John J. Crittenden, born in 1787 in Kentucky, elected to the Kentucky State Legislature in 1811 and served until 1817, two years as Speaker. In 1817 he was elected to the United States Senate, resigning in 1819 to return to private practice in Kentucky. He served several more times in the State Legislature (1825, 1829-1832) before again heading to the U. S. Senate in 1835. In 1848, he left the Senate again. From 1850-1853 he held the post of Attorney General for Millard Fillmore's administration. Crittenden returned to the Senate again in 1855, sitting until 1863. He opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, believing it violated the Missouri Compromise. He was successful with Kentucky, but less so with his family, for one of his sons, Thomas Leonidas Crittenden, served the Union as a General and another, George Bibb Crittenden, served the Confederacy in the same capacity. (A nephew also served the Union as an officer.) In 1863, Crittenden was again running for the U. S. Senate when he died in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Prefatory note -- Chronology -- Calendar -- Index.