William Campbell Preston Breckinridge (August 28, 1837 – November 18, 1904) was a lawyer and Democratic politician from Kentucky; a U.S. Representative from 1885 to 1895.

Despite his father's Unionist position (the elder Breckinridge supported the election of Lincoln), William entered the Confederate States Army in 1861.

[1] In 1869, Breckinridge ran unsuccessfully for county attorney, losing in large part because he was supported allowing African-Americans to testify in the courts.

[3] The trial was a national sensation; the revelations of Breckinridge's infidelity and his weak defense of the breach of promise charge led to the loss of the lawsuit and contributed to the end of his political career.

At the November 1901 Convention of the State Federation of Labor in Lexington, Breckinridge delivered an eloquent speech in which he extolled the virtues of a six-day workweek, opposed violent strikes, and encouraged negotiations.

The following day, the group's vice president, James D. Wood, took over the convention and helped pass resolutions that called Breckinridge an "enemy of the trade and labor organizations of the state."

He opposed literacy tests and other means of black disenfranchisement, hoping that someday, "all races might enjoy a common liberty secured by an imperial law.

When a Franklin County black man was convicted of murdering a prominent citizen who had led a mob to seize him, Breckinridge fought to obtain a pardon.

In 1869, Breckinridge ran for state's attorney in Boyle County, and the testimony question was the central issue of his campaign.

[7] As a U.S. Representative, Breckinridge had asked the commissioner of labor to retain a black Census Office worker who feared that he would be fired because of race.

Breckinridge predicted a better day for race relations: "Barriers will be removed, prejudices will die, class distinctions be obliterated.