A restless youth, Breckinridge was suspended from Princeton University for fighting, and following his graduation from Union College in 1819, was prone to engage in a lifestyle of partying and revelry.

As the sectional conflict leading up to the Civil War escalated, Breckinridge was put in the unusual position of being a slaveholder who opposed slavery.

In one instance, he and his brother John had a physical altercation because Robert put salt in a blind cousin's coffee; in another, his mother gave him a "tremendous whipping" for beating an old slave.

Breckinridge enrolled at Yale University, but after three months, discovered that a one-year residency was required for graduation.

Unwilling to complete this requirement, he moved to Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1819.

[3] On March 11, 1823, Breckinridge married his cousin, Ann Sophonisba Preston, at her home in Abingdon, Virginia.

He instead decided to follow the family tradition and seek public office, campaigning for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Though they agreed on this last point, Breckinridge's father had ardently opposed emancipation of slaves and favored states' rights.

Historian James C. Klotter opines that Louis Marshall and Robert's mother Mary may have influenced his positions.

In the end, his Unionist sympathies overrode his sense of loyalty to his father; he sided with the committee's majority in condemning South Carolina's actions.

In 1831, he hosted a revival meeting on his farm during which he decided to pursue ministerial training under the West Lexington Presbytery.

His tenure saw numerous converts, but he was put at odds with his brother and Samuel Miller over practices employed in his church.

[3] Now solidly in the Presbyterian fold, Breckinridge began to follow in the footsteps of his brother John, criticizing Roman Catholicism in a number of his speeches and publications.

He sponsored and edited two "thoroughly Protestant" journals – the Baltimore Literary and Religious magazine and the Spirit of the XIX Century.

A year-long tour of Europe with his wife that began in April 1836 deepened his disdain for the denomination; he opined that most of the continent's ills could be traced back to Catholic "superstitions."

He rebuked the Synod of the Western Reserve for de-emphasizing and effectively abandoning the office of Ruling Elder.

Lingering sadness and memories of his and Ann's life in Baltimore may have led him to leave the city and the pastorate he had held for twelve years.

He was offered pastorate of the Second Presbyterian Church of Lexington, Kentucky, but instead, accepted the presidency of Jefferson College in Pennsylvania in 1845 against the advice of his brothers John and William.

A rift between Breckinridge and his brother Cabell's widow and other relatives may help account for this surprising decision.

A desire to see his children, most of whom were living with relatives scattered throughout Kentucky and Virginia, also factored into his decision to resign his post in 1847.

His return to Kentucky was also motivated by a growing fondness for his cousin, Virginia Hart Shelby, who had cared for two of his children during his stay in Pennsylvania.

Their written exchanges included love poems from Robert and concerned questions from Virginia about the wisdom of engaging in a relationship.

[13][14] Disagreements among the children of both partners' previous marriages exacerbated an already tense union, which almost ended in divorce in September 1856.

Continuing to publicize needs and push legislators to action, Breckinridge enjoyed the support of five of the six governors under whom he served.

Unlike his early reforms, his calls for parental selection of textbooks and use of the Bible as the primary reading material were not heeded.

[1] Although he owned a number of slaves, and his marriage to Virginia Shelby had left him with a good many more, Breckinridge had been a supporter of gradual emancipation and colonization of blacks since his early political career.

[1] He called for harsh measures against secession, and in time, accepted President Lincoln's immediate emancipation of slaves.

[1] He was chosen as the temporary chair of the 1864 Republican National Convention that re-nominated Lincoln for president, and his pro-Union speech was hailed by freshman Representative James G. Blaine as one of the most inspiring given at the event.

While three of his sons-in-law also fought for the Union, daughter Sophonisba's husband, Theophilus Steele, rode with John Hunt Morgan, and it is likely that Robert Breckinridge's intervention kept him from being executed by Edwin M. Stanton.

Following the war, Willie Breckinridge's wife Issa refused to let her father-in-law see two of his grandchildren for a period of two years.