John C. Breckinridge — 1860 Presidential Candidate CDV
Published by E. & H. T. Anthony, New York, circa 1860s
Approx. 4 x 2½ inches
 
A Civil War–era carte-de-visite portrait of John C. Breckinridge, the Kentucky statesman who served as Vice President of the United States (1857–1861) and was the Southern Democratic candidate for president in the pivotal election of 1860. That four-way contest—featuring Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas, and John Bell—proved one of the most consequential elections in American history, immediately preceding the outbreak of the Civil War.
 
Breckinridge carried much of the Deep South in the election, representing the faction of the Democratic Party that supported federal protection of slavery in the territories. Following Lincoln’s victory and the onset of war, he aligned with the Confederacy, rising to the rank of major general and later serving briefly as Confederate Secretary of War in 1865.
 
The reverse bears the imprint of E. & H. T. Anthony of New York, among the most prominent photographic publishers of the nineteenth century, whose firm issued widely collected cartes-de-visite depicting political leaders and notable public figures of the era.
 
Condition: Very fine, with light toning consistent with age.