John McKinley

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John McKinley

John McKinley (born May 1, 1780 in Culpeper County , Virginia , † July 19, 1852 in Louisville , Kentucky ) was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who represented the state of Alabama in both chambers of the US Congress . He also belonged as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of.

Born in Virginia, McKinley moved to Kentucky with his parents when he was a child. In this state he studied law and was inducted into the bar in 1800, after which he initially practiced in Frankfort and Louisville. He later moved to Huntsville , Alabama.

There his political career began with membership in the House of Representatives of the state, to which he belonged from 1820 to 1822. After the death of US Senator Henry H. Chambers , he was elected to Congress for the first time in 1826, where he ended his term of office, which lasted until March 3, 1831; he applied for re-election in vain.

After another session in the Alabama House of Representatives in 1831, McKinley ran for a seat in the US House of Representatives in 1832 , where he represented Alabama after a successful election from March 4, 1833 to March 3, 1835. He did not stand for re-election; instead he was once again a member of the Alabama legislature. After all, in 1836 he was once again a Democratic candidate for the Senate seat, which he then won; however, he only took this mandate from March 4, 1837 until his quick resignation on April 22 of the same year.

The reason for the waiver of the mandate was the appointment as judge at the Supreme Court by US President Martin Van Buren . The official nomination took place in September 1837; McKinley took office the following January. In the almost 15 years of his membership in the Supreme Court, he contributed only a few of his own accents to its judgments; his main focus was on state rights. He died while still in office in July 1852.

Web links

  • John McKinley in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
  • Biography of the Supreme Court Historical Society