The following year, in January, the General Assembly, with a slim Whig majority, elected Daniel to the Virginia Council of State by a two-vote margin, replacing John Rutherfoord, a veteran member.

[3][2] In August 1850, Daniel participated in a challenging campaign for a seat representing Richmond and the counties of Charles City, Henrico, and New Kent in a convention tasked with revising the state constitution.

[3] While initially hesitant about secession, Daniel fully embraced the Confederate cause after the spring of 1861 and, in November of that year, served as a presidential elector for Jefferson Davis.

[8] He strongly criticized the new proposed constitutional amendment which allowed universal manhood suffrage but, in his party's view, disenfranchised many Confederate veterans.

[3] As Attorney General, he opposed granting inmates in the state penitentiary time off for good behavior, contending that such reductions should only occur through a gubernatorial act of clemency.

Daniel also resisted the enforcement of federal laws aimed at protecting African American voting rights, arguing that these measures encroached on the state's authority over elections.

[10] Raleigh Travels Daniel passed away while in office, on August 16, 1877, shortly after securing a nomination for a second term as attorney general.