Millard Fillmore
| Millard Fillmore | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| 13th President of the United States From: July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853[1] | |||
| Vice President | none | ||
| Predecessor | Zachary Taylor | ||
| Successor | Franklin Pierce | ||
| 12th Vice President of the United States From: March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850 | |||
| President | Zachary Taylor | ||
| Predecessor | George Dallas | ||
| Successor | William King | ||
| 14th Comptroller of New York From: January 1, 1848 – February 20, 1849 | |||
| Predecessor | Azariah Flagg | ||
| Successor | Washington Hunt | ||
| Former U.S. Representative from New York's 32nd Congressional District From: March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1843 | |||
| Predecessor | Thomas C. Love | ||
| Successor | William Moseley | ||
| Former U.S. Representative from New York's 32nd Congressional District From: March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835 | |||
| Predecessor | Constituency established | ||
| Successor | Thomas C. Love | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Whig Party | ||
| Spouse(s) | Abigail Powers Fillmore (1826–1853) Caroline Carmichael McIntosh Fillmore (1858-) | ||
| Religion | Unitarian | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Service/branch | New York Guard | ||
| Battles/wars | Mexican–American War American Civil War | ||
Millard Fillmore became the 13th President of the United States of America upon the unexpected death due to illness of President Zachary Taylor in 1850. He served as the president from 1850-1853.[2] Fillmore admitted California as a state as part of the Compromise of 1850, sent Commodore Perry to Japan, and was president during the Gold Rush to California. Fillmore was the last Whig to hold the presidency, as the Whig Party did not even nominate him for reelection in the 1852 Presidential election and he failed in his presidential candidacy in the 1856 Presidential election as the nominee of both the Know Nothing (American) Party and the Whig Party.
The main event in his presidency was the Compromise of 1850, which appeased the slave states and held off civil war for a few more years.
On July 10, 1850, Fillmore declared, "I dare not shrink; and I rely upon Him who holds in His hands the destinies of nations to endow me with the requisite strength for the task." Fillmore also stated in his Annual Message of 1852, "We owe these blessings, under Heaven, to the Constitution and Government ... bequeathed to us by our fathers, and which it is our sacred duty to transmit ... to our children."
He died February 1874 in Bufalo, New York.[3]
Mencken's "Bathtub hoax"
In 1917, the acerbic liberal journalist H.L. Mencken published a newspaper article that claimed to be a history of the bathtub. Among other things, it stated that initially there was widespread public opposition to bathtubs; that Millard Fillmore ordered the first bathtub installed in the White House; and that his support of the invention helped to popularize it. The article was completely false from beginning to end, but was widely believed and the "fact" about Fillmore made its way into many reference books.
See also
- Mallard Fillmore, conservative-themed newspaper comic strip by Bruce Tinsley named for this President
References
- ↑ http://www.trivia-library.com/a/13th-us-president-millard-fillmore.htm
- ↑ http://www.trivia-library.com/a/13th-us-president-millard-fillmore.htm
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Presidents Millard Fillmore by Jane Clark Casey, Children's Press, 1988.
External links
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