Fragile Freedom

There was little doubt that the John C. Calhoun who began his career as a Congressman representing the 6th District of South Carolina and who rose to serve as James Monroe’s Secretary of War, was a different man politically than the John C. Calhoun who was overwhelmingly selected to serve as the 7th Vice President of the United States under both John Quincy Adams and his successor Andrew Jackson. A supporter of protective tariffs, he would begin to oppose them and where he once advocated a strong Federal Government, his allegiances began to shift towards State’s Rights, and limited, more restrained authority. It would be this political realignment that would, on December 28th, 1832, lead him to become the first Vice President to resign the Office. The significance of Calhoun leaving the office was not in the fact that he had. Former Senator and Governor of New York turned Secretary of State Martin Van Buren would already be elected to replace Calhoun as Jackson’s Vice President. Increasingly at odds with Pres