OUR 12TH PRESIDENT: ZACHARY TAYLOR

Damein Lee

Jobs Before The Presidency

Zachary Taylor was born to a wealthy family of planters and slave owners (Life in Brief).

As a child, Taylor had decided he wanted a career in the military (Life in Brief).

Taylor received his first commission as an officer in 1808 and was immediately assigned to command the garrison at Fort Pickering (Life…Presidency) .

Jobs Before The Presidency Cont.

He was transferred from one post to another, which built up his reputation but made his personal life difficult (Life in Brief).

Taylor settled down in Louisiana and accepted command of the Fort at Baton Rouge when he met Margaret Mackall and married her in 1810 (Life…Presidency).

Remember The Name

Taylor’s fame began to rise as he became known as an Indian fighter in the nation’s continuing war against the Native Americans (Life…Presidency).

He earned the nickname “Old Rough and ready” because of his willingness to share his fellow man’s hardships on the field of duty (Life…Presidency).

Though, it was his defeat of the large Mexican forces that attacked when he was ordered into the disputed land of the Texas-Mexico boarder that propelled his name to national prominence (Life…Presidency)

The Road To The WhiteHouse

Around the time of the 1848 election, Taylor was one of the most popular men in America, mainly in part to his heroism in the Mexican-American war (Life in Brief).

After his victory at Buena Vista, clubs supporting his candidacy began springing up everywhere (Campaigns).

Take A Stand

Taylor thought of himself as independent and he favored a strong and sound banking system (Campaigns).

He aligned himself with Whig ideals in the fact that he felt no law should be vetoed unless it’s deemed unconstitutional, and that the president should not interfere with congress (Campaigns).

No Platform?

Taylor was also a strong nationalist, refusing to see succession as a solution to national problems because he had seen so many of his comrades die in battle (Campaigns).

The Whigs relied off of Taylors national appeal as a war hero and presented him as the ideal man “without regards to creeds or principals” and had him run with no platform (Campaigns).

Taylor And The Whigs

Even though Taylor supported the views of the Whigs, they couldn’t help but wonder whether or not he actually understood or accepted them being as his entire career was in the military (Graebner,Norman).

In a letter to his brother-in-law, Taylor had this to say. “I reiterate . . . I am a Whig but not ultra Whig.. . . If elected I would not be the mere president of a party—I would endeavor to act independent of party domination, & should feel bound to administer the Government untrammelled by party schemes (Graebner,Norman).”

Taylor And The Whigs Cont.

This could only be taken as Taylor acknowledging he was sufficiently familiar enough with the public issues to pass judgment on them (Graebner,Norman).

Throughout the campaign Taylor's doubtful allegiance to Whig principles troubled party leaders, especially when he accepted a local Democratic nomination (Graebner,Norman).

In The End• Taylors final

victory was a modest one.

• He came out with 1,360,000 popular votes compared to 1,220,000 vote for Cass and 291,000 for Van Buren.

Taylor’s Portrayal

In order for the Whigs to strive for a successful administration, Taylor had to appeal to both the North and the South.

In the South Taylor was campaigned as a southerner and a Louisiana slaveholder, someone who’d be seen as trustworthy to the southern people (Graebner,Norman).

In the North, the Whigs campaigned Taylor as a proponent of the Wilmot Proviso (Graebner,Norman).

Presidential Accomplishments

Though Taylor was only able to serve a sixteen month term before he passed away, he was still able to pass acts that favored the United States and helped greatly.

During his administration, he proposed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with Great Britain ruling that canals across Central America were to be neutral and there was to be no colonization in Central America (Graebner,Norman).

Summarizing The 12th President

All in all, Taylor, while in office, was able to gain support with both sides of the union, maybe some more than the other, but succeeded in keeping peace.

Taylor whole heartedly believed in preserving the union, and may have come to change the nation even more had his time not have been cut short from contracting cholera (Graebner,Norman).

He died July 8, 1850 inside the White House (Graebner,Norman).

Works Cited