David Rice Atchison
Missouri’s Early Political Leaders
David Rice Atchison
“Missouri’s ‘other’ President”
David Rice Atchison
“Missouri’s ‘other’ President”
David Rice Atchison was born in Kentucky in 1807, just four short years after the land where Missouri is located became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase. Atchison grew up on his parent’s plantation and attended college at Transylvania College in Kentucky at the age of fourteen. One of his fellow classmates at the time was a young many by the name of Jefferson Davis, who would become known as the First President of the Confederate States of America. In 1829, Atchison found his way into the field of law while living in Kentucky. The next year he would relocate to Missouri.
1830 found Atchison practicing law in Liberty, Missouri and he became a very successful attorney in the region. His first election to politics was in the Missouri House of Representatives in 1834. He later would serve as a circuit court judge for the area around Liberty. He would also serve as Platte County commissioner for a short period of time in 1843.
That same year, 1843, would provide the appointment of David Rice Atchison to the United States Senate to complete the term of recently deceased Lewis F. Linn. At the age of 36, he became the youngest senator from Missouri up to that time and the first senator from western Missouri.
Atchison was pro-slavery and worked toward advancing slavery into the territories. His home was close to the Kansas border and he participated in the border conflicts of the 1840s. Atchison once said, “The prosperity or the ruin of the whole South depends on the Kansas struggle.” He encouraged Missourians to cross the border and illegally vote in Kansas elections to help sway the outcomes of these elections.
Atchison would find himself at odds with his fellow Missouri senator, Thomas Hart Benton over the issue of slavery. The two would also butt heads on the issue of the annexation of Texas. Atchison would influence the popularity downfall of Benton in the Senate. In 1845, Atchison would become the president pro tempore of the Senate at the age of 38. He built a strong group of pro-slavery Senators during his time there.
Atchison’s views on slavery would side him with Missouri’s pro-Confederate governor, Claiborne Jackson at the start of the Civil War. Jackson appointed him as a general in the Missouri State Guard. Atchison drew many from the north part of the state into the State Guard and he would lead troops against Union forces during the war. He led pro-slavery troops to defeat Union troops in 1861 in the Battle of Liberty. In 1862 he left the state for Texas for a period of time because of conflicts with the Confederate military leader, former governor Sterling Price. He would later return to his Missouri farm after the war and died there in 1886.
Some have claimed the belief that David Rice Atchison was the President of the United States for the shortest period of time in history. Many historians dispute this claim though. James K. Polk finished out his term of presidency at noon on March 4, 1849, a Sunday. The new President, Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn in on a Sunday, due to his religious views of the Sabbath. Taylor would not take the oath of office until Monday, March 5, 1849. So, some felt that there was no actual president after noon on Sunday until Taylor was sworn in on Monday. Not only was Polk’s term over, his vice president, George Dallas had resigned earlier leaving the nation without someone in either position. At the time, the order of succession to the president held that the President Pro Tempore of the Senate was the next in line to fill the absence of the president. Atchison had held this role in the 30th Congress, but that position also had ended prior to the inauguration, at midnight on March 3rd. Atchison may become the President Pro Tempore in the 31st Congress, but was not officially in that role at the time. Many lay hold to the belief that Atchison was president in acting during this time and monuments have even been erected laying to that claim. But in all actuality, Taylor was officially the president at noon on March 4th, whether or not he had taken the oath of office.
In Plattsburg, Missouri, there is a monument outside of the Clinton County Courthouse displaying Atchison with the claim that he was “president for One day.” But like the common knowledge that Columbus did not discover America, most people today would hold to the facts that Atchison may have acted as if he was president during those hours, but really was simply just a senator from the Show-me-State.
1830 found Atchison practicing law in Liberty, Missouri and he became a very successful attorney in the region. His first election to politics was in the Missouri House of Representatives in 1834. He later would serve as a circuit court judge for the area around Liberty. He would also serve as Platte County commissioner for a short period of time in 1843.
That same year, 1843, would provide the appointment of David Rice Atchison to the United States Senate to complete the term of recently deceased Lewis F. Linn. At the age of 36, he became the youngest senator from Missouri up to that time and the first senator from western Missouri.
Atchison was pro-slavery and worked toward advancing slavery into the territories. His home was close to the Kansas border and he participated in the border conflicts of the 1840s. Atchison once said, “The prosperity or the ruin of the whole South depends on the Kansas struggle.” He encouraged Missourians to cross the border and illegally vote in Kansas elections to help sway the outcomes of these elections.
Atchison would find himself at odds with his fellow Missouri senator, Thomas Hart Benton over the issue of slavery. The two would also butt heads on the issue of the annexation of Texas. Atchison would influence the popularity downfall of Benton in the Senate. In 1845, Atchison would become the president pro tempore of the Senate at the age of 38. He built a strong group of pro-slavery Senators during his time there.
Atchison’s views on slavery would side him with Missouri’s pro-Confederate governor, Claiborne Jackson at the start of the Civil War. Jackson appointed him as a general in the Missouri State Guard. Atchison drew many from the north part of the state into the State Guard and he would lead troops against Union forces during the war. He led pro-slavery troops to defeat Union troops in 1861 in the Battle of Liberty. In 1862 he left the state for Texas for a period of time because of conflicts with the Confederate military leader, former governor Sterling Price. He would later return to his Missouri farm after the war and died there in 1886.
Some have claimed the belief that David Rice Atchison was the President of the United States for the shortest period of time in history. Many historians dispute this claim though. James K. Polk finished out his term of presidency at noon on March 4, 1849, a Sunday. The new President, Zachary Taylor refused to be sworn in on a Sunday, due to his religious views of the Sabbath. Taylor would not take the oath of office until Monday, March 5, 1849. So, some felt that there was no actual president after noon on Sunday until Taylor was sworn in on Monday. Not only was Polk’s term over, his vice president, George Dallas had resigned earlier leaving the nation without someone in either position. At the time, the order of succession to the president held that the President Pro Tempore of the Senate was the next in line to fill the absence of the president. Atchison had held this role in the 30th Congress, but that position also had ended prior to the inauguration, at midnight on March 3rd. Atchison may become the President Pro Tempore in the 31st Congress, but was not officially in that role at the time. Many lay hold to the belief that Atchison was president in acting during this time and monuments have even been erected laying to that claim. But in all actuality, Taylor was officially the president at noon on March 4th, whether or not he had taken the oath of office.
In Plattsburg, Missouri, there is a monument outside of the Clinton County Courthouse displaying Atchison with the claim that he was “president for One day.” But like the common knowledge that Columbus did not discover America, most people today would hold to the facts that Atchison may have acted as if he was president during those hours, but really was simply just a senator from the Show-me-State.