If you saw the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and remember Kevin Spacey's character, I think that would be a good characterization of King.
William Rufus DeVane King was the long time room mate (in Washington, DC) of later President James Buchanan. At that time Congress was in session for only a few months every other year, the rest of the time they were in Alabama and Pennsylvania respectively. King was elected VP with Pierce in 1852, but took the oath of office in Cuba where he was staying for health reasons (it took a special act of Congress to allow this). He died at home shortly afterwards, and never set foot in DC while he was VP.
I read that, but didn’t want to bring it up in case King was a favorite of yours! Got me to thinking though, but I couldn’t find any information on Martin Luther King’s ancestry - did the slaves sometimes take the names of the Plantation owners? And could M.L. King be descended from a slave of William R. King?