Congressman From Tennessee
In 1797, Claiborne resigned to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He won, and succeeded Andrew Jackson. However, the new congressman may not have been 25 years of age, as required by the United States Constitution: "No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years". Earlier in 1797, he described his age to George Washington vaguely: "Born Sir at a period, when every American Breast palpitated for freedom, I became early attached to civil Liberty...."
He took his seat in the House on November 23, 1797. State records apparently indicate that, when he took his seat, he was 24. Other sources speculate he was 22. His gravestone says he was 23.
He served in the House through 1801. The United States presidential election of 1800 was decided in the House of Representatives, due to a tie in the Electoral College, by which time Claiborne had apparently already turned 25 years old.
Read more about this topic: William C. C. Claiborne
Famous quotes containing the word congressman:
“With all the surgical skill and the vital rays lavished on him he should talk like a—like a congressman at a filibuster.”
—Kenneth Langtry. Herbert L. Strock. Prof. Frankenstein (Whit Bissell)