Williom RuIuj King, of Sompjon County, elected
Vice Pfcjident ol the United Stole».
He
Served
Ihe
Shortest
Term
«I/
Itov
/.. ККМ1»
Of I he men who have served as Vice-
Presidents of ihe United States, seven
have died in office. One of these seven
was William Rufus King, a North
Carolinian, born in Sampson County
April 7. 1 7X6. He was elected to the
vice-presidency on March 24. 1853, to
serve under President Franklin Pierce,
but actually filled his post for only 25
days, the shortest term of office in our
government’s history.
King's health was very bad; he was
in the last stages of tuberculosis and
was recuperating in Cuba, so weak he
could scarcely stand on his feet. when,
by a special act of Congress, the oath
of office was administered to him by
the American consul. King was elected
on the first ballot, and had been nomi¬
nated unanimously, lie lived barely
long enough to return to his home in
Alabama, and died April 18. 1853, the
day after his arrival home from Cuba.
Although history does not place the
name of William Rufus King in the
position of one of its great men. it is
notable that the language used to de¬
scribe both the man and his work is
suited for the men who miss the repu¬
tation which they deserve because their
work is not spectacular.
King graduated from the University
of North Carolina, then practiced law
in his home state, and was elected to
the legislature, when he was only
21 years old. He was exceptionally
well informed on Parliamentary law.
He sat in the House of Representatives
from 1810 to 1816. then served for a
time as secretary of the American lega¬
tions at both Naples and St. Peters¬
burg. After moving to the state of Ala¬
bama. he represented that state in the
Senate from 1819 to 1844; then was
Minister to France until 1846, return¬
ing to the Senate until 1852. He served
several times as president pro tern.
As Minister to France, his dignified
but courteous manners and ample for¬
tune ensured success in the perform¬
ance of the ceremonial and social duties
of the office. His chief public duty was
to prevent the government from taking
active steps to prevent annexation of
Texas.
As Senator. King’s dignity and mod¬
eration kept him during the greater part
of his career a consistent orthodox
Democrat, who could sway the Senate
and who watched carefully over the
interests of the South. His greatest
characteristics were his dignity and his
regard for order and propriety.
A tall, large man of distinguished
appearance. King was fitted to hold an
unruly Senate in awe. He had never
sought to earn a brilliant reputation as
a golden-voiced orator, but he
was a pleasing, clear and well-informed
speaker, and possessed a quick percep¬
tion of the points at issue.
King warmly favored a very liberal
policy in Ihe disposition of the national
domain, and as chairman of the Senate
Committee on Public Lands, he pre¬
sented voluminous reports which con¬
demned the use of public lands as a
source of governmental revenue.
It was said of him: “His was not one
of those cold and impassive characters
which shed their light without heat, but
its kindly influence fell, with genial
and friendly warmth, within whatever
circle he might move."
Another eulogy reads: "He stands to
the 'memory, in sharp outline, as it
were against the sky, like some
chiselled column of antique art. or
some consular statue of the imperial
republic wrapped in its marble robes,
grandly beautiful in the simple dignity
and unity of a faultless proportion."
\o pa|»c»r in
I In* I rasli
REMEMBER?
Living on a corner, as I do. I’m for¬
ever picking paper cups and tissue
hankies off my lawn. Realizing it does
take forethought to dispose of these
things in the right manner. I am re¬
minded of the days when we didn’t
have them.
But the villages were littered with
many things, such things as wornout
spittoons, horse collars, bedsprings. tin
buckets, wash tubs — everything ex¬
cept paper. Folk saved their weekly
new spapers and yearly catalogs for spe¬
cial uses, one of which was to kindle Ihe
fire.
Phe village we lived in at that time
offered a prize of five dollars for the
biggest trash pile. Everybody went to
work hunting rubbish. Any kind of
junk.
We thought we had it made when my
cousins, my sister and I dragged in
garbage from the far reaches of the
village and proudly dumped it on our
heap. But we were doomed to take
second place when a young fellow next
door, who owned a horse and wagon,
hauled in load after load of the stuff
from somewhere, and turned his back¬
yard into a gigantic trash pile.
Needless to say. the village was
cleaned from back alley to street. And
it only cost five dollars. — Selena W.
Sanders
THE STATE. APRIL 1. 1970
