LESSER-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT OUR PRESIDENTS



LESSER-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT OUR PRESIDENTS

Or PRESIDENTIAL PARAGRAPHS - #12

Mort Fox

Zachary Taylor, our twelfth president had almost exactly 16 months of political experience, all of that as president of the United States. He never served in any other elected office. It also appears that he never even voted in a presidential election. He was a career soldier. He spent forty years in the army. After the War of 1812, he resigned his commission and farmed for one year. He then re-entered the army and remained until his election to the presidency. His military service commenced in 1808, as a 1st lieutenant, and ended in 1848, as a major general.

Oh yes, Zachary Taylor was born, yes, you guessed it, in Virginia. The score now, Virginia 7, Massachusetts 2 and the rest scattered, in the birthplace of presidents’ tally. He was taken as a very small child to live in Kentucky. His formal schooling was almost non-existent. What tutoring he had indicated that he was capable of learning.

Taylor was a strong willed, plain and rough man. He was called "Old Rough and Ready" because of these traits. He dressed the part, no fancy duds for him.

One of the most significant events during his presidency and his successor’s was the “Compromise of 1850”. Taylor was opposed to it. Not because California would come into the Union as a free state, but that the other territories acquired as a result of the Mexican War could choose whether to be free or slave. Although he owned and worked over 100 slaves himself, he was against the expansion of slavery into these new areas. He threatened to veto the five bills that made up the Compromise. He died before it came to him. Much to his credit, Taylor, although a Southern slave owner, was a strong believer in the preservation of the Union. He did not feel this policy was in the best interest of the country. Many Southerners, at that time, were more concerned with states’ rights than with the Union.

Taylor’s views on preserving the Union were adamant to the point that, when some of the Southern states spoke of cessation, he gave them more than adequate reason to drop the subject. He told them in no uncertain terms that he would use force if necessary to prevent such actions on their part. They knew he was not the guy to challenge. His reputation for toughness was well established. As a matter of fact, he said, he would personally lead the troops.

Taylor participated in a July 4th ceremony in Washington. It was a very hot day. The exact sequence of event that led to his illness is not exactly known. Traditional accounts have it that he consumed a large quantity of raw fruit and cold milk and/or ice water. In 1850 Washington, this was not recommended procedure. He developed severe abdominal discomfort. This could not be alleviated with the assistance of the doctors who were brought in, including his son-in-law. After trying their medical procedures of that period he grew weaker, five days later, he was dead.

So you won’t wonder what happened to the “Compromise of 1850”, Millard Fillmore, his successor, signed the bills.

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