Zachary Taylor

The American Presidents #12

by John S.D. Eisenhower, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (Editor), Sean Wilentz (Editor)

The rough-hewn general who rose to the nation's highest office, and whose presidency witnessed the first political skirmishes that would lead to the Civil War

Zachary Taylor was a soldier's soldier, a man who lived up to his nickname, "Old Rough and Ready." Having risen through the ranks of the U.S. Army, he achieved his greatest success in the Mexican War, propelling him to the nation's highest office in the election of 1848. He was the first man to have been elected president without having held a lower political office.

John S. D. Eisenhower, the son of another soldier-president, shows how Taylor rose to the presidency, where he confronted the most contentious political issue of his age: slavery. The political storm reached a crescendo in 1849, when California, newly populated after the Gold Rush, applied for statehood with an anti- slavery constitution, an event that upset the delicate balance of slave and free states and pushed both sides to the brink. As the acrimonious debate intensified, Taylor stood his ground in favor of California's admission—despite being a slaveholder himself—but in July 1850 he unexpectedly took ill, and within a week he was dead. His truncated presidency had exposed the fateful rift that would soon tear the country apart.

Genres: Presidents, Biography, History, Nonfiction, American History, Us Presidents, Politics

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 27, 2008

About the author

John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower was a United States Army officer, diplomat, and military historian. He was the son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. His military career spanned from before, during, and after his father's presidency, and he left active duty in 1963 and then retired in 1974. From 1969 to 1971, Eisenhower served as United States Ambassador to Belgium during the administration of President Richard Nixon, who was previously his father's vice president and also his daughter-in-law's father.

As a military historian, Eisenhower wrote several books, including The Bitter Woods, a study of the Battle of the Bulge, So Far from God, a history of the Mexican–American War and Yanks: The Epic Story of the American Army in World War I .

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Among historians who champion the obscure presidents, who speculate about alternative futures, the question will always remain: if Zachary Taylor had not consumed cherries and iced milk on a hot 4th of July afternoon, if the aforementioned snack had not precipitated his death after only a year and a half in office, would Taylor have become the “indispensable man,” the man who could have prevented the great wound of our bloody Civil War?

Taylor was certainly a man of strength and courage, far superior to the woeful trio that succeeded him (Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan). He was a general, with forty years of military service, who defended Fort Harrison from Tecumseh in 1812, earned his nickname “Old Rough and Ready” during the Second Seminole War in 1837, and commanded the euphemistically entitled “Army of Observation” which initiated war with Mexico in 1846. During that war he led his troops to victory in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterrey, and Buena Vista, and his successful generalship—plus his reputation as an unaffected, unassuming man—made him extraordinarily popular with the American people. After numerous evasions, he finally declared himself a Whig, and defeated Democrat Clay and Free Soiler Buchanan in the election of 1848.

Could he have prevented the Civil War? Probably not; probably nothing could have prevented it. Taylor was, however, a man of stronger character than any of his ante-bellum successors, a chief executive who did not shrink from the use of hard power, a Southerner who owned slaves yet opposed the expansion of slavery. On the other hand, he was a lifetime military man with little knowledge of—or patience for—the art of politics. And the political paths available to America in the 1850’s were thorny and overgrown.

John S. D. Eisenhower—a retired brigadier general whose book jacket portrait looks remarkably like his father Ike—has written an entertaining biography of this little known but significant president.

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

President Zachary Taylor And His Virtues

To bring perspective to this year's [2008] eventful presidential campaign, I have been reading several volumes of the American Presidents Series edited by the late Arthur Schlesinger Jr., and Sean Willentz. Each volume consists of a short biography of one of our presidents, prepared by a scholar with a particular interest in him, together with an assessment of his achievements. There is much to be learned in these short books about American history and about the nature of leadership.

The series covers the great and important presidents, such as Washington, Lincoln. Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, together with the lesser-known and less successful presidents. This recent volume in the series by John Eisenhower, historian and son of a former president, explores one of the shorter and more obscure presidencies, that of Zachary Taylor. The twelfth president of the United States, Taylor (1784 -- 1850) served only 16 months (1849 -- 1850) before dying in office. Even though Taylor's time in office was short and uneventful, Eisenhower's book suggests that he has something to teach in our difficult days.

Taylor was born in Virginia but lived from his early years in Kentucky. Although not highly educated, Taylor became wealthy, owned several plantations, and was a slaveholder. Through middle age, his life oscillated between military service and his plantation, including the desire for time with his family. Taylor earned a reputation in the War of 1812 and in several Indian wars. But his early military career had many long idle stretches. Taylor's life also shows a certain restlessness.

Taylor's fame catapulted with his success in the Mexican War, as he won impressive victories at Palo Alto, Monterrey, and Bueno Vista. He became a national hero even while quarreling with General Winfield Scott and with President Polk.

Taylor had not been politically active, but as a military hero, he let it be known he was interested in the presidency. But he distrusted political parties. Nominally a Whig, he would not commit to the party until forced to do so by a group of party leaders as a condition to the presidential nomination. When he identified himself as a Whig in a lengthy letter, Taylor was careful to note that he would consider himself a president of the people and would not mindlessly follow a party line. Taylor became president when he defeated the Democratic candidate, Lewis Cass.

The Washington insiders of the day probably believed that with his military background and political inexperience, Taylor would be malleable. And Southerners assumed that Taylor would be faithful to their cause. Taylor was himself a Southerner and a slaveholder.

Both the insiders and the Southerners underestimated Taylor. The new president did not support the extension of slavery although he had no intention of abolishing it in the states where it already existed. Taylor fought for the admission of California and New Mexico -- the prizes of the Mexican War -- as free states. With the impending admission of California as a free state, Congress, led by Taylor's fellow-Whig Henry Clay proposed a series of compromises to placate the South, including a strong Fugitive Slave Law. These compromises were enacted only after Taylor's death.

As with some other military leaders who achieved the presidency, Taylor made some poor choices for his cabinet which led to scandals at the time of his death. Taylor's administration had one solid achievement in foreign policy, the Bulwer-Lytton treaty with Britain which contemplated joint American-British control of a canal to be built through Central American. This joint project was never realized, but the treaty possibly averted a war.

As Eisenhower points out, Taylor's achievement lies in his stubborn independence. As did John Quincy Adams before him, Taylor took seriously his goal to be a president for an entire nation and not for a political interest group. Against expectations, he courageously tried to limit the spread of slavery while allowing it to remain in the states which already had it. Eisenhower points out that Taylor, had he lived, might have been the last president with the opportunity to avoid the Civil War.

With his short term, Taylor is remembered more for his military exploits as "Old Rough and Ready" than for his presidency. Eisenhower believes he is underrated as a president. But, Eisenhower concludes, "such judgments [as to the rating of a president] are relatively unimportant. For Taylor deserves to be remembered for something more important: he was a man of the Union, one who placed the interests of the Union as a whole above that of his own section of the country." (p.140)

In his independence and stubbornness, Zachary Taylor's presidency showed the virtues of purpose, nationalism and unity. Thus, regardless of the outcome of our impending election, it would be valuable for our new president and for Americans to work towards instilling a spirit of patriotism, unity, and common purpose, regardless of political ideology, in meeting the difficult problems we face. This is the significance of Taylor's presidency as explained in Eisenhower's fine study.

Robin Friedman

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Thirty-Seven of my Presidential Challenge.

"Presidents are inevitably remembered far less for the abilities of the men occupying the office than for the magnitude of the events that happened during their administrations. Sometimes mediocre men are given undeserved status because significant events transpired during their presidencies, whereas very capable men are often overlooked because no great events happened during their terms in office. Taylor fell into the second category and therefore as been generally underrated as a president.

Zachary Taylor's time in office was short, just sixteen months before he died in office. He also looks like he would be played by a modern day Nick Nolte in the movie version of his life (offense intended). Eisenhower makes the case that if more had been going on during this time period and if Taylor had lived and had a second term he may be remembered more fondly (or at all). Is he right? I think so.

