David Rice Atchison

David Rice Atchison
David Rice Atchison
President pro tempore of the United States Senate
	In office; December 20, 1852 – December 4, 1854
Preceded by	William R. King
Succeeded by	Lewis Cass
	In office; August 8, 1846 – December 2, 1849
Preceded by	Ambrose Hundley Sevier (acting)
Succeeded by	William R. King
United States Senator; from Missouri
	In office; October 14, 1843 – March 3, 1855
Preceded by	Lewis F. Linn
Succeeded by	James S. Green
Member of the; Missouri House of Representatives
	In office; 1834–1841
Personal details
Born	August 11, 1807; Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	January 26, 1886 (aged 78); Gower, Missouri, U.S.
Resting place	Greenlawn Cemetery, Plattsburg, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Transylvania University
Profession	Politician; lawyer;
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States; Missouri (Confederate);
Branch/service	Missouri Volunteer Militia; Missouri State Guard
Years of service	1838 (MVM); 1861–1862 (MSG)
Rank	Major-General (MVM); Brigadier-General (MSG)
Battles/wars	Missouri Mormon War; Battle of Crooked River; American Civil War; Action at Blue Mills Landing;

David Rice Atchison (August 11, 1807 – January 26, 1886) was a mid-19th century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri. He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years. Atchison served as a major general in the Missouri State Militia in 1838 during Missouri's Mormon War and as a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War under Major General Sterling Price in the Missouri Home Guard. Some of Atchison's associates claimed that for 24 hours—Sunday, March 4, 1849, through noon on Monday—he may have been Acting President of the United States. This belief, however, is dismissed by nearly all scholars.

Atchison, who owned a plantation and many enslaved African Americans, was a prominent pro-slavery activist and Border Ruffian leader, deeply involved with violence against abolitionists and other free-staters during the "Bleeding Kansas" events that preceded admission of the state to the Union.

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