Preston Leslie, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Preston Leslie

Governor of Kentucky

Date of Birth: 08-Mar-1819

Place of Birth: Clinton County, Kentucky, United States

Date of Death: 07-Feb-1907

Profession: judge, lawyer, politician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Pisces


Show Famous Birthdays Today, United States

👉 Worldwide Celebrity Birthdays Today

About Preston Leslie

  • Preston Hopkins Leslie (March 8, 1819 – February 7, 1907) was the 26th Governor of Kentucky from 1871 to 1875 and territorial governor of Montana from 1887 to 1889.
  • He ascended to the office of governor by three different means.
  • First, he succeeded Kentucky governor John W.
  • Stevenson upon the latter's resignation to accept a seat in the United States Senate in 1871.
  • Later that year, he was elected to a full term as governor, defeating John Marshall Harlan in the general election.
  • Finally, he was appointed territorial governor by President Grover Cleveland. Leslie was a Confederate sympathizer during the Civil War, but began to adopt a more progressive position during his gubernatorial campaign against Harlan.
  • Though he opposed ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, he used his influence as governor to effect passage of laws admitting the testimony of blacks in court and providing for an educational system for recently freed slaves.
  • He also helped quell violence perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan in many areas of the state. As territorial governor of Montana, Leslie quickly drew the ire of the press for his pro-temperance position.
  • The territory's political machinery also turned against him, and he was removed from office by President Benjamin Harrison.
  • When Grover Cleveland succeeded Harrison for a second term in office, he appointed Leslie district attorney for Montana.
  • Leslie continued to practice law well into his eighties, and was being considered for a district court judgeship in Montana when he fell ill with pneumonia and died on February 7, 1907, at the age of 87.

Read more at Wikipedia

See Also