Zachary Taylor

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Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor | President's Day | Kentucky Life | KET

Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was the 12th president of the United States, serving from March 1849 until his death in July 1850. Taylor previously was a career officer in the United States Army, rose to the rank of major general and became a national hero as a result of his victories in the Mexican–American War. As a result, he won election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was preserving the Union, but he died sixteen months into his term, before making any progress on the status of slavery, which had been inflaming tensions in Congress.

Taylor was born into a prominent family of plantation owners who moved westward from Virginia to Louisville, Kentucky in his youth. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1808 and made a name for himself as a captain in the War of 1812. He climbed the ranks establishing military forts along the Mississippi River and entered the Black Hawk War as a colonel in 1832. His success in the Second Seminole War attracted national attention and earned him the nickname "Old Rough and Ready". In 1845, during the annexation of Texas, President James K. Polk dispatched Taylor to the Rio Grande in anticipation of a battle with Mexico over the disputed Texas–Mexico border. The Mexican–American War broke out in April 1846, and Taylor defeated Mexican troops commanded by General Mariano Arista at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and drove his troops out of Texas. Taylor then led his troops into Mexico, where they defeated Mexican troops commanded by Pedro de Ampudia at the Battle of Monterrey. Defying orders, Taylor led his troops further south and, despite being severely outnumbered, dealt a crushing blow to Mexican forces under Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista. Taylor's troops were transferred to the command of Major General Winfield Scott, but Taylor retained his popularity.

The Whig Party convinced the reluctant Taylor to lead their ticket in the 1848 presidential election, despite his unclear political tenets and lack of interest in politics. At the 1848 Whig National Convention, Taylor defeated Scott and former Senator Henry Clay to take the nomination. He won the general election alongside New York politician Millard Fillmore, defeating Democratic Party candidates Lewis Cass and William Orlando Butler, as well as a third-party effort led by former president Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, Sr. of the Free Soil Party. Taylor became the first president to be elected without having served in a prior political office.

As president, Taylor kept his distance from Congress and his cabinet, even though partisan tensions threatened to divide the Union. Debate over the status of slavery in the Mexican Cession dominated the political agenda and led to threats of secession from Southerners. Despite being a Southerner and a slaveholder himself, Taylor did not push for the expansion of slavery, and sought sectional harmony above all other concerns. To avoid the issue of slavery, he urged settlers in New Mexico and California to bypass the territorial stage and draft constitutions for statehood, setting the stage for the Compromise of 1850. Taylor died suddenly of a stomach disease on July 9, 1850, with his administration having accomplished little aside from the ratification of the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty. Fillmore served the remainder of his term. Historians and scholars have ranked Taylor in the bottom quartile of U.S. presidents, owing in part to his short term of office (16 months), and he has been described as "more a forgettable president than a failed one".


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Published in 28/08/2020

Updated in 19/02/2021

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30/04/178904/03/1797George WashingtonGeorge Washington
04/03/179704/03/1801John AdamsJohn Adams
04/03/180104/03/1809Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson
04/03/180904/03/1817James MadisonJames Madison
04/03/181704/03/1825James MonroeJames Monroe
04/03/182504/03/1829John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams
04/03/182904/03/1837Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson
04/03/183704/03/1841Martin Van BurenMartin Van Buren
04/03/184104/04/1841William Henry HarrisonWilliam Henry Harrison
04/04/184104/03/1845John TylerJohn Tyler
04/03/184504/03/1849James K. PolkJames K. Polk
04/03/184909/07/1850Zachary TaylorZachary Taylor
09/07/185004/03/1853Millard FillmoreMillard Fillmore
04/03/185304/03/1857Franklin PierceFranklin Pierce
04/03/185704/03/1861James BuchananJames Buchanan
04/03/186115/04/1865Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln
15/04/186504/03/1869Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson
04/03/186904/03/1877Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant
04/03/187704/03/1881Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. Hayes
04/03/188119/09/1881James A. GarfieldJames A. Garfield
19/09/188104/03/1885Chester A. ArthurChester A. Arthur
04/03/188504/03/1889Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland
04/03/188904/03/1893Benjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison
04/03/189304/03/1897Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland
04/03/189714/09/1901William McKinleyWilliam McKinley
14/09/190104/03/1909Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
04/03/190904/03/1913William Howard TaftWilliam Howard Taft
04/03/191304/03/1921Woodrow WilsonWoodrow Wilson
04/03/192102/08/1923Warren G. HardingWarren G. Harding
04/03/192304/03/1929Calvin CoolidgeCalvin Coolidge
04/03/192904/03/1933Herbert HooverHerbert Hoover
04/03/193312/04/1945Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
12/04/194520/01/1953Harry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman
20/01/195320/01/1961Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower
20/01/196122/11/1963John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
22/11/196320/01/1969Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. Johnson
20/01/196909/08/1974Richard NixonRichard Nixon
09/08/197420/01/1977Gerald FordGerald Ford
20/01/197720/01/1981Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter
20/01/198120/01/1989Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan
20/01/198920/01/1993George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. Bush
20/01/199320/01/2001Bill ClintonBill Clinton
20/01/200120/01/2009George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
20/01/200920/01/2017Barack ObamaBarack Obama
20/01/201720/01/2021Donald TrumpDonald Trump