Taylor was a war hero. One of only five military generals to become President (Washington, Jackson, Grant, and Eisenhower being the others.) He actually reminded me a great deal of Washington, Grant, and Eisenhower. He was reluctantly drawn into politics. He was a leader, not a politician. By all accounts he was a great general (with a few notable exceptions) and widely respected by his soldiers and his peers. He was a southern slaveholder who understood that slavery was going to have to end at some point. Had he lived, he would have been in a unique position to calm the south down, but then again, Millard Fillmore did a fine job of that himself (another President that doesn't get enough credit).

One of my favorite descriptions in the book is of an early commanding officer of Taylors: Brigadier General James Wilkinson. "At a time when rogues abounded, Wilkinson was unique in the varieties of his villainy. Some officers were treacherous, some were avaricious, and some were simply incompetent. Wilkinson managed to combine all three. Perhaps the least of his flaws was his greed."

Taylor seemed like a truly decent guy who kept things in perspective and never thought too highly of himself. Even though he looks like the personification of a fart, he was actually a classy (if someone uneducated) Southern gentleman.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2014/...

“Zachary Taylor” by John S. D. Eisenhower is a member of The American Presidents series and was published in 2008. Eisenhower graduated from West Point, served in the Army, rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Army Reserve, served as ambassador to Belgium and was a prolific author and historian. He was the son of former president Dwight Eisenhower and died in December 2013 at the age of ninety-one.

Like the previous biography from The American Presidents series I read (that one on John Tyler), Eisenhower’s treatment of his subject is brief, efficient, interesting and easy to read. At just one-hundred-forty pages in length, there are no occasions where the narrative grows stale or wanders into unnecessary detail.

Most who enjoy this biography are appreciative of its brevity, efficiency and ability to hold the reader’s interest. Those who dislike this book tend to find it superficial and rushed. Having just read Bauer’s full-scale treatment of Taylor, I confess to being thankful for Eisenhower’s economy and the relative potency of his biography.

Because most of Zachary Taylor’s personal papers were destroyed during the Civil War, biographers lack the opportunity to construct a vivid and complete portrait of this soldier-president. Nonetheless, I wish Eisenhower had afforded more time to Taylor’s earliest years. By the book’s third page, Taylor is already a twenty-three year old lieutenant in the army attempting to gain standing as a recruiting officer.

Happily, Eisenhower’s examination of Taylor’s role nearly forty years later in the Mexican-American War was more thorough and analytical. This phase of Taylor’s life, of course, plays to one of the author’s strengths (being a former army officer himself). In about thirty pages Eisenhower quickly, but not exhaustively, reviews the context of the conflict, summarizes its most consequential moments and finds Taylor at the war’s end mulling the opportunity to pursue the presidency.

Even at its best, Eisenhower’s biography of Taylor is broad but never penetratingly deep. The book’s brevity affords the author no ability to linger on any points – trivial or substantive – and the pace rarely slows for more than a moment. As a result, this is a biography that can be easily read in a day but which leaves the inquisitive reader feeling slightly unfulfilled. It is in this spirit that Eisenhower concludes the book with two parting thoughts, neither of which are sufficiently probed.

First, he suggests that if Taylor had lived to serve his full term he might have vetoed the Compromise of 1850 and, as a result, the break-up of the Union may have been prevented or delayed. This suggestion is provocatively made but not pursued at any length. Second, Eisenhower promotes Taylor as a “very capable” man who is underrated as a president due to the absence of “great events” during his time in office. This claim, too, is never provided the space it deserves.

Overall, Eisenhower provides a solid, serviceable synopsis of Zachary Taylor. This biography is not long enough to become mired in tedious details, but neither is it comprehensive enough to provide a fully satisfying experience. Ideal for a reader interested in a painless and usually interesting introduction to Zachary Taylor, this biography is insufficient for someone seeking an in-depth treatment of this former president.

Overall rating: 3¾ stars

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know much about Zachary Taylor when starting this book. However, after reading it I wonder if he had lived instead of dying in office if he could have averted the Civil War. In any case I would recommend this book to all.

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zachary Taylor ranks among that small group of presidents who was more famous for what they did before they became president than for their achievements once they occupied the office. A career army officer, he shot to fame when he led his troops to victory over Mexican forces in the Mexican War. Basking in the adulation of a grateful nation, his parlayed his triumph into a victory as the Whig candidate in the 1848 presidential election, only to have his presidency cut short by his death less than a year and a half after taking office.

Given Taylor’s background and claim to fame, John S. D. Eisenhower would seem to be the ideal candidate to write a biography of America’s 12th president. The son of a former president, he was a career army officer himself before retiring to become a prolific author of military histories. Yet the end result is disappointing. Eisenhower’s slim book is a sketchy account of Taylor’s life, one that provides only the barest of details about the man and little real understanding of his role in American history. The first quarter-century of Taylor’s life are covered in a scant eight paragraphs, reflecting the lack of effort in understanding the role these early years played in shaping his personality. Much of his early military career is also glossed over in a rush to get to the critical years of the Mexican War. These chapters play to Eisenhower’s strengths, allowing him to draw upon his previous work on the conflict, . Yet even here precious space is wasted providing unnecessary or superfluous background to events, diminishing the book’s value as a biography of Taylor even further.

Though Eisenhower’s final chapters dealing with Taylor’s time as president provide more in the way of detail and analysis, they cannot make up for the overall deficiencies of this book. Overall Eisenhower’s biography is a disappointing entry in “The American Presidents” series, one that fails to reflect the considerable strengths the author brought to the project. Readers seeking more than the barest details of Taylor’s life would be better off picking up K. Jack Bauer’s far more substantial Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest instead of this book, with fails to satisfy any real appetite to learn about Taylor or his role in American history.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clunky and not an overall strong bio, though admittedly Taylor does not offer a ton of material. The author seems inclined to read Taylor's early demise as a great missed opportunity. He sees Taylor as uniquely equipped to resolve the conflict over slavery and as a bonus, he speculates that Taylor would have been likely to win a second term, thus sparing the nation the back-to-back failures of Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce. For me, that's just too much to extrapolate from a 16-month presidency.

[Frank Theising · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been a little sidetracked on my journey through reading a bio of each President (my current excuse being my fourth trip through Grad School and they have loaded me up with a ton of other reading)….so it took me a lot longer to get through this short book than it should have. The conclusion of the book summarizes the story of Taylor pretty well: he is remembered more for his exploits on the battlefield than his 16-month stint in the White House. His rise to being a general and then success in the Mexican-American War still seems pretty remarkable to me. He had few significant accomplishments prior to that war, yet he proved a remarkably effective leader and warrior when repeatedly outnumbered on the battlefield. Despite being a war hero, his position as slave owner from a border state, coupled with his opposition to the expansion of slavery into new US territory made him the rare candidate who drew votes from north and south, Whigs and Democrats in an increasingly divided era. As with several other presidents who died in office, the raging disputes of his era were left to his successor Millard Fillmore. Ironically, it seems Fillmore resolved them (at least temporarily) in a way that Taylor would not have achieved had he lived. Overall, the book felt a bit rushed under normal circumstances, but given my school workload, the brevity in this case was appreciated. 3 Stars.

What follows are my notes on the book.

He was born in 1784 in Virginia. His father was an officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. For his service he was offered a large parcel of land near Louisville Kentucky. With their Virginia estates wearing out from excessive tobacco farming the family moved to Kentucky. Still a wild frontier with dangerous animals and Native Americans, Zachary grew up in an atmosphere where danger was accepted.

On the frontier his formal education was scanty. He was a very competent farmer, but first and foremost he was a soldier. His father’s service sparked his imagination and imbued him with a fighting spirit. His first extant letter accepting a commission in the army is full of misspellings.

He joined the army at 23 in 1808. His first commanding officer was corrupt and incompetent. Assigned to New Orleans, many suffered from disease, heat, etc. Most of the army died. Taylor got sick and returned to Kentucky to recover. There he met his future wife Margaret Smith.

