Calhoun, John C(aldwell) (1782–1850)

US politician; vice-president 1825–29 under John Quincy Adams and 1829–32 under Andrew Jackson. Throughout his vice-presidency, he was a defender of strong states' rights against an overpowerful federal government and of the institution of slavery. He served in the US Senate 1833–44 and 1845–50, where he continued to espouse the right of states to legislate on slavery.

Calhoun was born near Abbeville, South Carolina, was educated at Yale University and studied law in Connecticut. He served in the South Carolina state legislature 1809–11, and in the US House of Representatives 1811–17, where he helped to propel the nation into the War of 1812. As secretary of war in President Monroe's cabinet, he supported the federal government, but gradually his political philosophy changed as it became evident to him that states' rights had to stay strong to keep slavery in the South, assuming it essential to the cotton industry.

In 1831, in an address to the people of South Carolina, he severed his connection with President Jackson by setting forth his theory on states' rights as opposed to federal rule, a theory that became known as the doctrine of nullification. He retired from the vice-presidency and sat in the Senate 1833–44, when he became President Tyler's secretary of state, and was responsible for effecting the annexation of Texas.