Editing David Rice Atchison (section)

{{Short description|American politician (1807–1886)}}
{{redirect2|President for One Day|President for a Day}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name        = David Rice Atchison
| image       = David Rice Atchison by Mathew Brady March 1849.jpg
| office      = [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate]]
| term_start1 = December 20, 1852
| term_end1   = December 4, 1854
| predecessor1= [[William R. King]]
| successor1  = [[Lewis Cass]]
| term_start2 = August 8, 1846
| term_end2   = December 2, 1849
| predecessor2= [[Ambrose Hundley Sevier]] (acting)
| successor2  = [[William R. King]]
| jr/sr3      = United States Senator
| state3      = [[Missouri]]
| term_start3 = October 14, 1843
| term_end3   = March 3, 1855
| predecessor3= [[Lewis F. Linn]]
| successor3  = [[James S. Green]]
| office4     = Member of the<br>[[Missouri House of Representatives]]
| term_start4 = 1834
| term_end4   = 1841
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1807|8|11}}
| birth_place = [[Lexington, Kentucky]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1886|1|26|1807|8|11}}
| death_place = [[Gower, Missouri]], U.S.
| resting_place= Greenlawn Cemetery, [[Plattsburg, Missouri]], U.S.
| party       = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| alma_mater  = [[Transylvania University]]
| profession  = {{hlist|Politician|lawyer}}
| signature   = David Rice Atchison Signature.svg
| allegiance  = {{ubl|{{flag|United States|1837}}|{{Nowrap|[[File:Flag of the Missouri State Guard.svg|Missouri|border|23px]] [[Confederate government of Missouri|Missouri (Confederate)]]}}}}
| branch      = {{flagicon|United States|1837}} [[Missouri Volunteer Militia]]<br>[[File:Flag of the Missouri State Guard.svg|Missouri|border|23px]] [[Missouri State Guard]]
| serviceyears= 1838 ([[Missouri Volunteer Militia|MVM]])<br>1861–1862 ([[Missouri State Guard|MSG]])
| rank        = [[File:Union Army major general rank insignia.svg|35px]] [[Major general (United States)|Major-General]] (MVM)<br>[[File:Confederate States of America General-collar.svg|23px]] [[Brigadier general|Brigadier-General]] (MSG)
| battles     = [[1838 Mormon War|Missouri Mormon War]]
* [[Battle of Crooked River]]
[[American Civil War]]
* [[Battle of Liberty|Action at Blue Mills Landing]]
}}
'''David Rice Atchison''' (August 11, 1807{{spaced ndash}}January 26, 1886) was a mid-19th-century [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]]<ref name="who2.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.who2.com/davidriceatchison.html|title=David Rice Atchison Biography|publisher=Who2.com|access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref> [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Missouri]].<ref name="who2.com"/> He served as [[president pro tempore of the United States Senate]] for six years.<ref name=senatehistoryminute>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/President_For_A_Day.htm |title=1801: President for a Day – March 4, 1849 |date=May 29, 2014 |publisher=United States Senate |access-date=November 21, 2014}}</ref> Atchison served as a major general in the Missouri State Militia in 1838 during Missouri's [[1838 Mormon War|Mormon War]] and as a [[Confederate States of America|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|acting president of the United States]]. This belief, however, is dismissed by most scholars.<ref name=senatehistoryminute/><ref name=HistoryChannel>{{cite web | author=Christopher Klein | title=The 24-Hour President | url=http://www.history.com/news/the-24-hour-president |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180105234307/http://www.history.com/news/the-24-hour-president|archive-date =January 5, 2018| publisher=The History Channel | date=February 18, 2013 | access-date=June 18, 2013}}</ref>

Atchison, owner of many [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]]<!--Give number from Slave Schedules  --> and a [[plantation]], was a prominent pro-slavery activist and [[Border Ruffian]] leader, deeply involved with violence against [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]] and other [[Free-Stater (Kansas)|free-staters]] during the "[[Bleeding Kansas]]" events that preceded admission of the state to the Union.<ref>[[James M. McPherson|McPherson, James M.]], ''[[Battle Cry of Freedom (book)|Battle Cry of Freedom]]'', Penguin Books, 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-14-012518-4}} pp. 145–148</ref><ref>Stampp, Kenneth, ''America in 1857: a nation on the brink'', Oxford University Press US, 1992, {{ISBN|0-19-507481-5}}, p. 145</ref><ref>Grimsted, David, ''American Mobbing, 1828–1861: Toward Civil War'', Oxford University Press US, 2003, {{ISBN|0-19-517281-7}}, p. 256</ref><ref>Freehling, William W., ''The Road to Disunion: Secessionists triumphant, 1854–1861'', Oxford University Press US, 2007, {{ISBN|0-19-505815-1}}, pp. 72–73</ref>