He was given command of Fort Knox but was recalled to Maryland to testify against his former commanding officer in LA. This absence meant he missed the skirmish with Tecumseh that would propel William Henry Harrison to the presidency 30 years later.

The ensuing Indian attacks were believed to be the result of British provocation and contributed to the outbreak of the War of 1812. Taylor’s big moment in the war came early. In camp with a small garrison of mostly sick soldiers, women, and children, he staved off hundreds of Indians in a nighttime raid. He’s distant cousin James Madison (then president) awarded him the rank of brevet major. It was the first brevet rank ever awarded in US history.

He repeatedly tried to transfer to the east where the more prominent theater of war was. After his requests were denied, he was tasked with mounting an expedition to protect St. Louis, moving up river to destroy some Indian villages. His promotion to major came right as the war was ending. As the Army downsized, he returned to the rank of captain. Instead he chose to retire to Louisville to become a farmer.

In less than a year he was offered a position in the third infantry as a major which he accepted. He was given command of Fort Howard in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was a difficult but uneventful 22 months there. Back home on furlough, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and dined with President James Monroe and Major General Andrew Jackson. He had a series of short postings including Louisiana where two of his children would die of malaria.

In 1832 he fought in the Black Hawk War; a war Taylor’s considered unnecessary. Taylor’s superior failed to take aggressive action to blunt Indian attacks on white settlers. He established a fort at Dixon’s Ferry and placed Taylor in command. The war only lasted three months and for the most part Taylor was denied any opportunity to engage in combat and earn promotion. But the whole affair gave him a huge distrust of volunteer troops.

Jefferson Davis, then a lieutenant, had an intense romance with Taylor’s eldest daughter Sarah. Having lost two of his daughters, Taylor swore his surviving children would never marry army officers. His refusal led to an irreparable breach between Taylor and Davis. After Jefferson and Sarah were married in 1835, Sarah would go on to contract malaria and die.

In 1837, he was sent to Florida to participate in the Second Seminole War. It was one of the most frustrating Indian wars the army ever fought. Taylor fought and “won” the Battle of Okeechobee, one of the few pitched battles of the war. From it he gained brevet promotion to brigadier general and the nickname Old Rough and Ready for his charge through the swamp. He was given command of all of Florida for 2 years and suffered the same frustrations as his predecessors.

He spent 3 years keeping the peace on the frontier in Ft Smith AR with little of note transpiring. Taylor was selected to lead a small force at Fort Jesup, LA to protect Texans from Mexico as they debated accepting the US offer to join the Union. He spent several months in Corpus Christi. Tempers of his troops began to flare over the inactivity, while Polk tried to secure the Southwest by purchase rather than war. When Mexico refused to even meet with Polk’s emissary, he felt free to pursue his objectives by war.

He ordered Taylor to the Rio Grande, who was eager to move. Taylor attempted to send an emissary (Worth) across the river to communicate but they only agreed to disagree on everything. A Mexican force of 3000 arrived to destroy Taylor’s force. When they killed 16 Americans upriver of Taylor’s position, it was the “casus belli” needed to commence hostilities. Polk was already working a war message for Congress; the news from Taylor made this a formality. The House voted 173-14 for war. The senate followed 40-2.

With an army of 3000, he was in a precarious situation so held his ground until additional forces arrived. In the Battle of Palo Alto, Taylor was outnumbered 2-1. However Tailor had exploding artillery shells that savaged the Mexican line while the Mexican iron balls made little impact. While not extraordinary, the battle proved psychologically decisive as both sides realized the value of modern artillery. When the Mexicans fell back to Matamoros, Taylor ignored the advice of his war council and pursued a superior force. Unable to use his artillery due to limited visibility, he stormed the Mexican artillery positions and captured them. The rest of the Mexican line collapsed, every man for himself. It proved a decisive victory with lopsided casualties.

Taylor’s victory resolved a key dilemma for Polk, helping him to keep General Winfield Scott (then a Whig candidate for President) out of the war where his laurels might elevate him to the presidency. The 8,000 (unwanted) undisciplined volunteers sent to Taylor from AL/MO/MS/LA strained his logistics and resources.

Taylor’s plan was to capture Matamoros, then move on to Monterrey. He captured the abandoned Matamoros, paid market prices for goods, and cared for the Mexican wounded. While he held up for a month, many of the volunteers died from disease while the better trained and more disciplined regulars did not.

The key terrain in Monterrey was Independence Hill and its Citadel. However, this was separated from all the other strong points. Taylor assumed the defense would be passive and the enemy would hold up in their fort, allowing him to divide his forces and pick off key objectives one at a time. Despite orders from Polk to agree to no truces, Taylor agreed to an 8 week truce if the Mexicans would abandon Monterrey. Despite his inward fury, publicly he promoted Taylor to major general in the regular army.

General Winfield Scott was given overall command and put in Charge of the move on Mexico City. He commandeered most of Taylor’s regulars and cavalry. Santa Anna, needing a victory refused to submit to Polk’s demands. Santa Anna marched his superior force north to crush Taylor (ignoring Scott’s larger force). Taylor fell back to Buena Vista which would force the Mexicans into a narrow killing zone as they approached them. Santa Anna attempted to flank them. While his subordinates panicked, Taylor kept his cool and held his ground against a vastly superior force. The success catapulted him into contention for the presidency, even if he didn’t yet harbor that ambition.

1848 was a weird year. Taylor’s admirers were an odd assortment of political allies: northern Whigs, northern and southern Democrats. Taylor refusal to publicly declare himself a Whig began to raise doubts of his seriousness for the office. After he made his decision public, he instantly became the front runner. Taylor won on the 4th ballot. Fillmore (the most experienced Whig in government) was selected for VP.

Taylor defeated Cass 163-127 in the Electoral College (both winning exactly 15 states). The journey from Baton Rouge to Washington took its toll on the 64-year old Taylor. As a political outsider, filling his cabinet would be a challenge. He assembled a respectable but lackluster cabinet without a single national figure. Herein was Taylor’s weakness: determined to be the people’s president, he didn’t make full use of the Whig Party apparatus or members of Congress.

His first few weeks were swamped by office seekers and official engagements. At the funeral of Dolly Madison, he coined the term First Lady which remains in use to this day. Margaret Taylor shunned public life, leaving her vivacious daughter Betty to fill the social void. He toured the North but grew increasingly sick. Taylor opposed the expansion of slavery but fully intended to keep his own “property”.

Taylor believed slavery wasn’t viable in the West and so though debate over its expansion a moot point. Others violently disagreed. With the 1849 Gold Rush and swell in population, Taylor supported immediate admission of CA as a free-state. Southerners in Congress stalled the effort, seeking to maintain a free-slave state balance. Another key issue was the dispute over the NM-TX border, where TX claimed vast swaths of modern day NM.

Taylor caught wind of the Lopez Affair, an attempt to seize Cuba and add it as a slave state to offset CA, and shut down the effort. His key foreign policy accomplishment included signing a treaty with Britain renouncing any rights to a future canal in Nicaragua. Unfortunately, it would only serve to prevent a canal being built there at all. This was his last official act.

Three proposals awaited decision in 1850: CA statehood, status of NM and UT, and fugitive slave law. Attempts at compromise placed Clay and Fillmore at odds with Taylor (when they should’ve been allies). Instead Taylor turned to Thurlow Weed’s crony Seward as a key advisor.

The Galphin Affair was his only major scandal (which he had no part in). It involved a settlement of a land claim from before the Revolutionary War. The dispute ended with Secretary of War Crawford (a lawyer in the case) being awarded half of the settlement (a huge sum of money at the time) by two other members of the Cabinet. It is unknown if this scandal had any significant impact on his health but the timing suggest it could have. After a fitful sleep, he attended the laying of the cornerstone of the future Washington monument on July 4th. That day he fell ill with “cholera morbus” and died on July 9th.

