 On one occasion, Letcher so frequently attempted to interrupt Breckinridge that John J. Crittenden grabbed him by the coat tails to restrain him.Breckinridge supporters derisively nicknamed Letcher "Coat Tails" for the remainder of the campaign.When Letcher's factional enemy, abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay, endorsed Breckinridge, Letcher charged that this, combined with the abolitionist views of Breckinridge's uncle, Reverend Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, proved that Breckinridge was secretly an abolitionist, despite his consistent denial that Congress had the power to interfere with that institution.