Of the Vice-Presidents of the United States six at least were of Scottish or Ulster Scot descent.

John Caldwell Calhoun (1782-1850), of Scottish descent on both sides.  Previous to becoming Vice-President he was Secretary of War in Monroe’s cabinet, and later was Secretary of State in the cabinet of President Tyler.  He was one of the chief instruments in securing the annexation of Texas.  George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864), son of Alexander James Dallas, Secretary of the Treasury, was Minister to Russia in 1837-39, and subsequent to his Vice-Presidency was Minister to Great Britain (1856-61).  John Cabell Breckenridge (1821-75), of direct Scottish descent, was Vice-President from 1857-61, candidate for President in 1860, Major-General in the Confederate Army (1862-64), and Confederate Secretary of War (1864-65).  Henry Wilson (1812-75), of Ulster Scot descent, had a distinguished career as United States Senator before his election to the Vice-Presidency (1873-75).  His original name was Jeremiah Jones Colbraith (i.e., Galbraith).  He was also a distinguished author, his most important work being the “History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America” (1872-75).  Thomas Andrews Hendricks (1819-85), who held the Vice-Presidency only for a few months (March to November, 1885), was of Scottish descent on his mother’s side.  Adlai Ewing Stevenson (1835-1914) was Member of Congress from Illinois (1875-77), and First Assistant Postmaster-General (1885-89), previous to becoming Vice-President (1893-97).

SCOTS AS CABINET OFFICERS

WAR.  William Harris Crawford (1772-1834), descended from David Crawford, who came from Scotland to Virginia, c. 1654.  Secretary of War (1615-16), Secretary of the Treasury (1816-25), and save for an unfortunate attack of paralysis, would have been President in 1824.  He was also United States Senator from Georgia (1807-13) and Minister to France (1813-15).  John Bell (1797-1869), Secretary (1841), Senator (1847-59), and candidate of the Constitutional Union Party for President in 1860, was probably of Scottish descent.  George Washington Crawford, Secretary of War, was also Governor of Georgia.  Simon Cameron (1799-1889), of Scottish parentage or descent, Senator (1845-49), Secretary of War in cabinet of Lincoln (1861-62), United States Minister to Russia (1862-63), and again Senator (1866-77).  James Donald Cameron (1833-1918), son of the preceding, was Secretary under Grant for a year and United States Senator from 1877 to 1897.  Daniel Scott Lamont (1851-1905), journalist and Secretary under Cleveland, was of Ulster Scot origin.