Francis Preston Blair
Francis Preston Blair, Sr. was an American journalist, newspaper editor, and influential figure in national politics advising several U.S. presidents across the party lines.
Blair was born at Abingdon, Virginia to James Blair, a lawyer who became an Attorney General of Kentucky, and Elizabeth Smith. Raised in Frankfort, Kentucky and referred to as Preston by the family members, he graduated from Transylvania University with honors in 1811. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1817 but did not practice due to a vocal defect. He took to journalism, and became a contributor to Amos Kendalls paper, the Frankforts Argus. During the social and financial turmoil caused by the Panic of 1819, Blair joined the socalled Relief Party of Kentucky. He participated in Old Court New Court controversy in Kentucky being a president of the public Bank of the Commonwealth that opened in May 1821 to provide relief for debtors but was denied charter after Kentucky Court of Appeals backed by the United States 7th Circuit Court of Appeals declared already started relief measures unconstitutional. In 1824, Blair served as a clerk of new, alternative to existing state court
Source: Wikipedia