Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, at Montebello Plantation in Orange County, VirginiaVirginiaVirginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state whose capital is Richmond. It entered the Union on June 25, 1788, as the 10th state, and had a population of 8,631,393 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, into a family of planters. His father, Richard Taylor, was a Virginia planter and Revolutionary War veteran. While Taylor was an infant the family moved to Louisville, KentuckyKentuckyKentucky is a U.S. state bordered by Illinois, Indiana and Ohio to the north, West Virginia and Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south and Missouri to the west; its capital is Frankfort and its largest city is Louisville. It entered the Union on June 1, 1792, as the 15th state and the first state west of the Appalachian Mountains, and had a population of 4,505,836 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry, where they lived first in a log cabin and then, from about 1790, in a brick house called Springfield, which he shared with seven siblings. By 1800 his father owned 10,000 acres, town lots in Louisville and twenty-six slaves.⁠[1][2][3][4]

Taylor was educated but a poor student, and his handwriting, spelling and grammar remained “crude and unrefined” throughout his life. From boyhood he wanted a military career.⁠[4]

After serving in the Kentucky militia, Taylor was commissioned a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1808, joining the 7th Infantry Regiment, and was assigned to command the garrison at Fort Pickering, the site of modern Memphis. He remained in the army at frontier posts until he was elected president.⁠[1][2][4][5]

In 1810 Taylor married Margaret Mackall Smith, from a prominent MarylandMarylandMaryland is a Middle Atlantic state of the United States, deeply indented by Chesapeake Bay and bordered by Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, the District of Columbia and West Virginia; its capital is Annapolis and its largest city is Baltimore. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on April 28, 1788, as the seventh state to do so, and had a population of 6,177,224 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry family. She followed him from one frontier post to another, and five of their six children were born at Springfield.⁠[5][6]

Taylor served in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Second Seminole War, fighting Black Hawk’s Sacs in IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is a state of the United States that borders Lake Michigan and the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa; its capital is Springfield and its largest city is Chicago. It was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, as the 21st state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 12,812,508.Open the full entry and the Seminoles in FloridaFloridaFlorida is a U.S. state occupying mainly the Florida peninsula, with its capital at Tallahassee; its most populous city is Jacksonville. It entered the Union on March 3, 1845, as the 27th state, and had a population of 21,538,187 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry in the late 1830s. For about 25 years he mainly guarded the frontier and earned a reputation as an “Indian fighter”; the Miller Center’s essay notes that he also shielded Native American lands from white settlers, believing that a strong military presence would keep the two groups apart.⁠[1][7][4][6][5]

After his Florida service Taylor became commander of the Second Department of the army’s Western Division. In 1840 he took command of the fort at Baton Rouge, and his family settled in LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state in the southern United States on the Gulf of Mexico, bordered by Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas; its capital is Baton Rouge and its largest city is New Orleans. It entered the Union on April 30, 1812, as the 18th state, and had a population of 4,657,757 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry. He also owned plantations at Baton Rouge and at Rodney, MississippiMississippiMississippi is a state of the United States on the Gulf of Mexico; Jackson is both its capital and its largest city. It was admitted to the Union on December 10, 1817, as the 20th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 2,961,279.Open the full entry, where hundreds of enslaved people worked; from 300 acres given him by his father he built holdings in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi, and his estate was valued at about $120,000 in 1850.⁠[1][4][6]

As tensions with Mexico grew over the annexation of TexasTexasTexas is a U.S. state in the south-central United States, with its capital at Austin and its largest city Houston. It was admitted to the Union on December 29, 1845, as the 28th state, and the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted 29,145,505 residents.Open the full entry, Taylor took command of the garrison at Fort Jesup, Louisiana. After Texas became a state in 1845, President James K. PolkJames K. PolkJames K. Polk (1795–1849) was an American politician who served as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and governor of Tennessee, and as the 11th president of the United States from 1845 to 1849. During his presidency the United States annexed Texas, settled the Oregon boundary with Britain and, through the Mexican-American War, acquired a vast territory in what is now the American Southwest.Open the full entry ordered him into the disputed border lands, and he led his Army of Occupation to Corpus Christi and then to the Rio Grande.⁠[1][4]

On April 25, 1846, Mexican forces attacked and killed U.S. troops under Taylor’s command in the disputed territory and then besieged Fort Texas. Taylor’s forces held their ground against General Arista’s army at Palo Alto and defeated Arista the next day at Resaca de la Palma. Congress declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846, and Taylor was promoted to major general that year.⁠[2][1][7]

Taylor then advanced into northern Mexico and captured Monterrey, though with heavy losses; 800 Mexican defenders were killed or wounded. He was criticized over the terms of Monterrey’s surrender, but the criticism did not dent his popularity.⁠[1][4]

