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On January 31, 1865, Congressman Lucian Anderson from slave state Kentucky elevated principle above politics and voted for the 13th Amendment to the constitution, which abolished slavery. He gambled more than his political career; he put his life on the line. He was from Mayfield, one of the most rabidly Rebel towns in the Bluegrass State. In 1863 after Anderson was elected by Unionists - secessionists were disfranchised as traitors - Confederate raiders kidnapped him and held him for ransom. He already had received death threats and was probably the most hated citizen in Mayfield, though his father is credited with founding the western Kentucky town. During the Civil War, Anderson evolved from a conservative pro-slavery Union Democrat to an Unconditional Unionist and to a Republican. He was a Kentucky delegate to the 1864 national convention that re-nominated President Abraham Lincoln. Knowing he could not win another term, Anderson chose not to seek reelection in 1865. Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book is about eight senators who, according to the author, exemplified Ernest Hemingway’s notion of
grace under pressure.
They endured
the risks to their careers, the unpopularity of their courses, the defamation of their characters, and sometimes, sadly, but only sometimes, the vindication of their reputations and their principles.
Anderson was such a lawmaker.
