Today in 1832 -- Famously bigoted John C. Calhoun, first Vice President to resign.

[L. Coyote]

"I hold that the present state of civilization, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual, are brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding states between the two, is, instead of an evil, a good. A positive good." — John C Calhoun on Slavery

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John C. Calhoun (1782—1850) was one of the nastier political figures in 19th century United States and could be considered the intellectual great-grandfather of American-styled white supremacy and Southern reactionary politics.[1] He was a strong defender of slavery[2] and brought the nation to the brink of civil war due to his nullification doctrine that basically argues that any state can nullify any law it doesn't agree with.[3]

Despite all that, he managed to be US Vice President for a time (1825-1832)[4] and overall one of the most important Southern leaders during the antebellum era. Famously he was Andrew Jackson's vice president while the two had a falling out during the Nullification Crisis of 1832, leading to the two bitterly hating each other and Jackson claiming on his last day in office that his two main regrets were that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." RationalWiki

If Indian killer Jackson thought you were the supreme asshole of your time, you had to be a really huge one.

"Be assured that emancipa­tion itself would not satisfy these fanatics: -that gained, the next step would be to raise the negroes to a social and political equality with the whites; and that being effected, we would soon find the present condi­tion of the two races reversed. They and their northern allies would be the masters, and we the slaves; the condition of the white race in the British West India Islands, bad as it is, would be happiness to ours. There the mother country is interested in sustaining the supremacy of the European race." — Calhoun in an 1837 speech

"We make a great mistake in supposing that all people are capable of self government. Acting under that impression, many are anxious to force free Governments on all the people of this continent, and over the world, if they had the power. It has been lately urged in a very respectable quarter, that it is the mission of this country to spread civil and religious liberty over all the globe, and especially over this continent -- even by force, if necessary. It is a sad delusion. None but a people advanced to a high state of moral and intellectual excellence are capable in a civilized condition, of forming and maintaining free Governments; and among those who are so far advanced, very few indeed have had the good fortune to form constitutions capable of endurance. It is a remarkable fact in the political history of man, that there is scarcely an instance of a free constitutional Government, which has been the work exclusively of foresight and wisdom. They have all been the result of a fortunate combination of circumstances. It is a very difficult task to make a Constitution worthy of being called so. This admirable federal Constitution of ours, is the result of such a combination. It is superior to the wisdom of any or all of the men by whose agency it was made. The force of circumstances, and not foresight or wisdom, induced them to adopted many of its wisest provisions."

The Electoral College elected Calhoun for vice president by an overwhelming majority. He served under John Quincy Adams and continued under Andrew Jackson, who defeated Adams in the election of 1828.

Calhoun had a difficult relationship with Jackson primarily due to the Nullification Crisis and the Petticoat affair. In contrast with his previous nationalism, Calhoun vigorously supported South Carolina's right to nullify federal tariff legislation he believed unfairly favored the North, putting him into conflict with unionists such as Jackson. In 1832, with only a few months remaining in his second term, he resigned as vice president and entered the Senate. He sought the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1844, but lost to surprise nominee James K. Polk, who went on to become president. Calhoun served as Secretary of State under John Tyler from 1844 to 1845. As Secretary of State, he supported the annexation of Texas as a means to extend the slave power ... Wiki

[AmericanActivist]

1. K n R nm

[gratuitous]

2. And the topper?

Calhoun's attitudes were mainstream for a significant number of people at that time. Calhoun's followers are fewer today, but his "thought" lives on in countless little ways throughout our society.