Robert P. Letcher

Infobox Governor
name = Robert P. Letcher


order = 15^th
office = Governor of Kentucky
term_start = September 2, 1840
term_end = September 4, 1844
lieutenant = Manlius Valerius Thomson
predecessor = Charles A. Wickliffe
successor = William Owsley
birth_date = birth date|1788|2|10|mf=y
birth_place = Goochland County, Virginia
death_date = death date and age|1861|1|24|1788|2|10|mf=y
death_place = Frankfort, Kentucky
party = Whig
spouse = Mary Oden Epps
Charlotte Robinson
profession = Lawyer
religion = Presbyterian
order2 = United States Representative
term_start2 = March 4, 1823
term_end2 = March 3, 1835
predecessor2=
successor2 =
order3 =
term_start3 =
term_end3 =
predecessor3=
successor3 =

Robert Perkins Letcher (February 10, 1788ndash January 24, 1861) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fifteenth governor of Kentucky.

Personal life

Letcher was born in Goochland County, Virginia, the son of Stephen Giles and Betsy Letcher nee Perkins. The family moved to Garrard County, Kentucky around 1800, and Letcher was educated at a private school near Danville, Kentucky. Letcher studied and practiced law near Danville. He was married twice; first to Susan Oden Epps, and then to Charlotte Robertson. He was a Presbyterian. Letcher is buried in the State Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Political career

Letcher was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1813, 1814, 1815, and 1817. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1833. His 1833 campaign for the House against Thomas P. Moore was so close that a second election had to be held. [Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States, June 12, 1834, p. 743. See also Contested Election: Robert P. Letcher vs. Thomas P. Moore. 23rd Congress, 1st Session, House Report No 446. May 6, 1834.] Letcher won by 258 votes, and served in the House from August 6, 1834, until March 3, 1835. Letcher was again elected to the Kentucky House as a National Republican-Whig in 1836, 1837, and 1838; for the last two years he served as Speaker.

Letcher, known colloquially as “Black Bob,” was elected governor as a Whig, and served from September 2, 1840, until September 4, 1844. Letcher received 54,892 to 39,160 for his opponent, Democrat Richard French (58.4% - 41.6%).

Letcher’s term was dominated by the Panic of 1837. He drastically cut spending, eliminating the state’s deficit.

After leaving office, he made an unsuccessful bid for the United States Senate, and then served as the United States envoy and minister to Mexico.

Letcher County, Kentucky, is named for him.

References

* "Robert P. Letcher", "Kentucky's Governors: Updated Edition" (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky), 2004.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6864728 Find-A-Grave profile for Robert P. Letcher]

ee also

*History of Kentucky