The 1848 Whig presidential ticket of Zachary Taylor and Millard Filmore defeated the Democratic ticket of Lewis Cass and William Orlando Butler by around five percent of the vote, but then President Taylor died after a little more than a year in office. King served as a Senator from 1819 to 1844, when President John Tyler named him Minister to France, where he worked for two years. This freed King up to serve as a delegate to the Alabama State Convention, and the newly elected state legislature chose him as one of the original U.S. He named his plantation Chestnut Hill, and he eventually owned nearly 500 slaves, making him one of the largest slave-owners in the territory. In 1818, the Alabama Territory was the West, and King purchased a large tract of land on the Alabama River in Dallas County.
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When that appointment ended, King came back to the U.S. diplomatic team in Russia and then in Naples. For two years he served as part of the U.S. A few years after that he was named city solicitor for Wilmington, and a year after that he was elected to the U.S.
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A year later he was elected to the North Carolina House of Commons. He was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1806, and began practicing law soon after in the town of Clinton. He came from a wealthy family, and they sent him to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before we get to that, let's go back to the beginning. “The stern section of the Rufus King served a useful purpose during the war when it was used for target practice by Allied aircraft.” The remains of the Rufus King were used by fishermen for years to mark a somewhat dangerous passage from Moreton Bay across the bar to offshore waters.If we're judging strictly by resume, it's possible that no Vice President has ever been sworn in with more preparation to do the job, but tragically King never performed a single act in his new role. “The only casualties from the incident were among the salvage crews, with broken arms and legs commonplace. “A lot of cargo was washed ashore and locals still joke the whole island wore bright red dressing gowns very similar to American hospital gowns for many years after the war,” he said. It was humorously renamed the Rufus Half.” Mr Rowland said that after the grounding a large salvage operation took place with most of the large $6 million cargo retrieved by locals and military personnel. “It was refitted with propellers and later sent to New Guinea where she operated as a repair ship. “This forward section was towed to Brisbane where it was rebuilt as a ship roughly half its original size with a stumpy tail. “Before the ship could be refloated those huge seas caused it to break in half but because of its watertight welded construction, rather than traditional rivets, the forward section of the ship remained afloat while the stern section remained grounded on a sandbar. “The ship ran aground off Amity Point in heavy seas,” he said. Coochiemudlo Island resident Ian Rowland who attended the anniversary said the war in the Pacific was only months old when the Rufus King sailed for Australia carrying Mitchell bombers and medical supplies. Rapid production of the ships also demonstrated the industrial might the US brought to the war. Their production helped supply Britain with food and war materials when its supply lines were largely cut off by German U-boat fleets. The ships played a major role in WWII, rolling off the production line in about 90 days and being used in the Pacific and Atlantic theatres of war. The Rufus King was a US freighter of 7176 tons which was built as part of the WWII Liberty Ships program. A large group of Stradbroke Island residents and mainland visitors gathered at the Amity Public Hall to commemorate the July 7 event and the major salvage operation that followed from Amity Point. RESIDENTS have celebrated the 75th anniversary of the sinking of the US Liberty ship, the SS Rufus King that ran aground between North Stradbroke and Moreton islands in 1942.