Gen. Winfield Scott ordered half of Taylor’s army to Veracruz, leaving him about 6,000 men, mostly nonregulars. In February 1847 Antonio López de Santa Anna attacked at Buena Vista with nearly 20,000 soldiers; about 1,800 Mexican soldiers were killed or wounded and Taylor lost 672, and Santa Anna left the field. Taylor’s willingness to share his troops’ hardships earned him the nickname “Old Rough and Ready,” newspapers compared him to George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington (1732–1799) was the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Earlier he commanded the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and presided over the Constitutional Convention of 1787.Open the full entry and Andrew JacksonAndrew JacksonAndrew Jackson (1767–1845) was an American soldier and politician who served as President of the United States from 1829 to 1837, after leading U.S. forces to victory at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812.Open the full entry, and stories circulated of his informal dress, tattered straw hat and calm riding of his horse, “Old Whitey,” under fire.⁠[4][5]

Polk kept Taylor in northern Mexico and sent Scott to capture Mexico City; Taylor, angered, said that “the battle of Buena Vista opened the road to the city of Mexico” and blamed Polk for halving his forces at Buena Vista. In 1847 he commanded the Western Army.⁠[8][9][7]

Taylor had never revealed his politics or voted before 1848. After Buena Vista, “Old Rough and Ready” clubs formed to back his candidacy. Calling himself an independent, he agreed with Whig governing principles such as limiting the presidential veto but disliked Whig tariff and internal-improvement policies; he strongly opposed secession and eventually declared himself a Whig.⁠[9][5]

In 1848 the Whigs passed over Henry Clay to nominate Taylor, adding Millard FillmoreMillard FillmoreMillard Fillmore (1800–1874) was an American Whig politician who served as the 12th vice president (1849–1850) and the 13th president of the United States (1850–1853).Open the full entry of New York to the ticket to reassure critics. The Whigs issued no platform, running Taylor “without regard to creeds or principles,” and Taylor did not campaign actively. The Democratic nominee, Lewis Cass, backed letting the residents of territories decide on slavery, while Northerners opposed to the expansion of slavery formed the Free Soil Party and nominated Martin Van BurenMartin Van BurenMartin Van Buren (1782–1862) was an American politician who served as governor of New York, secretary of state and vice president before becoming President of the United States from 1837 to 1841; in 1848 he ran for president again as the Free Soil Party candidate.Open the full entry.⁠[6][5][9][8]

On November 7, 1848, the first time the entire nation voted on the same day, 72.7 percent of eligible voters turned out. Taylor and Fillmore won 163 electoral votes and 1,361,393 popular votes (47.3 percent); the Democrats Lewis Cass and William Butler won 127 electoral votes and 1,223,460 popular votes (42.5 percent); and the Free Soil candidate Van Buren won 291,501 popular votes (10.1 percent) and no electoral votes. Van Buren drew Democratic votes, especially in New York, which gave its electoral votes to Taylor.⁠[9][10]

Because March 4, 1849, fell on a Sunday, Taylor followed precedent and was sworn in the next day, March 5, by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol; Millard Fillmore took the vice-presidential oath the same day. The day was cloudy with snow flurries, and Taylor attended all three inaugural balls held that evening. In his brief inaugural address he said that his “guide will be the Constitution,” but he did not mention slavery.⁠[11][12]

Taylor appointed cabinet members from every section who represented the nation’s major interests, none of them prominent Washington politicians. He gave the cabinet considerable authority, using it like a council of war, but did not build a close working relationship with Congress, and he delegated most patronage decisions.⁠[12]

In late 1849 Taylor encouraged CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a U.S. state on the Pacific coast; its capital is Sacramento and its largest city is Los Angeles. California was admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850, as the 31st state. Its population at the 2020 Census (April 1, 2020) was 39,538,223, the largest of any state.Open the full entry and New MexicoNew MexicoNew Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States. Its capital is Santa Fe and its largest city is Albuquerque. It was admitted to the Union on January 6, 1912, as the 47th state, and had a population of 2,117,522 in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020).Open the full entry to draft constitutions and apply directly for statehood, skipping the territorial stage, and asked that the Mormon settlements around Salt Lake be included; he expected both to prohibit slavery. In messages to Congress in December 1849 and January 1850 he asked that they be admitted promptly once their constitutions arrived, with no congressional language on slavery and no territorial governments for the region. California wrote a constitution banning slavery and in 1850 applied for admission as a free state; the Union then had thirty states, evenly divided between slave and free.⁠[12][6]

