Kentucky. Governor (1816-1820 : Slaughter)

Gabriel Slaughter served as Kentucky's chief executive from 1816 to 1820. He was not elected to office, but, as lieutenant governor, succeeded Governor George Madison after his death. Slaughter was referred to as acting or lieutenant governor until he left office. He was a Democratic Republican.

Slaughter was born December 12, 1767 in Culpepper County, Virginia. Although the date he moved to Kentucky is uncertain, it is known that he became a farmer in Mercer County. Slaughter was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1797 where he served until 1800; from 1801 to 1808 he served in the state Senate. In 1808, Slaughter was elected lieutenant governor. The position was sought by three other candidates, but Slaughter received fifty-three percent of the vote. Buoyed by this success, Slaughter decided to run for governor four years later, but Isaac Shelby was lured out of retirement and won the election easily.

Slaughter's political career was put on hold during the War of 1812. He had been a member of the Kentucky Militia with the rank of major and then colonel. It was with the rank of colonel that Slaughter led a regiment of Kentucky troops into the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, occupying the center of the American line that received the brunt of the British attacks. The line held and Slaughter was given a special commendation by the legislature.

After the fighting ended, Slaughter once again ran for lieutenant governor and won with fifty-seven percent of the vote. He was to serve under Governor George Madison, but Madison died in October 1816. While there was no provision in the Kentucky Constitution for dealing with the line of succession should the governor die, Slaughter took over the role of the governor, though the legislature refused to give him the title. The Constitution was later amended, with the addition of sections dealing with succession and election within the executive branch.

For the four years Gabriel Slaughter was acting governor, he fought with the legislature. Slaughter's appointments were routinely rejected, his recommendations ignored, and his vetoes overridden. The most bitter of the fights was over Slaughter's appointment of John Pope as the new secretary of state. Pope had been a United States Senator and had voted against declaring war in 1812. Because of this vote, Pope was much disliked, and his 1816 appointment as secretary of state caused much bitterness in the public and the legislature. It was not until the economic panic of 1819 that any cooperation existed between the executive and legislative branches, and a number of the governor's bills for relief were passed.

After leaving the governor's office, Slaughter ran for the state Senate in 1821, but was defeated. He then won a seat in the state House of Representatives in 1823 where he served for four years before retiring to his farm in Mercer County. Gabriel Slaughter died September 19, 1830, and is buried in the family cemetery in Mercer County.

From the description of Subunit history. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145415658