His death was viewed as a calamity that foisted the presidency of Franklin Pierce (who was elected after VP Fillmore chose not to run after the completion of Taylor’s term) upon the country and only furthered the slavery agitation.

Even today, Taylor is remembered more from his exploits on the battlefield than from his 16 months as President. Circumstances have contributed to our inability to understand his presidency (his personal papers were destroyed when Union soldiers burned the home of Taylor’s son in Baton Rouge). He left office with many disputes still raging (many temporarily resolved with the Compromise of 1850 passed after his death). Fillmore helped to pass each item individually as an omnibus bill would have resulted in a filibuster. This compromise included a) admitted CA as a free state, b) abolished the slave trade, c) made UT and NM territories under popular sovereignty, d) passed the a fugitive slave act, and e) payed TX $19M to resolve its border dispute with NM. If Taylor had lived he likely would’ve vetoed this series of individual bills.

[Kierstin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zachary Taylor is actually a cousin of mine, but I can't say I'm overwhelmed with pride at the conclusion of this particular biography. Taylor was our 12th president, elected in 1848 but dying in office just 16 months later, causing historians speculate as to what could have been had he lived.

Taylor is special for a few reasons:
- He's the first President elected having held no previous office.
- He's the last President to have held slaves while in office.
- He's the last Southern President elected until Lyndon Johnson's election in 1964.

Taylor was born in Virginia and called Kentucky home as an adult. He was a career military man (and Louisiana plantation owner), serving first in the War of 1812 and most famously as the Southern Division commander during the Mexican American War. In 1845, Texas Statehood was granted but still sketchy, so President Polk sent Taylor to the banks of the Rio Grande to enforce it as the state's southern boundary. He won several battles against Santa Anna's much larger force, persevering thanks to a combination of advantageous land positions and talented weapons experts in the ranks. At the tail end of Polk's one term, the US negotiated peace with Mexico, winning Texas' security, and new territory stretching to the Pacific coast to include the much-desired San Diego harbor.

Polk had previously promised to serve only one term and not seek re-election, which he momentarily reconsidered but thankfully did not overturn (Polk died less than 90 days after leaving office). So, Taylor was convinced to run for election by the Whig party, largely due to Taylor's belief in limited Presidential powers, though he quickly strayed from the platform and aligned himself as a (non-existent) "Jeffersonian-Democrat."

Taylor had a solid set of beliefs but managed to please no one. He was a slaveholder, but opposed slavery expanding the new territories. He did not support federal investment in states' infrastructure development/improvement, but he also did not condone states' rights to secede nor believe it to be constitutional. In the time he served, Taylor would have been better remembered had he had stronger positions and a less Live-and-Let-Live personality.

Taylor's primary accomplishments are succinct and admirable. He established of the Department of Interior (approved initially by Polk), advocated and mentored immediate application of statehood for California and New Mexico (bypassing territory status for reasons of slavery debates), began negotiations with England about a Central American canal (Nicaragua and Honduras were early candidates), and was a staunch unionist threatening to "lead the Army himself" against any secessionists, leading to the drafting of the infamous Compromise of 1850. (His descendants later served officer positions on both sides of the Civil War, but his favorite daughter Sarah eloped with Jefferson Davis causing a significant rift with her father.)

After celebrating the 4th of July eating and drinking a supposed variety of well-wishers' offerings, Taylor contracted severe abdominal symptoms and died after four days' significant distress. He was exhumed in 1991 to quell rumors he had been poisoned, but the exercise again pointed to death most likely from cholera. Taylor is now thought to have been capable of surviving the attack but for the doctors who, for four days, “drugged him with ipecac, calomel, opium and quinine, and bled and blistered him too." Poor guy.

Taylor's Vice President, Millard Fillmore, assumed the Presidency until the end of the term in 1853. He was considered a failure and may well also be the darkest spot on this project because no biography seems available to me. Ghost of Millard: Come tell me who you are, lest you be lost to history and, more importantly, are deprived of a pithy and fllippant life summary by yours truly.

[Amanda Grinavich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taylor is certainly known more for his time in the military than office as he died 16 months in. Fun fact: we have the term ‘first lady’ thanks to Zack.

[Ocean G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going through some mediocre presidents now, and it shows. Taylor seems to have been a pretty good general who was unfortunately unprepared (or just not cut out) for the presidency. He wanted to be "The people's president", so he refused to become too entrenched with his own party (the whigs), and thereby lost out on a lot of goodwill, while not gaining much ground with the opposition (the democrats). This seems to be a trend with generals who become presidents (Eisenhower, Washington, etc.)

Interesting to note he coined the term "First lady", for Dolly Madison's death.

The book mentions a claim that, had he survived, he might have been able to avert the civil war, being a Southern slave holder who opposed slavery. I very much doubt it.

I don't like giving it 3 stars, even though it's a 3 star book, mainly because I doubt it could have been much better, given the material. Let's say 3.5 for now.

[Ethan Leopold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written. In depth in material yet concise enough that the book is rather short. Would highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about not only Taylor but the state of the Union in the decades prior to the Civil War.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this biography compared to others in the series. It’s so great that the son of Dwight D Eisenhower is a talented historian and writer! Zachary Taylor is and interesting president, and I liked how he didn’t want to be beholden to his political party.

[David Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zachary Taylor was the only president never to hold any political office before the presidency. As a result Taylor has not been the subject of much scholarly biographical writing. This book is brief but superficial, yet still informative and an easy read.

Perhaps the lack of Taylor scholarship is due to the fact that most of his personal papers were destroyed during the Civil War. The book in the first 3 pages covers his family history, childhood and adolescence. Taylor 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 having vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was preserving the Union, as thunder clouds of Civil War began to build, even though still more than a decade away.

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. 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 in1 850, just 18 months into his term. Millard Fillmore served the remainder of the term, interestingly without a VP. Historians and scholars have ranked Taylor in the bottom quartile of U.S. presidents, owing in part to his short term of office, though he has been described more as forgettable president than a failed one.

Although, Eisenhower provides a good summary it leaves a serious student of the presidency wanting more detail and analysis. For a quick overview it is fine but lack for someone seeking an in-depth treatment of this former president.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

One in the series of short (<200 pages) biographies of American presidents, this volume was written by President Eisenhower's son, John, a former general himself. I found it to be very accessible and informative.

It provided a good deal of detail on Taylor's leadership during the war with Mexico, notable for someone with an interest in military matters. Good coverage of his 16-months in the Oval Office, especially on the issue of slavery.

Saliently, the author was able to provide more insight into the nature of being a president after being a leading general from his family's personal history. Of the 5 in this series that I have read so far, this is the best!

[Lucas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zach Taylor died 16 months into his Presidency, and his personal papers were burned during the Civil War, so he is certainly not the easiest President to write a biography about. I learned a few interesting facts about his role in the Mexican War and the fact that he coined the term "first lady" at Dolly Madison's funeral. He gained a lot of popularity from the Whig party because they wanted to recreate the magic of William Henry Harrison's war hero campaign. Instead they recreated the President dying in office scenario.

I did find it interesting how little credit Eisenhower gives to William Henry Harrison for the Battle of Tippecanoe and basically argues that the Whig party created an undeserved legacy for Harrison as a war hero.

The book ends by hinting at some fairly absurd conclusions about what "might have been" had Taylor lived and been President a full 4 or 8 years. It is suggested he would have vetoed the Fugitive Slave Law of the Compromise of 1850, which seems true. But it's a pretty big leap to imply that that would have altered the course the country was on toward Civil War. The epilogue brings up a dinner conversation where someone suggests that because Taylor was a southern slaveholder who opposed the spread of slavery in new places, he could have appeased the South and is the only person who could have helped the country avert Civil War. I find that assertion to be utterly ridiculous. I think, as even the earliest founding fathers worried about, Civil War over slavery was likely inevitable at some point. If it wasn't inevitable then I definitely don't think Zachary Taylor was a man who could have prevented it. He exercised very little executive power of any kind, unlike his predecessor Polk who exercised a ton. Taylor deferred most of the key issues of his 16 month presidency to Congress, so what would he do to prevent the passage of laws bound to explode into Civil War?

