World History
Millard Fillmore. Is Millard Fillmore America's most obscure President? Read the article and decide for yourself.
From the site:
Millard Fillmore ( January 7 , 1800 - March 8 , 1874 ) was the the thirteenth ( 1850 - 1853 ) President of the United States being the second President to succeed to the office from the Vice Presidency on the death of the predecessor. He succeeded Zachary Taylor , who died of acute indigestion.
Born in extreme poverty, he worked his way up through the Whig party, eventually being selected as Zachary Taylor 's running mate. It was thought that the obscure, self-made candidate from New York would complement Taylor, a slave-holding military man from the south. Nevertheless, the two men came to a head on the slavery issue in the new western territories taken from Mexico in the Mexican-American War . Taylor wanted the new states to be free states, while Fillmore supported slavery in those states in order to appease the South. In his own words: "God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil ... and we must endure it and give it such protection as is guaranteed by the Constitution."
Fillmore presided over the Senate during the months of nerve-wracking debates over the Compromise of 1850. He made no public comment on the merits of the compromise proposals, but a few days before President Taylor's death, he intimated to him that if there should be a tie vote on Henry Clay's bill, he would vote in favor of it.
Thus the sudden accession of Fillmore to the Presidency in July 1850 brought an abrupt political shift in the administration. Taylor's Cabinet resigned and President Fillmore at once appointed Daniel Webster to be Secretary of State, thus proclaiming his alliance with the moderate Whigs who favored the Compromise.
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World History
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore. Is Millard Fillmore America's most obscure President? Read the article and decide for yourself.
From the site:
Millard Fillmore ( January 7 , 1800 - March 8 , 1874 ) was the the thirteenth ( 1850 - 1853 ) President of the United States being the second President to succeed to the office from the Vice Presidency on the death of the predecessor. He succeeded Zachary Taylor , who died of acute indigestion.
Born in extreme poverty, he worked his way up through the Whig party, eventually being selected as Zachary Taylor 's running mate. It was thought that the obscure, self-made candidate from New York would complement Taylor, a slave-holding military man from the south. Nevertheless, the two men came to a head on the slavery issue in the new western territories taken from Mexico in the Mexican-American War . Taylor wanted the new states to be free states, while Fillmore supported slavery in those states in order to appease the South. In his own words: "God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil ... and we must endure it and give it such protection as is guaranteed by the Constitution."
Fillmore presided over the Senate during the months of nerve-wracking debates over the Compromise of 1850. He made no public comment on the merits of the compromise proposals, but a few days before President Taylor's death, he intimated to him that if there should be a tie vote on Henry Clay's bill, he would vote in favor of it.
Thus the sudden accession of Fillmore to the Presidency in July 1850 brought an abrupt political shift in the administration. Taylor's Cabinet resigned and President Fillmore at once appointed Daniel Webster to be Secretary of State, thus proclaiming his alliance with the moderate Whigs who favored the Compromise.
- The Mexican War
The Mexican War - National Park Service overview that covers Zachary Taylor's army, the Army of the West, and the Invasion of Mexico City. It includes a map, links, and suggested readings. Although this war is called the Mexican War, shouldn't...
- John Tyler
John Tyler. This is a biography of American President John Tyler. It is a brief overview but it is well written. From the site: John Tyler ( March 29 , 1790 - January 18 , 1862 ) of Virginia was the tenth ( 1841 ) Vice President of the United States...
- Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce. This is a short and informative essay on the life and presidency of Franklin Pierce. From the site: Franklin Pierce (November 23 , 1804 - October 8 , 1869) was the 14th (1853 - 1857) President of the United States . He was a...
- Ghost Amendment: The Thirteenth Amendment That Never Was
Ghost Amendment: The Thirteenth Amendment that Never Was Article describing a pro-slavery constitutional amendment proposed by the American Congress in 1861. From the site: When the 36th Congress adjourned on March 3, 1861, it was anyone's...
- Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford This is a biography of American President Gerald Ford. From the site: Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (born July 14 , 1913 ) (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr. , renamed after adoption) was the fortieth ( 1973 - 1974 ) Vice President and the thirty-eighth...