Zachary Taylor
At a Glance
Term: 12th President of the United States (1849-1850)
Born: November 24, 1784, near Barboursville, Virginia
Nickname: "Old Rough and Ready"
Religion: Episcopalian
Marriage: June 21, 1810, to Margaret Mackall Smith (1788-1852)
Children: Ann Mackall (1811-1875), Sarah Knox (1814-1835), Octavia P. (1816-1820), Margaret Smith (1819-1820), Mary Elizabeth (1824-1909), Richard (1826-1879)
Career: Soldier
Political Party: Whig
Writings: Letters of Zachary Taylor (1908)
Died: July 9, 1850, Washington, D.C.
Buried: Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, near Louisville, Kentucky
A Life in Brief: At the time he became President, Zachary Taylor was the most popular man in America, a hero of the Mexican-American War. However, at a time when Americans were confronting the explosive issue of slavery, he was probably not the right man for the job. More....
Essays on Zachary Taylor and His Administration
|
Zachary Taylor
A Life in Brief • Life Before the Presidency • Campaigns and Elections • Domestic Affairs • Foreign Affairs • Death of the President • Family Life • The American Franchise • Impact and Legacy • Key Events |
| First Lady Margaret Taylor |
| Vice President Millard Fillmore (1849 - 1850) |
| Secretary of State John M. Clayton (1849 - 1850) |
| Secretary of War George W. Crawford (1849 - 1850) |
| Postmaster General Jacob Collamer (1849 - 1850) |
| Secretary of the Interior Thomas Ewing (1849 - 1850) |
| Secretary of the Treasury William M. Meredith (1849 - 1850) |
| Attorney General Reverdy Johnson (1849 - 1850) |
| Secretary of the Navy William B. Preston (1849 - 1850) |
Consulting Editor: Michael F. Holt
Professor Holt is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia. His writings include:
The Civil War and Reconstruction (Co-authored with Jean H. Baker and David Herbert Donald, W.W. Norton, 2001)
The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War (Oxford University Press, 1999)
Political Parties and American Political Development from the age of Jackson to the age of Lincoln (Louisiana State University Press, 1992)
Presidential SpeechesBelow are selections from the Miller Center's Zachary Taylor speech collection. To view the Miller Center's other speeches by Zachary Taylor or by another President, please click the link below. |
|
Miller Center Scholarship and SpeakersThe Miller Center of Public Affairs is a national nonpartisan center to research, reflect, and report on American government, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency. Below is a selection of Miller Center resources on Zachary Taylor.
Zachary Taylor came to the presidency with experience as a military commander. Click here to learn more about the Miller Center’s National War Powers Commission. Click here to learn more about the Center’s National Commission on Presidential Disability and the 25th Amendment and its relationship to Taylor. |
|
Scripps Library Reference ResourcesBelow are links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center's Scripps Library that are designed to help students and scholars quickly conduct their research. |
Presidential Speeches |
Academic Programs | Public Programs
|
Presidential Bibliographies | Presidential Papers |
||
Listen to Leonard Emmerglick’s 1987 presentation at the Miller Center on