The Politics of Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), America's 12th President, is rather unique amongst all Presidents of the United States. Never since George Washington had a President been elected solely on the strength of personal fame and heroism.

Taylor, like Washington, was remarkably elected by the American people over his opponent, Lewis Cass (163 electoral votes to Cass's 127), without ever having held public office in his life. He was certainly a far cry from those professional politicians who had preceeded him - Polk, Tyler, Harrison, Van Buren and Jackson.

What was it, then that made Taylor so electable?

The War Hero

Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia log cabin, living a somewhat humble life on a plantation until joining the army in 1808, at 26 years of age.

Within just two years, Taylor was promoted to Captain, serving with distinction throughout the War of 1812, commanding his troops to victory at the Battle of Fort Harrison, one of the early U.S. military victories of the war.

After the war of 1812, Taylor continued to serve his country in a military capacity, fighting in the Blackhawk War, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican-American War. It was in the last of these, however, that he earned himself the greatest amount of distinction, and nationwide recognition as a war hero.

After statehood had been granted to Texas by President Polk in 1845, war with Mexico had essentially begun, as the nation to the south became insensed by the loss of this large territory to the United States. Polk thus sent U.S. troops, under Taylor's command, to defend the Rio Grand from Mexican troops.

After several battles, specifically the Battle at Buena Vista, wherein Taylor's 6,000 troops were attacked by Mexican General Santa Anna's force of 20,000 and fought well enough to defeat and greatly wound the pride of the great Santa Anna, Taylor's fame spread throughout the nation.

The situation was not at all unprecedented in American history. American's had proved themselves to be particularly fond of leaders who demonstrate their abilties in defending their country - as evidenced by the election of George Washington as the first President, as well as the elections of Andrew Jackson and William Henry Harrison.

Election of 1848

With such giants serving as forerunners to Zachary Taylor's status as American war hero, it does seem only natural that he would one day be tapped to run for the Presidency, despite never having served in public office before.

The opportunity arose, in fact, very quickly after the end of the war that had made Taylor a hero. In 1848, the Whig party saw their opportunity - a non-politician such as Taylor would be a rather "pliable" candidate, one who could be controlled by the party leadership, and with Polk refusing to run for reelection, they would not have to face an incumbant democrat.

Thus, Taylor was offered up by the Whigs for nomination. It was not that much of a stretch, however, for even though Taylor was rightly labeled by many as an "independent," he surely possessed certain leanings in line with the Whigs:

He disagreed with the Jacksonian policy regarding the economy, believing that a strong banking system was essential for economic stability. While he disagreed with certain Whig policies, such as a high tariff and focus on government-funded internal improvement, he was in general agreement with their governing principles, including possessing an opposition to slavery (despite being a slaveholder himself, an oft-repeated bit of irony during this time).

With the strength of his relative non-partisanship and heroic status, Taylor won a strong plurality of the vote in 1848 (Martin Van Buren's third party candidacy prevented him from winning a majority) and began his short presidency, along with his running mate Millard Filmore, in 1849.

The Presidency

The previous Whig to achieve the office of President, John Tyler, had gone out of his way to disagree with his own party on the majority of the issues, effectively destroying the effectiveness of their policies in the government (and getting himself kicked out of the party).

The Whigs believed that Taylor's non-partisanship would differentiate him from that disastrous era. For the most part, they failed in this judgement, as Taylor was never willing to be a "puppet" of whig leadership. He refused to bring up the "classic" Whig issues such as the national bank or tariffs, focusing his attention instead on the more pressing issue of slavery and western expansion.

In this, Taylor presided over one of the most important issues in all of 19th century politics - the idea of whether newly admitted states should be given the status of "slave states" or "free states." Taylor urged California and New Mexico to both skip territorial status and apply for statehood immediately, deciding for themselves in drafting their own constitutions whether they would be slave states or free.

The reason this was such an important issue was that at this point in American history, there were thirty states in the union, half slave and half free. The choices made by California and New Mexico thus had the possibility of giving the advantage in congress to one side or the other. Throughout 1949 and 1950 tensions mounted in congress and the notion of southern secession from the Union became a very real possibility.

Death and Resolution

On July 9th, 1850, Taylor suddenly died from complications due to an illness contracted during the hot, humid fourth of July celebrations that year.

With the loss of a strong President and the arrival of Millard Fillmore to the office, those in congress who supported comprimise pushed even harder to pass through a comprimise bill (the Comprimise of 1850), which Taylor had opposed, taking a hardline stance against the southern secessionist movement.

There are many who believe that Zachary Taylor, had he lived through his first term and perhaps earned himself a second, might have been able to affect real change - his strong stance against secession may have even prevented the Civil War (as he stands in stark opposition to the far weaker Presidents who succeeded him). It is difficult to say, however, as he died before he could truly follow through with his principles.

While it is interesting to speculate on such matters, it does not change the fact that the death of Taylor lead to three rather weak Presidents, all of whom did very little to sway the United States as it continued its path toward a Civil War.

References:

"Zachary Taylor." American Presidents: An Online Reference Resource.

"Biography of Zachary Taylor." The White House.

President Zachary Taylor

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