Southerners were furious, and members of Congress objected that Taylor was overstepping their authority. Taylor also said that federal courts could settle the Texas–New Mexico boundary dispute once New Mexico became a state, and pledged to lead an army personally against Texas if it used force to occupy the disputed land.⁠[8][12]

Some Southern Democrats called for a secession convention. In February 1850 Taylor held a stormy meeting with Southern leaders who had threatened secession, warning that he would personally lead the army to enforce the laws and would hang those “taken in rebellion against the Union” with little hesitation.⁠[12][6][8]

On April 19, 1850, Secretary of State John M. Clayton and Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, the British minister in Washington, signed the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty. The two countries agreed to control and protect jointly the canal expected to be built across the Isthmus of Panama, with neither holding exclusive control, and the introductory article pledged a neutralized Central America in which neither would “occupy, or fortify, or colonize.” The two governments disputed the meaning of its wording. The treaty was superseded in 1901 by the second Hay–Pauncefote Treaty.⁠[13][2]

From January to September 1850, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, William H. Seward and others debated compromise proposals in Congress; Clay and Webster backed a strong fugitive slave law and territorial governments for New Mexico and UtahUtahUtah is a U.S. state bordered by Idaho to the north, Wyoming to the northeast, Colorado to the east, Arizona to the south and Nevada to the west, with its capital at Salt Lake City. It was admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896, as the 45th state, and the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) counted 3,271,616 residents.Open the full entry without bans on slavery, and Taylor opposed Clay’s plan. On July 4, 1850, a very hot day, Taylor attended Independence Day ceremonies at the site of the Washington Monument, ate large amounts of cherries and iced milk, and fell ill.⁠[12][1][8]

Taylor died in the White House on July 9, 1850. Doctors at the time diagnosed “cholera morbus”; the National Park Service notes that historians still debate whether he died of severe gastroenteritis or cholera. More than 100,000 people lined the funeral route. Vice President Millard Fillmore succeeded him and in September signed the Compromise of 1850 passed by Congress.⁠[6][12][1][5]

Taylor was buried in the family cemetery at Springfield, which eventually became the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.⁠[3][7][1]

Florida author Clara Rising persuaded members of the Taylor family that his death was suspicious. On June 17, 1991, Kentucky’s chief medical examiner, George Nichols, and the Jefferson County coroner, Richard Greathouse, ordered the body exhumed because his symptoms resembled arsenic poisoning. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Frank Dyer and Larry Robinson analyzed hair and nail samples by neutron irradiation in the High Flux Isotope Reactor; the tests found only minute traces of arsenic, between 1.6 and 2.0 micrograms. Nichols announced that “President Taylor was not poisoned with arsenic” and said Taylor probably died of one of the natural diseases of the era.⁠[14][15]

Taylor and Margaret Mackall Smith had five daughters and one son; two daughters died young. When he became president, his surviving children were Ann Margaret Mackall, Mary Elizabeth and Richard. His daughter Sarah Knox Taylor married Jefferson Davis, then a lieutenant, who resigned from the army because Taylor opposed his daughters marrying career soldiers; she died of cholera two months after the wedding. Mary Elizabeth married Maj. William W. S. Bliss, who had served under Taylor in Texas and at Monterrey and advised him on finances, politics and military tactics. His son, Richard, later became a general in the Confederate Army.⁠[4][16][8]

Taylor held enslaved people for the rest of his life and profited from their labor. During his presidency enslaved valets, cooks and maids worked in the Executive Mansion, and he continued to manage his Cypress Grove plantation from afar. The White House Historical Association names six enslaved people who likely served at the White House: Charles Porter, Tom, Dicey, Jane, William and Caroline. He stayed publicly neutral where he could but personally opposed the expansion of slavery.⁠[6]

In 1971 a Kentucky historical marker, No. 1412, was erected at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville; another marker, No. 1849, notes the location of Springfield, Taylor’s boyhood home.⁠[7][3]

The Miller Center’s essay judges that Taylor’s presidency was too short to affect the office or the nation substantially, and that most historians consider him “too nonpolitical” for an era that demanded close ties with political operatives. It describes him as an anomaly: a slave owner who opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories and a conquering general who saw little need for Manifest Destiny, whose one clear commitment was preserving the Union, by force if necessary; it also judges the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty an important step in scaling back Manifest Destiny, while noting that many contemporaries felt it deferred too much to England. Another Miller Center essay judges that Fillmore’s support for the Compromise of 1850 undid much of Taylor’s impact. The White House biography judges that Taylor was prepared to hold the Union together by armed force, and notes that the war he had been ready to fight came 11 years later.⁠[17][5][8]

Zachary Taylor National Cemetery historical marker (Kentucky Historical Society): Web page: https://history.ky.gov/markers/zachary-taylor-national-cemetery (opens in a new window).⁠[7]