Joseph Desha (December 9, 1768 – October 11, 1842) was a U.S. Representative and the ninth governor of Kentucky. Desha was the first Kentucky governor not to have served in the Revolutionary War. He did, however, serve under William Henry Harrison and "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the Northwest Indian War, and lost two brothers in battle. He married in 1789 and returned to Kentucky in 1792, settling in Mason County. There he began his political career, ...
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Joseph Desha (December 9, 1768 – October 11, 1842) was a U.S. Representative and the ninth governor of Kentucky. Desha was the first Kentucky governor not to have served in the Revolutionary War. He did, however, serve under William Henry Harrison and "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the Northwest Indian War, and lost two brothers in battle. He married in 1789 and returned to Kentucky in 1792, settling in Mason County. There he began his political career, serving in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly. In 1807, he began the first of six consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. A Democratic-Republican, he joined his party in supporting the War of 1812. Desha himself volunteered to serve in the war and commanded a division at the Battle of the Thames.
In 1824, Desha ran for governor on a platform of debt relief and won a landslide victory. His term was marred by numerous controversies. Chief among these was the Old Court-New Court controversy, a move by the legislature to...
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