King, William R. D.

King, William R. D. (Rufus Devane)

(1786–1853) vice-president, politician; born in Sampson County, N.C. He was elected vice-president under Franklin Pierce in 1852. Ill with tuberculosis, he traveled to Cuba and took the oath of office there. He returned to his Alabama plantation and died, having served only 25 days as vice-president, none of them in Washington, D.C.