Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore (January
7, 1800 - March 8, 1874)
was the 13th (1850-1853)
President of the United   Order:           13th President
States.                   Term of Office:  July 9, 1850 - March 4, 1853
Born in extreme poverty,  Followed:        Zachary Taylor
he worked his way up      Succeeded by:    Franklin Pierce
through the Whig party,
eventually being selected Date of Birth    January 7, 1800
as Zachary Taylor's       Place of Birth:  Summerhill, New York
running mate. It was      Date of Death:   March 8, 1874
thought that the obscure,
self-made candidate from  Place of Death:  Buffalo, New York
New York would complement Wife:            Abigail Powers
Taylor, a slave-holding
military man from the     First Ladies:    Abigail Powers
                                           Mary Abigail Fillmore (daughter)
south. Nevertheless, the
two men came to a head on Occupation:      lawyer
the slavery issue in the  Political Party: Whig
new western territories
taken from Mexico in the  Vice President:  none
Mexican-American War. Taylor wanted the new states to be free states, while
Fillmore supported slavery in those states in order to appease the South. In
his own words: "God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil
... and we must endure it and give it such protection as is guaranteed by
the Constitution." When the vote in the Senate was tied, Fillmore, as vice
president, voted against Taylor. Then, Taylor died in office after only 16
months, and Fillmore ascended to the presidency.


As president, he advocated the Compromise of 1850, which earned him the
animosity of North and South alike. Because of this, his party's
presidential nomination in 1852 went to General Winfield Scott instead of
Fillmore.

Another important legacy of Fillmore's administration was the opening of
Japan to American trade under Commodore Matthew Perry.

Upon completing his presidency, Fillmore returned to Buffalo, where he
served as rector of the local university. Fillmore's last words, upon being
fed some soup on his deathbed, were "The nourishment is palatable."

The myth that Millard Fillmore installed the White House's first bathtub was
started by H. L. Mencken in a joke column published on December 28, 1917 in
the New York Evening Mail.

Supreme Court appointments

   * Benjamin Robbins Curtis - 1851

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