Political Career
Breathitt was elected to represent Logan County in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1811, and was re-elected every year until 1815. In the gubernatorial election of 1828, the Democrats chose William T. Barry as their candidate for governor. Initially, they offered the nomination for lieutenant governor to Judge John P. Oldham, but Oldham declined, and Breathitt was chosen as his replacement. Barry lost the governorship to National Republican Thomas Metcalfe, but Breathitt defeated Metcalfe's running mate Joseph R. Underwood by more than 1,000 votes.
As lieutenant governor, Breathitt promoted the creation of public schools in the state. On December 31, 1829, he was elected president of the Kentucky Educational Society whose stated mission was to "promote improvement and diffusion of popular education by the circulation of information, by enlisting the pulpit and the press, by procuring the delivery of popular addresses on the subject on the 4th day of July, and in different neighborhoods, and by other means that may be found practicable." In 1833, he became president of the Kentucky Common School Society.
In 1831, Breathitt was one of several candidates put before the General Assembly to succeed John Rowan in the United States Senate. He received 66 of 137 votes, 3 votes short of a majority. Other unsuccessful nominees included John J. Crittenden (68 votes), Richard Mentor Johnson (64 votes), and Charles A. Wickliffe (49 votes). After 15 ballots, the Assembly still had not chosen a nominee, and postponed the matter until the next session. At that session, Henry Clay was chosen to fill the seat.
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