William Orlando Butler

Infobox Congressman
name=William Orlando Butler

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width=200px
state=Kentucky
district=13th
party=Democrat
term=March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843
preceded=William W. Southgate
succeeded="(none)"
party_election2 = Democratic
candidate2= Vice President of the United States
term_start2= November 7, 1848
runningmate2= Lewis Cass
opponent2= Millard Fillmore (Whig)
Charles Francis Adams, Sr. (Free Soil)
incumbent2= George M. Dallas (D)
date of birth=April 19, 1791
place of birth=Jessamine County, Kentucky, U.S.
date of death=August 6, 1880
place of death=Carrollton, Kentucky, U.S.
spouse=
profession=Politician, Lawyer
religion=
footnotes=

William Orlando Butler (April 19, 1791 – August 6, 1880) was a U.S. political figure and U.S. Army major general from Kentucky. He served as a Democratic congressman from Kentucky from 1839 to 1843, and was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee under Lewis Cass in 1848.

Butler was born in Jessamine County, Kentucky and graduated from Transylvania University in 1812. He fought in a number of engagements in the Southern states during the War of 1812. He fought at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815.

From 1817-1844, he worked as a lawyer and a politician. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor in 1844.

On June 29, 1846, he was appointed major general of volunteers and commanded the 1st Volunteer Division in the Army of Occupation. He served as second-in-command to Zachary Taylor during the Battle of Monterrey, in which he was wounded. On February 18, 1848, he superseded General Winfield Scott as the commanding general of the American army. He left the service on August 18, 1848. He turned down the govenorship of the Nebraska Territory in 1855.

Politically, Butler was a moderate. Although a slaveholder, he was opposed to the extension of slavery and favored gradual legal emancipation. He stood firmly for the preservation of the Union and was a Union Democrat during the Civil War.

He published a collection of poems entitled, "The Boatman's Horn and Other Poems", and he was present at the peace conference of 1861, a gathering of political leaders that met in Washington, D.C. in an attempt to avert the impending American Civil War.

Butler County, Iowa and Butler County, Missouri were named for General Butler, as well as General Butler State Resort Park near Carrollton, Kentucky. Butler Township, County of Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, is also named for him.

Trivia

*Butler was the first non-incumbent Democratic vice presidential candidate to lose election.

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7247078 William Orlando Butler] at Find A Grave