CALHOUN, JOHN C(ALDWELL)

born March 18, 1782, Abbeville district, S.C., U.S. died March 31, 1850, Washington, D.C. John Calhoun, detail of a daguerreotype by Mathew Brady, c. 1849. American political leader who was a congressman, secretary of war, seventh vice president (182532), senator, and secretary of state. He championed states' rights and slavery and was a symbol of the Old South.