[Christie Bane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zachary Taylor, the 12th U.S. President, died in office! Did you know that? I did not either.

Taylor is one that I would have completely missed if someone had asked me to name all the presidents. I couldn't have placed him in chronological order if someone had offered me $1000; the best I could have done would have been to say he was either somewhere between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln (which would've been correct) or else somewhere between Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson (which would've been incorrect).

In this book, I learned that Zachary Taylor (also known as Old Rough and Ready) was a military man who became President. He was a soldier all his life but was best known for his performance in the war with Mexico in the 1840's that ended up getting the U.S. what is today the southwestern U.S. As a military leader, he was known for bravery and for dressing and talking like a commoner instead of the high-ranking leader that he was. It was never clear to me how he actually got into politics as he always seemed more at home on the battlefield than in politics. James K. Polk, who held office before Taylor, seems to have viewed him with a cordial disdain, like, "Ewwww, this man cannot write, dress, or speak properly. How the people chose him to succeed me I cannot imagine..."

But he actually did okay in office, and might have done even better if he hadn't died so early in his term. As it is, he didn't do anything terrible and he didn't do anything awesome. He just... died, leaving his V.P. Millard Fillmore to take over. The most interesting thing about this book is continuing to watch the way slavery loomed larger and larger in national politics. With every President, the issue gets closer and closer to the surface.

One more book closer to Lincoln and Team of Rivals!

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a rather spare biography. It provided very little insight into Zachary Taylor the person. This is partly explained in the Epilogue which says that many of Taylor's personal papers were burned during the Civil War. The first part of the book addresses Taylor's military service and is a plain (perhaps 'dull' is a better word) description of the various posts and positions he held up to and during the Mexican War. In the second part, there is an adequate description of his 16 months as President, including the significant issues of his administration, primarily statehood of newly acquired territories and, of course, slavery. Eisenhower portrays Taylor in a somewhat favorable light, explaining that he perhaps exceeded Polk's expectations of him and a full Taylor term (even a second Taylor term) would have been preferable to Fillmore's presidency.

[The other John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short and simple biography of President Taylor, volume twelve of The American Presidents series. (Once again I was unable to pick up a substantial bio that covered a president's entire life. I'll be glad when I get to Lincoln.) General Eisenhower does a pretty good job of covering Taylor's history. The focus of the book is on his military career, especially his actions in the Mexican-American War. Whether that's because Eisenhower himself is a retired General, or because that really was the predominant aspect of Taylor's life, I don't know. Still it's enough to give me a general picture of his life and times.

[Jliongrrrl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short and sweet biography of our twelfth president. I’m not going to lie to you, what I knew about Zachary Taylor prior to reading this book came mostly from Polk’s biography (which did not paint him in a favorable light). He was a military man who was president for only 16 months before dying in office. As his time in the Oval Office was so brief, most of this book is dedicated to his time in the military. There is little about his family or personal musings (though Eisenhower does mention that his papers were lost when his son’s home was burned during the civil war).
I enjoyed Eisenhower’s writing style and look forward to reading more of his books.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gonna give this one a big fat "meh." The book did an okay job of explaining the various happenings of the country throughout Taylor's life, but I don't feel I learned much about Tyler himself. This may not be the author's fault; there isn't the plethora of information out there about him as there was on Polk or other not-insanely-famous presidents. Still..just felt extremely rushed and lightweight for such a heady time.

[Dionne · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Eisenhower does an amazing job of detailing the life of a lesser known president. He enables you to understand Taylor's military career without getting bogged down. A great portrait of our 12th president.

Eisenhower also wrote a book about his father that I just found at a used book store, I can't wait to read it.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve taken on the task of reading a Biography on each US President in order of service. While the more notable President’s have multiple books to choose from, some of the “less sexy” Presidents either served one term, or really didn’t have have much going on while in office, and consequently don’t have many books written about them to select from. In most of those cases, those books often average a 3 star rating. Taylor fell into the latter category and on top of only serving 16 months, there isn’t a lot of information about his Presidency as his personal papers were lost during the Civil War when his son’s home in Baton Rouge was destroyed. So….Zachary Taylor is one of the Presidents I wasn’t chomping at the bit to read about. If I am being honest…I was feeling that getting through #’s 11-15 was going to be a bit of a slog until I get to Abraham Lincoln. I realize that attitude is not terribly fair to the great men who served as President, and after reading this book, I was reminded of why I took on this task…which was to learn more about the history of the United States…and this project is fulfilling that goal so I’m recommitting myself to having a more open mind about the lesser known Presidents.


That said, I found this book informative and interesting…more so than expected. It was a tough one to rate though. It’s not a 5 if you compare it to all the biographies I’ve read…more like 2.5 to 3, but as far as books on Zachary Taylor…It’s a 5 in my estimation. So…I settled on a 4. Namely, because the historical significance of the era and the issues Taylor
and America were facing (i.e. predominantly the issue of slavery) provided much for the author to write about…more so than Taylor himself actually.

Some takeaways from this biography:

Having suffered an untimely death (cholera) after serving just 16 months in office, History might have played out differently had Taylor served his full term. He was a well respected and revered military leader and reluctant politician who really didn’t want to become President. At a time when slave owners and abolitionists were at odds and the slavery issue threatened to divide the Union…Taylor was slave-owner who opposed the expansion of slavery, and was more concerned with preserving the Union than picking sides and playing politics. He ran as a Whig…but he vehemently did not want to identify with any political party. The whig leaders felt he was their best chance of getting a Whig elected and had to jump through hoops to get him to run on their ticket (which did best align with his beliefs among to other political
parties). Who knows…had he survived, the Civil War may have been avoided - he was looking for ways to settle on compromise vs polarize the two sides.

[Chase Parsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...when a group of Southern congressmen came to the White House and threatened secession unless if they got their way on New Mexico and the Fugitive Slave Law, [Taylor] replied angrily that "if it becomes necessary I'll take command of the army myself and if you are taken in rebellion against the Union I will hang you with less reluctance than I hanged deserters and spies in Mexico."

Zachary "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor was a tough-as-nails military man. He fought decades of harrowing Native Americans battles, hated dressing up (some hilarious mentions about Taylor twirling a straw hat with his finger, chewing tobacco while sidesaddle, etc.), owned slaves but did not want the institution to expand into new territories, and most importantly, became a hero as a result of the Mexican-American War. After becoming a war hero, with great hesitation, Taylor entered the race for President. He joined the Whig party but he was not partisan. The author suggests that Taylor, with his notoriety and ability to relate to Southerners, could have helped our country avoid the Civil War. But we will never know. He died unexpectedly in 1850 (just over 1 year in office).

This was a very well-written book by Dwight Eisenhower's historian and military veteran son, John S.D. Eisenhower. A good read about a president who was not one of the best, but was also not fully tested.

[Pete Menzies · Rating 3 out of 5]

I joined a friend's book club on US Presidents. We are reading a single biography of each president in order. We started with Polk, the 11th president, as my friend had gone it alone until Polk. A strange place to begin this project, but I am excited at the layering of American History this will provide. This book was one in a series of short books on presidents and was workmanlike, sort of like Taylor himself. An admirable military man who came into the office at the urging of the Whig Party, but with no strong political beliefs other than the need to preserve the union and some convictions around limiting the expansion of slave states, even though he was a slaveholder himself. He was sort of the exact opposite of Polk, a politician with a well known agenda and steeped in politics with a willingness to use executive powers. Taylor seemed to believe that Congress was the engine of policy.

[Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, and not wholly satisfactory, biography of the 12th President of the United States. The author, John Eisenhower, was himself son of President Dwight Eisenhower, distinguished World War II general, making him a natural choice to write about Taylor, himself famous more for his military exploits than his tenure in the White House. Though Eisenhower does his best, Zachary Taylor's time in office was brief, a mere 16 months, and his personal papers would be destroyed 20 years later by Union troops moving through the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area during the Civil War. The bulk of the book's narrative deals with Taylor's command in the Mexican-American war; though Taylor was to become celebrated for his deeds during that war, they were not truly spectacular.

