Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)
Major-General Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States (1849-1850)
He was preceded in the Presidency by James K. Polk and after dying in office he was succeeded just one year later in 1850 by his Vice-President, fellow Whig Millard Fillmore. Coincidentally, Taylor was a cousin of the 4th U.S. President, James Madison, through their mutual great-grandfather, Colonel James Taylor of Bloomsbury, Virginia. Taylor and his wife had six children, four of whom lived to adulthood including Sarah, wife of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States. Before entering politics, Taylor was a career military officer who spent nearly four decades in the U.S. Army. He gained national prominence during the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), earning the nickname "Old Rough and Ready" for his informal leadership style and tactical successes. His victories at battles like Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and particularly Buena Vista made him a war hero and launched his political career.
Taylor's presidency was dominated by the slavery question and sectional tensions that would eventually lead to the Civil War. Despite being a slaveholder from Virginia who grew in Louisville, Kentucky, Taylor opposed the expansion of slavery into new territories acquired from Mexico. As president, he took a firm stance against secession threats from Southern states and supported California's admission as a free state. His position put him at odds with many in his own Whig Party and Southern Democrats. He died suddenly on July 9, 1850, possibly from gastroenteritis, after attending the Fourth of July celebrations at the Washington Monument, making his presidency one of the shortest in American history at just 16 months. His death allowed his successor, Millard Fillmore, to sign the Compromise of 1850, which temporarily eased sectional tensions.
