High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Joseph "Cabell" Breckinridge (July 14, 1788 – September 1, 1823) was a lawyer and politician in the U.S. state of Kentucky. From 1816 to 1819, he was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, serving as speaker from 1817 to 1819. In 1820, he was appointed Kentucky Secretary of State by Governor John Adair. A member of the Breckinridge political family, he was the son of U.S. Attorney General John Breckinridge and the father of U.S. Vice-President John C. Breckinridge.