Perhaps no other South Carolinian has been as close to serving as the
President of the United States as John Caldwell Calhoun.  This unlikely
contender to the nations' highest office was born during the American
Revolution on March 18, 1782 in what was then the Abbeville District.  This
son of a Scotch-Irish farmer excelled in his education; despite having it
interrupted by the duties of family and farm.  He entered Yale in 1802 as a
junior and graduated in 1804.

In 1810 he begin a distinguished career of public service spanning four
decades.    He served as a Representative for six years, Secretary of War
under President Monroe for eight years, vice president under President John Quincy Adams for four years and Vice President under President Jackson for 1829-1832.  Calhoun was a vocal defender of State's Rights and was at the front of the Nullification Crisis of 1832.  Calhoun championing of the policy of Nullifying laws that did not benefit the south would eventually cause a rift between him and Jackson, and Calhoun would become the first Vice President to resign his post in 1832.  He served as a senator for multiple terms and was often in Charleston to attend service at St. Phillip's Church.  Once again Calhoun came back into the White House as President Tyler's Secretary of State during 1844-45.

Calhoun died on March 31, 1850 of what many believe would be diagnosed now as tuberculosis.    This was before the Civil War, but many of the
Confederates rallied to Calhoun's theories of State's rights and defense of
slavery as a "positive good."  One of his pallbearers at his funeral was the
current US Secretary of War, who admired Calhoun greatly.  His name was
Jefferson Davis.  

Charleston was a Confederate held city until Feb. 1865, when it was evacuated.  Before the evacuation Calhoun was dug up and reburied in a secret grave across the street, so as his mortal remains would not be disturbed by the invading union soldiers.  He was put back into his tomb six
years later in 1871.

His upstate home, Fort Hill, has been preserved and is still a prominent
attraction on the Clemson University campus.  Charleston has done it's share of honoring Calhoun.  Boundary Street in Charleston was renamed Calhoun Street.  Just off his street in Marion Square sits an tall statue carved in his likeness.

For more on the strange afterlife of John C. Calhoun read the chapter in "Charleston Curiosities"