Conservative Clarence L. Bell 5,347 0.68%
Total votes 793,876 100.00%
Democratic hold
Kentucky Lieutenant Gubernatorial Democratic primary results, 1971
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Julian M. Carroll 152,336 44.64%
Democratic John B. Breckinridge 130,673 38.30%
Democratic Henry Beach 43,593 12.78%
Democratic James W. Rogers 14,601 4.28%
Total votes 341,203 100.00%
Kentucky's 6th congressional district, Democratic primary results, 1972
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge 18,537 57.39%
Democratic Tom Ward 10,330 31.98%
Democratic Philip E. (Phil) King 3,433 10.63%
Total votes 32,300 100.00%
Kentucky's 6th congressional district general election, 1972[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge 76,185 52.40%
Republican Laban P. Jackson 68,012 46.77%
People's Thomas F. Lundeen 1,215 0.83%
Total votes 145,412 100.00%
Democratic hold
Kentucky's 6th congressional district, Democratic primary results, 1974
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge (incumbent) 21,202 84.05%
Democratic Robert K. Landrum 4,023 15.95%
Total votes 25,225 100.00%
Kentucky's 6th congressional district general election, 1974[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge (incumbent) 63,010 72.08%
Republican Thomas F. Rogers III 21,039 24.06%
American Fred Kerestesy 3,367 3.86%
Total votes 87,416 100.00%
Democratic hold
Kentucky's 6th congressional district, Democratic primary results, 1976
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge (incumbent) 36,887 88.18%
Democratic Victor E. Privette 4,942 11.82%
Total votes 41,829 100.00%
Kentucky's 6th congressional district general election, 1976[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Breckinridge (incumbent) 90,695 93.99%
American Anthony A. McCord 5,795 6.00%
Write-in 3 0.00%
Total votes 96,493 100.00%
Democratic hold
Kentucky's 6th congressional district, Democratic primary results, 1978
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tom Easterly 17,673 50.11%
Democratic John B. Breckinridge (incumbent) 17,178 48.71%
Democratic Victor E. Privette 414 1.18%
Total votes 35,265 100.00%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Scott Breckinridge Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
  2. ^ "DR. S. D. BRECKINRIDGE, GYNECOLOGIST, WAS 59; Kentucky Practitioner, Former National Fencing Champion" (PDF). The New York Times. 2 August 1941. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "BRECKINRIDGE, John Bayne - Biographical Information". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "John Bayne Breckinridge". The New York Times. 31 July 1979. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Index Record for John Beckinridge (1913) WWII Army Enlistment Records", Fold3 by Ancestry.com website. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
  6. ^ "John B. Breckinridge papers". ExploreUK.
  7. ^ "Primary and General Elections 1955-1972". Commonwealth of Kentucky.
  8. ^ Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972 Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives
  9. ^ Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1974 Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives
  10. ^ Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976 Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives
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Party political offices
Preceded by
Jo M. Ferguson
 Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Kentucky
1959 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Robert F. Matthews Jr.
 Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Kentucky
1967 		Succeeded by
Ed W. Hancock
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by U.S. Representative from Kentucky's 6th congressional district
January 3, 1973-January 3, 1979 		Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by
Jo M. Ferguson
 Attorney General of Kentucky
1960–1964 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Attorney General of Kentucky
1968–1972 		Succeeded by
Ed W. Hancock
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