Francis Preston Blair (1821-1875) was born in Lexington, KY, and enrolled in the University only for the 1838-39 academic year. He received his BA from the College of New Jersey (Princeton) in 1841. Blair served in the Missouri legislature (1852-54) before representing the state in the US House of Representatives (1857-60, 1861-62). After the war he became a Democratic candidate for Vice President (1868), then was elected to the US Senate (1871-73).