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Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 - July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to the rank of major general and becoming a national hero for 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 to preserve the Union. He died 16 months into his term from a stomach disease. Taylor was born into a prominent family of plantation owners who moved westward from Virginia to Louisville, Kentucky, in his youth; he was the last president born before the adoption of the Constitution. 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 of the military, establishing military forts along the Mississippi River and entering 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, driving Arista's 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 General 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 a reluctant Taylor to lead its 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 Winfield Scott and former senator Henry Clay for the party's nomination. He won the general election alongside New York politician Millard Fillmore, defeating Democratic Party nominees 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 previously held political office. As president, he 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 national 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 and having made no progress on the most divisive issue in Congress and the nation: slavery. Vice President Fillmore assumed the presidency and 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), though he has been described as "more a forgettable president than a failed one".[1] Early life Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784,[2] on a plantation in Orange County, Virginia, to a prominent family of planters of English ancestry. His birthplace may have been Hare Forest Farm, the home of his maternal grandfather William Strother, but this is uncertain.[3] Another possibility, one recognized by a historical marker, is Montebello, another Orange County estate.[4] He was the third of five surviving sons in his family (a sixth died in infancy) and had three younger sisters. His mother was Sarah Dabney (Strother) Taylor. His father, Richard Taylor, served as a lieutenant colonel in the American Revolution.[5][6] Taylor was a descendant of Elder William Brewster, a Pilgrim leader of the Plymouth Colony, a Mayflower immigrant, and a signer of the Mayflower Compact; and Isaac Allerton Jr., a colonial merchant, colonel, and son of Mayflower Pilgrim Isaac Allerton and Fear Brewster. Taylor's second cousin through that line was James Madison, the fourth president.[7] He was also a member of the famous Lee family of Virginia, and a third cousin once removed of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.[8] His family forsook its exhausted Virginia land, joined the westward migration and settled near future Louisville, Kentucky, on the Ohio River. Taylor grew up in a small woodland cabin until, with increased prosperity, his family moved to a brick house. As a child, he lived in a battleground of the American Indian Wars, later claiming that he had seen Native Americans abduct and scalp his classmates while they were walking down the road together.[9] Louisville's rapid growth was a boon for Taylor's father, who by the start of the 19th century had acquired 10,000 acres (40 km2) throughout Kentucky, as well as 26 slaves to cultivate the most developed portion of his holdings. Taylor's formal education was sporadic because Kentucky's education system was just taking shape during his formative years.[10] Taylor's mother taught him to read and write,[11] and he later attended a school operated by Elisha Ayer, a teacher originally from Connecticut.[10] He also attended a Middletown, Kentucky, academy run by Kean O'Hara, a classically trained scholar from Ireland and the father of Theodore O'Hara.[12] Ayer recalled Taylor as a patient and quick learner, but his early letters showed a weak grasp of spelling and grammar,[13][14] as well as poor handwriting. All improved over time, but his handwriting remained difficult to read.[13][14] Marriage and family In June 1810, Taylor married Margaret Mackall Smith, whom he had met the previous autumn in Louisville. "Peggy" Smith came from a prominent family of Maryland planters-her father was Major Walter Smith, who had served in the Revolutionary War.[15][16] The couple had six children: Ann Mackall Taylor (1811-1875),[17] married Robert C. Wood, a U.S. Army surgeon at Fort Snelling, in 1829.[18] Their son John Taylor Wood served in the U.S. Navy and the Confederate Navy. Wood was the father of: Zachary Taylor Wood, acting Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police and Commissioner of Yukon Territory. Charles Carroll Wood, Lieutenant with the British Army. Sarah Knox "Knoxie" Taylor (1814-1835),[17] married Jefferson Davis in 1835, a subordinate officer she had met through her father at the end of the Black Hawk War; she died at 21 of malaria in St. Francisville, Louisiana, three months after her marriage.[19] Octavia Pannell Taylor (1816-1820),[17] died in early childhood.[20] Margaret Smith Taylor (1819-1820),[17] died in infancy along with Octavia when the Taylor family was stricken with a "bilious fever."[20] Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Taylor (1824-1909),[17] married William Wallace Smith Bliss in 1848 (he died in 1853);[21] married Philip Pendleton Dandridge in 1858.[22] Richard Taylor (1826-1879),[17] a Confederate Army general;[23] married Louise Marie Myrthe Bringier in 1851.[24] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Another version: Taylor, Zachary (1784-1850), served his country for 40 years as a soldier and for 16 months as president. His courage and ability during the Mexican War made him a national hero. Taylor showed the same courage while he was president, but he died before he could prove his full abilities as a statesman. He was succeeded by Vice President Millard Fillmore. President Taylor was one of the large slaveowners of the South. But he did not oppose admitting California and New Mexico to the Union as free states. The South demanded that other slavery problems be settled before those territories became states, and threatened to secede. Taylor replied that he was ready to take his place at the head of the army to put down any such action. He died at the height of this argument. President Fillmore's policies delayed the American Civil War for 10 years. Taylor made his greatest contribution to his country as a soldier. This quiet, friendly man was not a military genius but was a good leader. He never lost a battle. His troops nicknamed him "Old Rough and Ready." Early life Childhood. Zachary Taylor was born near Barboursville, Virginia, on Nov. 24, 1784. He was the third son in a family of six boys and three girls. His parents, Richard