Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. A career Army officer, he became a national hero for his victories in the Mexican–American War.

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Biography

Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784 into a prominent planter family that moved west to the Louisville, Kentucky, area during his youth. Commissioned in the U.S. Army in 1808, he made his name as a captain in the War of 1812, built forts along the Mississippi River, served as a colonel in the Black Hawk War, and gained national attention in the Second Seminole War, where he earned the nickname "Old Rough and Ready".

In 1845 President Polk sent him to the Rio Grande during the dispute over the Texas border. After war with Mexico began in 1846 he won at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, captured Monterrey, and, though heavily outnumbered, turned back Santa Anna's army at Buena Vista in 1847, becoming a national hero.

Although he had never held political office and had no clear political program, the Whigs nominated him in 1848, and he won the presidency with Millard Fillmore as running mate. In office he made preserving the Union his priority as the nation argued over slavery in the Mexican Cession; a slaveholder himself, he did not push to extend slavery and urged California and New Mexico to apply directly for statehood. His administration ratified the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty with Britain.

Taylor died of a stomach illness on July 9, 1850, sixteen months into his term, and was succeeded by Fillmore.