it became a state guest house and official entertainment space for the governor. For many years, the mansion was the oldest official residence still in use in the United States. Located at 420 High Street in Frankfort, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. History of the office Political parties had developed in the United States before Kentucky became a state. Because most early Kentuckians were Virginians, they naturally allied with the Democratic-Republicans, the party of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison; the latter was a cousin of George Madison, the state's sixth governor. Political victories were few and far between for Federalists in Kentucky, and none of Kentucky's governors were members of the Federalist Party. Military service was the most important consideration for voters in Kentucky's early gubernatorial elections. John Breathitt, elected Kentucky's eleventh governor in 1832, was the first Kentucky governor not to have served in the military. The Federalist Party had died out nationally by 1820, but new party divisions were soon to form in Kentucky. The Panic of 1819 left many Kentuckians deeply in debt and without a means of repaying their creditors. Two factions grew up around the issue of debt relief. Those who favored laws favorable to debtors were dubbed the "Relief Party" and those who favored laws protecting creditors were called the "Anti-Relief Party". While not formal political parties—members of both factions still considered themselves Democratic-Republicans—these factions defined the political dialogue of the 1820s in Kentucky. The debt relief issue began under Gabriel Slaughter, who identified with the Anti-Relief Party, but Slaughter's two immediate successors, John Adair and Joseph Desha, were members of the Relief Party. The struggle between the two parties culminated in the Old Court – New Court controversy, an attempt by the pro-relief legislature to abolish the Court of Appeals because the court overturned some debt relief measures as unconstitutional. The controversy ended with the restoration of the Old Court over Desha's veto in late 1826. Although many Old Court supporters—typically the state's wealthy aristocracy—gravitated to the National Republican Party (later to be called Whigs) that formed in the 1820s, it is inaccurate to assume the Anti-Relief Party as a whole became National Republicans and the Relief Party became Democrats. The primary factor in determining which party Kentuckians aligned with was their faith in Whig Party founder and native son, Henry Clay. From the election of