[Jennifer L. Hess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice sized biography. Not too short, but not everything that ever happened to General Taylor. Before reading this biography I knew two things about Zachary Taylor: he was a general and he died in office (as POTUS). I'm happy that this biography provided both more details about his life but also that he was pretty non-partisan. This is especially intriguing in the decades leading to the civil war. The only con to mention is that the coverage of the Mexican War was a little heavy-handed with battle descriptions. But, given the author is a military scholar, this makes sense. Definitely worth a read.

[Betty Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this book for one reason: I am moving near Zachary Taylor Highway in Virginia and I was curious why he was worthy of a highway being named for him. As I read, I discovered why - sort of - but I learned a lot about this more obscure president who died in office.
I thought the military history was well handled, but I agree with the reviewer who thought the author's writing style was stiff and clumsy.
This 12th president's story made me want to read more about other less well-known presidents and I will be tackling Martin Van Buren next.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slogging through the biographies of presidents leading up to the Civil War is like reading prequel novels: they're full of interesting characters and background details in a story whose ending you already know. In a sense this is true of any history book, but until the war, there was an almost endearing belief by everyone, North and South, that we'll somehow find a resolution and hold the country together. As names like Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis begin to join that upstart congressman from Illinois on the stage, there is a sense of inevitable futility in their projects.

Zachary Taylor was the second president to die in office, only sixteen months into his term. Unlike William Henry Harrison, the first POTUS to die in office, he at least had some time to be president, but at the time of his sudden illness and death, his administration had not done much, and his only real accomplishment as president was signing the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, which settled tensions between Britain and the United States over Central America and the future Panama Canal.

So I was intrigued by the thesis presented in this book's introduction, that the almost unremembered twelfth president might have prevented the Civil War had he lived. The author of this biography, John S.D. Eisenhower, was the son of President Dwight Eisenhower, so presumably he knew a few things about presidents. (John Eisenhower had a pretty distinguished career of his own and later became a military historian.)

Yet Another Virginian Slaveholder

A common thread through most early presidential biographies is the preeminence of Virginia as, at one time, probably the most influential state in the union, and how many presidents came from there. Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784, though he grew up in Kentucky and owned plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana. Like so many of his peers, though, he was one of those men who viewed slavery as a sort of necessary evil that he would have preferred didn't exist, while still benefiting from it. As a military officer in the field for most of his life, he probably had little direct interaction with slaves. But the fact that he was a slave owner who was secretly against expanding slavery would become very significant when he became president, and is probably the reason for Eisenhower's judgment that he could possibly have steered the country away from a war over slavery.

Old Rough and Ready

Like many undistinguished presidents, even those who survived their term in office, Zachary Taylor's life and career before becoming president is more interesting than his presidency. He was a military man for most of his life, with a career that began during the War of 1812 and continued through the Mexican-American War, during which he was simultaneously one of the two commanding generals over American forces and a nascent presidential candidate.

Taylor's life and career in many ways paralleled that of his mentor, William Henry Harrison. Harrison praised Taylor's performance during the War of 1812. Like Harrison, Taylor spent most of the war fighting Indians in the interior. Taylor continued to make his reputation as an Indian fighter, leading American forces in the Black Hawk and Seminole wars. He acquired the nickname "Old Rough and Ready" during this time, for being the kind of officer who rode and camped and fought with his troops and shared all of their hardships.

My daughter will never marry a soldier!

Taylor's wife was Margaret "Peggy" née Smith, described by multiple sources as "fat and motherly." She suffered greatly from her husband's frequent campaigns, as well as multiple childbirths. She was a semi-invalid and supposedly promised God to remain a recluse if her husband came home safely from his various campaigns. She evidently kept this promise, as when Taylor became President, the unwilling First Lady (she actually prayed for her husband to lose the election) remained secluded on the second floor of the White House and let her daughter take on the role of hostess.

There are not a lot of details about Taylor's personal life and habits in this book, probably because while Taylor did write letters, he wasn't highly educated or philosophical, and much of his correspondence was stored in his son's house in Baton Rouge, which was burned by the Union Army during the Civil War. But generally, he seems to have been a plain, honest, and unsophisticated (not to say unintelligent) man who mostly enjoyed being a soldier but also recognized what a hard life it was, especially for his family. Long periods of separation from his wife made them both unhappy, so he became extremely determined not to allow his daughter to marry a military man and suffer the same hardships.

This led to a story as old as time: his 18-year-old daughter Sarah fell in love with an officer, and forbidden by her father to see him, the two lovers conspired to meet anyway, and eventually married, without her father's blessing or attendance.

That officer's name? Jefferson Davis.

Taylor and Davis were estranged after this, even after (or because of) Sarah's untimely death, which left both her father and her widowed husband devastated. Eventually, however, Taylor and Davis would reconcile, when Davis (along with many other future Confederate leaders such as Robert E. Lee ) would serve under him during the Mexican-American War.

The Mexican-American War

At first the Mexicans showed little hostility. In the afternoon, in fact, a group of young women emerged from behind the line of sentries and came down the bank of the river. They disrobed in front of the spectators on both sides and plunged into the water for a swim. A few American officers who were already in the river swam toward them. The Mexican sentries on the opposite bank let the Americans reach almost to the middle before letting it be known that they were to go no farther. The young officers blew kisses to the tawny damsels, who laughed and returned the compliments. Both groups then swam back to their respective shores.

Despite this light-hearted beginning, the Mexican-American War was a bloody affair that was as political as it was military, and while Eisenhower goes into some detail on both the diplomacy and the battles, the main significance for Taylor is that it made him a national figure and presidential candidate, while also hardening the mutual dislike between himself and President Polk.

Polk had initially chosen Taylor over General Winfield Scott to command American troops in Mexico because Scott was a Whig whereas Taylor had until that point appeared relatively apolitical. However, Taylor had often been unhappy at the commands he was given, and he felt slighted by a decision from Polk regarding the precedence of regular ranks over brevet ranks. (Taylor had been given the brevet rank of Major General.) After Taylor captured Monterrey, he more or less ignored Polk's wishes and signed a temporary truce with the Mexican general, allowing him to withdraw most of his troops. Polk sent Winfield Scott to take most of Taylor's troops, which may have backfired, as Taylor then had to fight General Santa Anna with a much smaller force. Outnumbered about three to one, the Americans inflicted far greater casualties against the Mexican forces at the Battle of Buena Vista. After Santa Anna withdrew, both sides claimed victory, but combined with General Scott's landing at Veracruz, these two battles more or less ended the war. The Battle of Buena Vista overshadowed Scott's clear triumph at Veracruz (perhaps because of numerous tragic losses, such as the son of Senator Henry Clay), and Taylor became a bonafide national hero.

The Election of 1848

"It has never entered my head, nor is it likely to enter the head of any other person."

Prior to becoming a presidential nominee, Zachary Taylor had spent most of his life avoiding politics, to the point that he didn't even vote. He wasn't lacking in ambition, but his ambitions had mostly concerned climbing the ranks in the Army. It seems to have been in large part a desire not to serve under a president he'd grown to dislike (James Polk) that turned him political.

Taylor-for-President clubs had already started while he was still in Mexico, but his nomination seems to have come about as almost unplanned and unanticipated by everyone including himself. He was being courted by both the Democrats and Whigs while refusing to align himself with either party, until finally in early 1848 he was persuaded to declare himself for the Whigs.

His rivals for the Whig nomination were his frenemies General Winfield Scott and perpetual presidential candidate Henry Clay, but the Whigs eventually decided to go with what had worked last time and nominated the war hero, making Taylor the second former general to become a Whig President. Unfortunately, William Henry Harrison would prove to be another precedent for Taylor.

