William Person Mangum

Perhaps the most distinguished member of the Mangum family was William Person Mangum (1792-1861), an attorney and politician elected to the U.S. Congress as a Jacksonian Democrat in 1823 and to the U.S. Senate in 1831. He later broke with President Andrew Jackson's policies, resigned from the Senate before his term was out and joined the Whig Party.

As a Whig, Mangum was re-elected to the Senate in 1840 and became President Pro Tem. In that position, under the laws of the time, Mangum very nearly became President of the United States when President John Tyler was nearly killed by an explosion aboard a U.S. Navy ship he was inspecting.

Mangum lost his Senate seat in the 1852 election and resumed his law practice at home.