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  Breckinridge, Henry Skillman
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic  
 
NameHenry Skillman Breckinridge
Address
New York, New York , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born May 25, 1886
DiedMay 02, 1960 (73 years)
ContributorThomas Walker
Last ModifedThomas Walker
May 25, 2005 10:21pm
Tags
InfoHenry Breckinridge (May 1886 - May 1960)

Breckinridge, Henry, lawyer, .was born in Chicago, ILL., May 25, 1886, son of Joseph Cabell and Louise Ludlow (Dudley) Breckinridge. His first paternal American ancestor was Alexander Breckinridge, a native of Northern Ireland of Scotch ancestry, who came to this country in 1728 and settled in Pennsylvania, but later, in 1740, moved to Augusta County, VA. From him and his wife, Jane, the descent was through Robert and Letitia Preston, John and Mary Hopkins Cabell, and Robert Jefferson and Ann Sophonisba, who were the grandparents of Henry Breckinridge. His father was a U.S. Army officer. The son was graduated B.A. at Princeton University in 1907 and LL.B. at Harvard University in 1910. Admitted to the Kentucky bar in the latter year, he practiced his profession in Lexington for three years. In 1913 he was named the assistant secretary of war during the first term of Woodrow Wilson (q.v.), and while serving in that post he took $3,000,000 in gold abroad on the cruiser ?Tennessee? for the relief of United States citizens stranded in the warring countries. In 1916 both he and the secretary of war tendered their resignations. He then served as first vice-president of the Pacific Hardware & Steel Co., San Francisco, Calif., in 1916-1917. With the entry of the United States into the First World War, Breckinridge was commissioned major in the U.S. Army Infantry and during his service was advanced to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He went overseas with the AEF as a battalion commander and saw action in the Vosges, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne sectors. Honorably discharged in 1919, he practiced law in Washington, D.C., until 1922. He then moved to New York city, where he conducted a law practice until the close of his life. He was attorney for Charles A. Lindbergh and participated as an intermediary in the futile ransom negotiations for the return of the Lindbergh child, who had been kidnapped in 1932. Breckinridge took part in numerous civic and political activities. He was president of the Navy League of the United States from 1919 to 1921 and at that time organized the first Navy Day, which was celebrated in 1920. In 1933 he was counsel to the Joint Congressional Committee to Investigate Dirigible Disasters. He entered the Democratic preferential primaries under the auspices of the Association for the Defense of the Constitution in four states in 1936, to challenge the New Deal policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt (q.v.), and in the campaign that fall he gave support to the Republican candidate, Alfred M. Landon. He was the author of ?. . .shall not perish . . .? (1941), a book resulting from his vigorous support of the United States intervention in the Second World War on the side of Great Britain and France. Honorary LL.D. degrees were conferred on him by the University of Kentucky in 1915 and Tusculum College, Greeneville, Tenn., in 1935, an honorary Master of Physical Education degree by the International YMCA College in 1929, and an honorary D.C.L. degree by Bishops' University, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada in 1940. He was a member of the American, New York State, and New York County bar associations, American Law Institute, Amateur Fencers League of America (pres. 1925-30), Sons of the American Revolution, Military Order of the World War, American Legion, Loyal Legion, the Metropolitan and the Army and Navy clubs of Washington, D.C., and the Princeton and Fencers clubs of New York city. His religious affiliation was with the Presbyterian church. Fencing was one of his early interests, and he was a member of the U.S. Olympic Fencing Team competing in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1920 and captain of the same team in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1928, and in 1921, 1923, and 1926 he was a member of the American International Fencing Team. Playing tennis was another of his recreations. Breckinridge was married three times: (1) in Geneva, Switzerland, July 7, 1910, to Ruth Bradley, daughter of Edgar Woodman of Concord, N.H., a lawyer, and by this marriage had two daughters: Elizabeth Foster, who married John Stephens Graham, and Louise Dudley; he was divorced from his first wife in 1925; (2) in Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 1927, to Aida de Acosta Root; he was divorced from his second wife in 1947; (3) in Carson City, Nev., Mar. 27, 1947, to Margaret Lucy, daughter of John Raymond Smith of Gloucestershire, England, a horticulturist, and by this marriage had a daughter, Madeline Houston. His death occurred in New York City, May 2, 1960.



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DISCUSSION
Importance? 7.00000 Average

FAMILY
Father Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, Sr. 1842-1920
Grandfather Robert Jefferson Breckinridge 1800-1871
Great-Grandfather John Breckinridge 1760-1806
Grand Aunt Letitia Breckinridge Porter 1786-1831
1st Cousin Once Removed Peter A. Porter 1827-1864
2nd Cousin Peter A. Porter 1853-1925
Grand Uncle John Cabell Breckinridge 1788-1823
1st Cousin Once Removed John C. Breckinridge 1821-1875
2nd Cousin Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, II 1844-1906
2nd Cousin Clifton R. Breckinridge 1846-1932
2nd Cousin Frances B. "Fannie" Breckinridge Steele 1848-1924
2nd Cousin John Witherspoon Owen Breckinridge 1850-1892
2nd Cousin Mary Desha Breckinridge Maltby 1854-1928
Grand Uncle John Breckinridge 1797-1841
1st Cousin Once Removed Mary Breckinridge Porter 1826-1854
1st Cousin Once Removed Samuel M. Breckinridge 1828-1891
2nd Cousin Margaret Miller Breckinridge Long 1852-1919
Uncle Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, Jr. 1833-1915
Aunt Marie Breckinridge Handy 1836-1905
1st Cousin L. Irving Handy 1861-1922
Uncle William C. P. Breckinridge 1837-1904
Brother Scott Breckinridge 1882-1941
Nephew John B. Breckinridge 1913-1979

INFORMATION LINKS
Henry and Aida Breckinridge  Discuss
RACES
  07/01/1936 US President - D Primaries Lost 2.63% (-90.56%)
  06/27/1936 US President - D Convention Lost 0.00% (-100.00%)
  11/06/1934 NY US Senate Lost 0.66% (-54.68%)
ENDORSEMENTS
US President - Dec 14, 1936 R Alfred M. Landon
NY US President - Nov 06, 1928 R Herbert C. Hoover