American educator and politician, 7th Illinois Secretary of State (died 1861)

Stephen A. Douglas

Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A Democrat, he served in the United States Senate for fourteen years and defeated Abraham Lincoln to win reelection in 1858, a campaign known for the pivotal Lincoln–Douglas debates. He was the representative of the Northern Democrats in the 1860 United States presidential election; with the Democrats split between northern and southern factions in the leadup to the American Civil War, he was defeated by Lincoln, the Republican nominee. During his senate career, Douglas was one of the brokers of the Compromise of 1850, which sought to avert a sectional crisis over the issue of slavery.

Born

1813

April 23

Died

1861

Era

1810s

Country

About

Stephen, in brief

Stephen Arnold Douglas was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A Democrat, he served in the United States Senate for fourteen years and defeated Abraham Lincoln to win reelection in 1858, a campaign known for the pivotal Lincoln–Douglas debates. He was the representative of the Northern Democrats in the 1860 United States presidential election; with the Democrats split between northern and southern factions in the leadup to the American Civil War, he was defeated by Lincoln, the Republican nominee. During his senate career, Douglas was one of the brokers of the Compromise of 1850, which sought to avert a sectional crisis over the issue of slavery.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

  1. 1813 Born
  2. 1861 Died

Also on April 23

What else happened on this day, through history

See all of April 23 →

Same-day contemporaries

Also born on April 23

See everything on April 23 →

Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1813

Keep going

More to explore