and Sarah Strother Taylor, came from leading families of the Virginia plantation region. Richard Taylor served as an officer in the Revolutionary War. In 1783, he received a war bonus of 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) of land near Louisville, Kentucky. He settled there in 1785. There were no schools on the Kentucky frontier, but Zachary studied for a while under tutors, and gained practical knowledge by working on his father's farm. Perhaps it was natural that Zachary should turn to a military career. He grew up in the midst of Indian warfare, and heard tales of the Revolutionary War from his father. In 1808, he was appointed a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army. In 1810, he was promoted to captain. Taylor's family. Early in 1810, Taylor met Margaret Mackall Smith (Sept. 21, 1788-Aug. 14, 1852). She was the orphaned daughter of a Maryland planter. Taylor and Smith were married on June 21, 1810. They had a son and five daughters, two of whom died as infants. Their daughter Sarah married Jefferson Davis, the future president of the Confederacy. She died three months after her wedding. The Taylors' son, Richard, served as a general in the Confederate Army. Military career Indian campaigns. During the War of 1812, Taylor won promotion to major for his defense of Fort Harrison in the Indiana Territory. In 1819, he became a lieutenant colonel. He served in Wisconsin during the Black Hawk War, and received the surrender of Chief Black Hawk in 1832. Taylor was sent to Florida in 1837. There he defeated the Seminole Indians at Lake Okeechobee on Dec. 25, 1837. This victory brought him the honorary rank of brigadier general. In 1841, Taylor became commander of the second department of the western division of the U.S. Army, with headquarters at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Mexican War. In 1846, Mexico threatened war with the United States over the annexation of Texas. Taylor was ordered to the Rio Grande with about 4,000 troops. Mexico considered this advance an invasion, and Mexican forces crossed the river to drive off the Americans. Taylor defeated them in battles at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. The United States declared war on May 13, 1846. Taylor then advanced into Mexico and captured Matamoros and Monterrey. After these victories, Taylor seemed the obvious choice to lead an invading army into the central valley of Mexico. But President James K. Polk, a Democrat, knew that Taylor favored the rival Whig Party. Because Polk feared the growth of a popular Whig leader, he named General Winfield Scott to lead the campaign. On Feb. 22-23, 1847, before Scott's army departed, Taylor's army of about 5,000 men was attacked by between 16,000 and 20,000 Mexican troops in the Battle of Buena Vista. Taylor's troops won a stunning victory over the forces of General Santa Anna. The triumph was due more to the skill and vigor of Taylor's officers than to his generalship, but the victory made Taylor a national hero. Nomination for president Many Whig leaders, especially in the South, believed Taylor could easily win the presidency because of his military fame. Taylor hesitated to enter politics, but the Whigs nominated him anyway. They chose Millard Fillmore, comptroller of New York, for vice president. The Democrats nominated Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan and General William O. Butler of Kentucky. During the campaign, both Whigs and Democrats took a two-sided stand on the divisive issue of slavery, seeming to favor it at one time and oppose it at other times. Only the Free Soil Party, led by former President Martin Van Buren, campaigned to ban slavery in the newly acquired Mexican territories. Van Buren did not carry a single state, but he drew many votes from Cass. Taylor and Fillmore won by 36 electoral votes. The presidential election of 1848 was the first held at the same time in all the states. Taylor's administration (1849-1850) Taylor was inaugurated on March 5, 1849. He would normally have taken office on March 4, but declined to be inaugurated on Sunday. Some historians claim that David R. Atchison, president pro tempore of the Senate, served as acting president on March 4 because the presidency was vacant on that day. Taylor relied on the advice of other people because he knew that he lacked political experience. However, no one could influence him to act against his conscience. Life in the White House. Mrs. Taylor had not favored the idea of her husband running for president. She viewed it as a plot to deprive her of his company. Mrs. Taylor, a semi-invalid, took little part in the White House social life. Hostess duties passed to her daughter Mary Elizabeth, known as Betty. Betty's husband, Colonel William W. S. Bliss, served as Taylor's secretary. The Nicaragua Canal. The acquisition of territory on the Pacific Coast during President James K. Polk's administration revived the dream of a water route across Central America. American businessmen tried to obtain rights to build a canal across Nicaragua. The British were also interested in such a canal. In 1850, the United States and the United Kingdom signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, which guaranteed the neutrality of any such canal. Sectional quarrels. Controversy over the extension of slavery in new territories reached a new high in 1849 as California prepared to apply for admission to the Union as a free state. Taylor urged Congress to admit California and New Mexico immediately as states rather than make them territories first. In this manner, he hoped to avoid the dispute over slavery in the territories. But Southerners angrily demanded the adjustment of other slavery problems before new states were admitted to the Union. During the next months, Congress had one of its greatest debates. Southerners threatened secession, and Northerners promised war in order to preserve the Union. Though he owned many slaves, Taylor sided with the North. He pledged to use force to uphold the Union. Numerous congressional leaders, including Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, urged compromise. However, Taylor scorned any compromise, and insisted that California be admitted to the Union. Supporters of compromise eventually won, but not until Fillmore had succeeded to the presidency. Congress then adopted laws referred to as the Compromise of 1850. Death. Before the slavery issue could be settled, Taylor became ill and died on July 9, 1850. He was buried in the family cemetery near Louisville, Kentucky. Mrs. Taylor died on Aug. 14, 1852, and was buried beside her husband. In 1991, a team of experts examined President Taylor's body to determine whether he had been assassinated by poisoning. They concluded that he died of natural causes. Contributor: Michael F. Holt, Ph.D., Professor of History, University of Virginia. World Book 2005
William B.
