[1] Born on April 11, 1811, in Cincinnati, Ohio,[2] Drake attended St. Joseph's College in Bardstown, Kentucky in 1823 and 1824, and Partridge's Military Academy in Middletown, Connecticut in 1824 to 1825.

[2] During the American Civil War, Drake became a fierce opponent of slavery, and a leader of the Radical Republicans.

He was defeated by the conservative Republicans led by Governor Hamilton Rowan Gamble and supported by Lincoln.

By 1863, Drake had organized his Radical faction and called for immediate emancipation, a new constitution, and a system of disfranchisement of all Confederate sympathizers in Missouri.

Missouri German leader Carl Schurz commented about him, "in politics he was inexorable ... most of the members of his party, especially in the country districts, stood much in awe of him.

[4] To further bolster his voting base, he secured the franchise for all black men in Missouri, despite qualms held by many Republicans.

Drake was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1867, to December 19, 1870, when he resigned to accept a federal judicial position.