James Turner Morehead

Who was James Turner Morehead?

James Turner Morehead was a United States Senator and the 12th Governor of Kentucky. He was the first native-born Kentuckian to hold the governorship of the state. A member of Henry Clay's National Republican Party, Morehead entered politics just as his party was beginning to challenge the Democratic Party's dominance in the state.

Morehead was nominated for lieutenant governor at his party's nominating convention in Baltimore, Maryland in 1831, and was elected on a split ticket with Democratic governor John Breathitt. He ascended to the governorship upon Breathitt's death in 1834. Saddled with a shortened term, Morehead was not able to formulate a significant legislative agenda, and stuck to the politically safe issue of internal improvements during his term. When his party changed its name to the Whig Party and wrested control of the General Assembly from the Democrats in the summer of 1834, Morehead hosted the new party's first nominating convention in Frankfort.

Following his term as governor, Morehead returned to the state legislature. An opponent of abolitionism, he accompanied John Speed Smith to Ohio to secure the return of slaves owned by Kentuckians.