Since Polk was keeping his promise not to run for reelection, Taylor faced Lewis Cass for the Democrats and in one of the most remarkable heel turns in American history, a third-party bid by former President Martin Van Buren and Charles Adams (son of John Quincy Adams), who had started the Free Soil Party. He captured a majority of electoral votes and a plurality of the popular vote, and would be the last president elected before the Republican/Democrat two-party system would control American politics forever after.

The Curse of Whig Generals

Taylor was technically still a commissioned officer when he was elected president, which made for an awkward few months for his commanding officer and former rival, General Winfield Scott.

As a president, Zachary Taylor was unremarkable, and not just because he died early. James Polk, who received him courteously enough when he arrived in Washington, judged him to be crude and almost illiterate (not really true).

For someone who had been apolitical for most of his career, it should have been a surprise to no one that his supporters had projected their own politics onto him and not what he actually believed. He ignored most of the Whig Party platform, but conversely, the Southerners who voted for him because they assumed that as a slave-holding Southerner he would be pro-slavery were also disappointed.

The big issues facing his administration were California and New Mexico, and more generally, slavery. Every new state was a political landmine, and Taylor tried to be even-handed, but when push came to shove and Southerners started making noises about secession in earnest, he took a page from Andrew Jackson and threatened to lead troops and hang the secessionists if it came to that, thus revealing that in a choice between slavery and the Union, he'd pick the Union.

While Henry Clay began putting together what would eventually become the Compromise of 1850, Taylor was also dealing with the embarrassing Galphin Affair, in which his Secretary of War who had been representing an old claim dating back to the American Revolution got the claim, and payment for it by the federal government, approved by the Secretary of the Treasury, coincidentally netting him an enormous fee ($100,000 in 1850 dollars!) as well. All of these conflicts were bruising for his health and morale.

On July 4, 1850, he took a stroll around Washington, and ate a lot of cherries and iced milk. He abruptly took ill, suffering gastrointestinal distress that, over the next few days, turned fatal.

I am about to die — I expect the summons soon — I have endeavored to discharge all my official duties faithfully. I regret nothing, but am sorry that I am about to leave my friends.

As with many deaths in the 19th century, the exact cause of his death is a small mystery, about which historians can only speculate given the medical evidence available. At the time, of course, conspiracy theories sprang up with various factions accused of poisoning him. (An exhumation in the 90s supposedly ruled out arsenic poisoning but not much else.)

The second POTUS to die in office left his Vice President, Millard Fillmore, as the country's second "accidental president."

The Biography

Most biographers like their subjects, probably an inevitable outcome of spending so much time getting to know them. Eisenhower's claim that Taylor could have prevented the Civil War is in fact fairly restrained and speculative. His argument is essentially that Taylor, being a Southerner himself, was able to speak to the Southerners in their language and appreciate their concerns, but at the same time, demonstrated he was willing to proactively shut down any talk of secession, even to the point of threatening to lead troops into New Mexico when Texas was threatening to take it. He was against the expansion of slavery, though he was making no moves to end it. Eisenhower thus speculates that if he had lived, Taylor might have seized control of the debate and kept the Union together. However, he also admits that it might just have moved the date at which the inevitable rupture would start.

Eisenhower is not entirely uncritical of Taylor. His description of Taylor's performance as a military commander is lukewarm; while Taylor was a hero to his men and the American public, Eisenhower points out several battles, during the Seminole and Black Hawk wars and again during the Mexican-American war, where, Taylor's tactics were, as Eisenhower tactfully puts it, "open to debate." He's fairly forgiving of Taylor's ambiguity on political issues, but admits that he determinedly avoided taking a stand and making his positions hard to decipher.

As Eisenhower himself points out, sometimes presidents are judged more by the significance of the events while they were in office than by their own significance. Zachary Taylor fought in a very significant war but not much important happened while he was president. That makes him mostly a historical footnote, and no one who isn't studying that time period deeply is likely to read a very long book about a mediocre president who only served for sixteen months. That makes this fairly brief volume large enough to cover all the important details and give us a picture of the man and why he's important to history, despite his relatively inconsequential administration, without spending too much time on him.

[Darrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784, not far from the home of his distant cousin James Madison. His father was an officer in the Revolutionary War and was head of one of Virginia's prominent families. However, his family moved to Kentucky shortly after he was born.

He was a wealthy plantation owner. A gentleman farmer and businessman, slave holder, and soldier. There were apparently skirmishes with Native Americans early in his career that are largely unreported. A lot about Taylor has been lost since his personal papers were destroyed in the Civil War (his son was a major general in the Confederate Army).

He joined the army in 1808 at the age of 23. Tensions with Britain were high at the time, though Jefferson avoided war. Taylor was assigned to serve under the incompetent General Wilkinson. While stationed near New Orleans, many soldiers died due to unsanitary conditions and spoiled food sold by corrupt contractors. When the army was moved upriver, the trip was deadly for the weakened men. Nearly all of the 2,000 troops were killed. Taylor survived because he got sick early on and was sent home to recover. While home recovering, he met his future wife Margaret Mackall Smith. They married in 1810. Their first daughter Ann was born the next year.

Tecumseh's campaign against America due to Tippecanoe was blamed on the British and was one of the reasons for the War of 1812. During the War of 1812, Taylor was stationed at Fort Harrison in Indiana. He defended against an Indian attack while most of his men were sick and some deserted. It was the first American victory in the war. Madison made Taylor a brevet major, the first brevet awarded in US history.

He engaged in a few skirmishes with Native Americans throughout 1812 but nothing major. He didn't fight in 1813, engaging in recruitment and taking sick leave and commanding at Fort Knox which didn't get attacked. Taylor tried to get transferred to where the fight was, but was unsuccessful.

In 1814, he was called to Missouri. At Credit Island, he was planning on burning down Native American villages, but was surprised when British troops showed up, causing him to retreat.

Taylor started a letter writing campaign to become a full major and got it, but then the war ended and he was reduced to the grade of captain again. He went to Washington to plead his case, but it didn't work out, so he resigned his commission in 1815 to become a farmer.

He soon grew bored with farming, however. There was a vacancy in the grade of major by 1816 and Taylor accepted it. Taylor was a stern disciplinarian with his troops and didn't get along with his superiors. Taylor had a façade of Southern courtesy, but also was judgmental and vindictive. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was given various assignments. He had four daughters at this time, but three-year-old Octavia and baby Margaret died of malaria in 1820.

He participated in the Black Hawk War in 1832, although he considered it unnecessary. The 65-year-old Sauk chief Black Hawk wanted to retake land whites had stolen in violation of treaties going back to 1804. He crossed the Mississippi with 1,500 Sauks but committed no acts of violence.

When the army arrived, Black Hawk tried to surrender, but a trigger-happy militia man killed two or three of his emissaries. Fighting ensued and the whites retreated. Black Hawk then proceeded to raid white settlements all over the territory. The militia eventually defeated Black Hawk. Taylor didn't take part in the fighting. He was responsible for holding down the fort.

Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, future president of the Confederacy, wanted to marry Taylor's 18-year-old daughter Sarah, but Taylor was firm that no daughter of his would marry an army officer. Being an officer himself, he knew how hard it could be on a marriage.

Forbidden from seeing each other, Sarah and Davis snuck around and wrote each other letters for years. Taylor grew to hate Davis. Davis resigned as an officer hoping to clear the air, but this didn't work. When the two married, Taylor didn't attend. Sarah died of malaria shortly after her marriage.

In 1837, Taylor received orders to participate in the Second Seminole War. One general after another had failed to defeat the Seminoles who disappeared anytime soldiers showed up.

Taylor achieved victory at the Battle of Okeechobee, even though he lost more men than the Seminoles, he got them to retreat. He earned some enemies by accusing the Missouri volunteers of cowardice. He got the rank of brevet to brigadier general and the nickname Old Rough and Ready because unlike other commanders, he was willing to march alongside his men. He even advanced through the swamp in muck up to his waist. He was put into command of all of Florida for two years, although like his predecessors he was unable to win.

