William Rufus DeVane was born in Sampson County, North Carolina back in1786 to William and Margaret. He had a large family which was also wealthy and well-connected. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1803.
He was admitted to the bar in 1806, afterwards he moved to Clinton and established his law practice. He entered politics being elected as a member of the North Carolina House of Commons serving from 1807-1809. He was appointed as Minister to Russia serving as a diplomatic mission in Naples.
When he returned, he owned one of the largest plantations in the Alabama Territory. In 1819, he was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate serving in various capacities from 1819-1844. At the 1852, Democratic National Convention Franklin Pierce was nominated for President and William was nominated for Vice President.
Pierce won the election, thus William Rufus DeVane King. Name doesn’t ring a bell? That’s okay for you see when he was elected he was in Cuba for health reasons. He was and still is the only Vice President to be sworn in as the Vice President by a Special Act of Congress. He was sworn in in 1853, near Matanzas, Cuba. Shortly afterward, he returned to the United States and died two days later. He held that office for only six weeks.
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