John J. Crittenden

Kentucky senator whose 1860 compromise plan was the last major attempt to avert the Civil War in Congress.

Overview

Crittenden served several Senate stints across four decades, as well as attorney general under two presidents and governor of Kentucky, and inherited Henry Clay's role as the great compromiser of the border states. In December 1860 he proposed constitutional amendments that would have protected slavery south of the old Missouri Compromise line extended to the Pacific. The plan failed amid opposition from Republicans and secessionists alike. Elected to the House in 1861, he co-sponsored the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution declaring the war was being fought to preserve the Union, while his two sons became generals on opposite sides.