He was then assigned to command Fort Gibson, the last stop on the Trail of Tears. He wrote a letter to President William Henry Harrison critical of Jackson and Van Buren and identified himself as a Whig.

Later, President Polk assigned Taylor to lead troops into Mexico in preparation for war. Although he'd spoken out against annexing Texas, Taylor was eager for war with Mexico because he wanted another promotion. On the way, Taylor ran into his former son-in-law Jefferson Davis. They no longer felt hostility for each other and separated on good terms.

Taylor almost never wore a proper uniform. Once a lieutenant went to his tent, found only an old man cleaning a saber and offered him a dollar to clean his own. When he returned, he was surprised to learn "Old Fatty" was the general himself who said, "I'll take that dollar."

It was unknown whether brevet ranks took precedence over regular ranks and this caused arguments over who outranked whom. During the march to Mexico, news reached the army that Polk had decided regular rank outranks brevet, which infuriated Colonel Worth (who was a brevet brigadier general). Worth left with the intention to resign, although he later returned.

When Taylor invaded Matamoros, he wanted the Mexican civilians to consider the Americans friends, so he camped his army outside of town, paid the vendors what they asked, even if they overcharged, and treated the Mexican wounded.

During the Mexican campaign, some of Taylor's Irish and German troops deserted since they were treated like second class citizens. While camped at Camargo, one eighth of his troops died of disease. Those who died were mostly volunteers since the regulars had discipline, cleanliness, and a better location. The Texas Rangers didn't obey Taylor's orders. They did things their own way and sometimes had different goals such as getting their bitter enemy Antonio Canales.

After his victory at Monterrey, Taylor was promoted to major general of the regular army. Polk was mad at him for offering a truce in exchange for Mexican troops evacuating the city, and ordered the truce ceased at once. Taylor got the message just four days before the truce was due to end anyway. In his rage, Taylor made the messenger deliver the news to the Mexican army.

Polk sent general-in-chief Scott to led the army to Mexico City. Taylor didn't meet Scott when he arrived (perhaps a deliberate snub), so Scott took most of Taylor's troops while he was absent. Taylor was furious, but reinforcements did arrive for him to lead as promised. He won a victory against President Santa Anna at Buena Vista.

Scott, also a presidential aspirant, achieved greater victories than Taylor on his march to Mexico City. Also hurting Taylor's presidential aspirations was his refusal to identify himself as a Whig. He wanted to appeal to all voters. His wife didn't want him to be president either, preferring a quiet domestic life.

When he returned home from Mexico, he was a celebrity. He was showered with medals, swords, sashes, and medallions. Songs were dedicated to him. Girls strewed flowers in his path. He was finally convinced to declare himself a Whig, albeit not an ultra Whig. He didn't want to hold a Whig convention either as that would emphasize the fact he belonged to a party.

A convention was held anyway. Taylor was chosen to be the Whig candidate with Millard Fillmore of New York as vice president. Taylor didn't get the news for a month because he'd told the postmaster he wouldn't accept a letter with postage due. Some Whigs objected to Taylor for being a slave holder, but in order to win the election, they needed to appeal to slave holders.

After being elected at age 64, Taylor wanted to keep his army pay as long as possible, so he didn't resign his commission until the day he left for Washington.

His wife had made a promise to God to not make public appearances if her husband returned from Mexico, so the duties of White House hostess fell on Taylor's daughter Betty who had just married Taylor's aide William Bliss.

Taylor's wife had also prayed for him to lose the election, but that was not to be. Taylor had trouble picking a cabinet since he was a political outsider and it took him some time. He wanted to be president of all the people, so he didn't make full use of prominent members of the Whig party or confide in members of the Whig Congress.

Outgoing President Polk described Taylor as a well-meaning old man, however he was uneducated, ignorant of public affairs, and would need to rely on his cabinet.

In Taylor's inaugural address, he stated his intention to let Congress handle domestic issues. He also apparently said the newly acquired territories of Oregon and California were too far away to be states and should instead become countries of their own.

His early days in office were plagued by job seekers from off the street interrupting him. He attended the funerals of Polk and Dolley Madison (Taylor coined the term First Lady to describe her.)

Since his wife Margaret shunned public life, there were rumors that she was a reclusive pipe-smoking bumpkin, but the Taylors didn't care. Taylor kept his informal manner, wearing large comfortable clothes rather than fashionable ones.

In 1849, the White House was close to marshes at the edge of the Potomac. It was hot and humid and the roof leaked. A cholera epidemic broke out and Taylor, not a particularly religious man, declared a day of prayer in July. Despite the fact large gatherings of people spread disease, Taylor took a trip to Pennsylvania and New York to familiarize himself with conditions in the North, an area of the country that was largely new to him.

He started experiencing vomiting and diarrhea in Harrisburg, but attributed this to a change of water and continued on. While there, he gave orders to blockade New Orleans and New York to prevent small private invasions (filibustering expeditions) from sailing to Cuba.

Taylor assured Northerners that slavery would not be expanded into the new territories. Though a slave holder himself, he was against slavery in principle. He wouldn't abolish slavery in states where it already existed, but he wouldn't expand it either.

He continued his tour, giving speeches to large crowds. Diarrhea and vomiting returned along with fever and the shakes near Erie. The doctor even thought it was serious enough to send word for his wife to come join him, but he recovered and continued his tour though New York. He was sick enough to cancel plans for Boston.

The South was pushing for a stronger Fugitive Slave Act, but Taylor was against it. Southerners also sent filibustering expeditions to the Caribbean and Central America to seize control of local governments hoping to bring new territories into the US as slave states.

When gold was discovered in California, soldiers and sailors deserted to become prospectors. Despite what was said on inauguration day, Taylor did want California to become a state. The people of California, the majority from slave-holding states, unanimously decided to make California a free state. The southerners in Congress didn't like this and blocked California from becoming a state. The debate over California, which was really a debate over slavery, got so heated one senator drew a pistol on another.

New Mexico was also controversial since some Texans claimed Santa Fe was in their territory. Texas even threatened to secede from the Union and use military force to capture New Mexico, but Taylor called their bluff. According to later stories, he said if they did that, he'd lead the army against them himself and hang them as traitors. Like California, New Mexico also wanted to be admitted as a free state, but Congress blocked them.

The French minister in Washington, Guillaume Tell Poussin, thought he had special privileges and was a thorn in Taylor's side. Taylor declared him persona non grata which irritated France. Taylor was even willing to go to war over the issue, but Secretary of State Clayton smoothed things over.

Cuba was part of Spain at the time. Narciso López, a former officer in the Spanish army, lost his land for some reason and fled to the US where he planned an invasion of Cuba to get his land back as well as the rest of the island. 600 men were ready to go. One of his supporters was John Quitman, the governor of Mississippi. Taylor put a stop to López's first filibuster.

López tried again and was captured, but was acquitted by friendly southern jurors. About 50 men with him were captured by Spain which was going to execute them as pirates. Taylor defended the prisoners since they hadn't actually committed a crime, they'd only intended to commit a crime. He got them released.

Taylor's last official act was signing the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with England which prevented either country from controlling the Panama Canal. The treaty prevented a war (although a war was unlikely), but kept the Panama Canal from being built for the foreseeable future.

Taylor's last days were plagued by the Galphin scandal. Galphin was owed $43,000 but died before he was paid. His heirs got the money, but also wanted interest. Two of Taylor's cabinet members awarded the unthinkable sum of $191,000 to the heirs. On top of that, the agent for the heirs (a third member of Taylor's cabinet) got half the sum. This caused Taylor a lot of stress and made his administration look corrupt.

On July 4th, 1850, Taylor attended the ceremony laying the cornerstone for the Washington Monument. He became sick, but it didn't seem that serious. Washington's water and sewer systems were still primitive and many other prominent politicians were sick as well.

In his final days, he signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty and was censured by Congress for the Galphin scandal. He died on July 9th, likely from cholera. He was only president for 16 months.