John Adair

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under John Adair (disambiguation) .

John Adair

John Adair (born January 9, 1757 in Chester County , Province of South Carolina , † May 19, 1840 in Harrodsburg , Kentucky ) was an American politician and governor of Kentucky. He also represented this state in both chambers of Congress .

Early years and advancement

The young John Adair received his school education in Charlotte , after which he began a military career. He took part in the War of Independence and fought against the Indians in 1791 and 1792 under General James Wilkinson . Eventually he served as regimental commander under General Andrew Jackson in the 1812 War .

His political ascent took place parallel to this military career. Before moving to what is now Kentucky in 1788, he was a member of the South Carolina Convention , which ratified the United States Constitution. In 1792 he was a member of the Kentucky Constituent Assembly. Between 1793 and 1803 he sat several times in the House of Representatives of the new state, in the end he was chairman of the chamber ( speaker ). He represented Kentucky in the United States Senate in 1805 and 1806 . During this time his name was associated with Aaron Burr and his conspiracy. Proof of Adair's involvement could never be produced; later his innocence on the matter was established. But the rumor alone cost him his seat in the Senate and temporarily hampered his political career. It was not until 1817, after the acquittal and the military successes in the war of 1812, that he made his political comeback with his re-election to the Kentucky Parliament.

Kentucky governor

On August 7, 1820, Adair was elected governor of Kentucky by a narrow margin. He won with 32.8 percent of the vote ahead of Joseph Desha (32.0 percent), William Logan (19.9 percent) and Anthony Butler (15.3 percent), all of whom, like himself, were members of the Democratic-Republican Party . Adair's lead over Desha was only 546 votes. His term of office began on August 29 of the same year and ended on August 24, 1824. When he took office, the state was still suffering from the economic crisis of 1819. The main task of his government was to overcome this crisis. In this area he was only able to record partial successes because some of his planned reforms did not find a majority or were rejected as not being constitutional. All that remained was a banking reform. Otherwise, like his predecessors, he campaigned for the improvement of the state's infrastructure. During his tenure, Kentucky approved the Missouri Compromise .

After his tenure ended, he spent most of his time at home on his farm. Between 1831 and 1833 he served in the United States House of Representatives for a term . At that time he was a member of President Andrew Jackson's newly formed Democratic Party .

Honors

According to him, Adair County , Iowa, Adair County in Kentucky and Adair County named Missouri.

literature

• Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978. Vol. 2, Meckler Books, Westport, Conn. 1978. 4 volumes.
• Dictionary of American Biography
• John S. Gillig: In the Pursuit of Truth and Honor: The Controversy Between Andrew Jackson and John Adair in 1817. In: Filson Club History Quarterly. 58 (April 1984): 177-201;
• William G. Leger: The Public Life Of John Adair. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Kentucky, 1960.

Web links

• John Adair in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• John Adair in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• John Adair in the National Governors Association (English)