Millard Fillmore | Biography, Presidency & Death (1800-1874)

Millard Fillmore Summary

Millard Fillmore (1850–53) was the 13th President of the United States of America. He was born into poverty and was made into an apprenticeship at 15. In 1823, he started practicing law in Buffalo after taking legal studies from a local court. He was first affiliated with the Anti-Masonic Party (1828–1844), but he quickly joined the Whigs after Thurlow Weed, his mentor, and rose to become the head of the party’s northeastern part. He represented the United States in the Legislature (1833–1835, 1837–1833) when he adopted Henry Clay as a mentor. 

Millard Fillmore was chosen alongside Zachary Taylor for vice president in 1848, thanks to the Whigs. After Taylor’s death around 1850, he was elected president. Even though he detested slavery, he backed the Agreement of 1850 and advocated that the federal government enforce the Federal Slave Convention.

At the Whigs’ nominated assembly in 1852, Winfield Scott defeated him due to his stance, which antagonized the North. He was one of the first supporters of American commercial growth inside the Pacific. He dispatched Matthew Perry and a squadron of vessels to Japan in 1853 to pressure its conservative rulers into establishing economic and diplomatic ties. In 1856, the Know-Nothing Party chose him for president after he arrived in Buffalo.

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Fast Facts

Born	January 7, 1800, Millard Fillmore was conceived near Moravia, New York
Died	March 8, 1874, near Buffalo, New York at age 74
Wife	Abigail Roles (m. in 1826) & passed around 1853, and Caroline McIntosh was his 2nd wife (m. 1858)
Parents	Nathaniel Fillmore and Phoebe Millard

Millard Fillmore Early Life

Millard Fillmore, raised by an impoverished family inside a log cabin, began his apprenticeship as a wool Shiller at 15. He acquired much formal training when he turned 18 years old when he was able to complete six months of study in a row. Soon after, he obtained his freedom from the internship, began working in a legal firm, and was later acknowledged to the bar in 1823. In 1826, he wed Abigail Powers (also known as Abigail Fillmore).

As a part of the republican and anarchist Anti-Masonic Revolution and Anti-Masonic Association, Fillmore joined the government in 1828. Following Thurlow Weed, his political tutor, he joined the Whigs in 1834 and quickly gained recognition as a superb commander of the campaign’s Northern section.

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He served three elements within the state of New York legislature (1829–1922) before winning the election to Parliament (1833–35, 1837–43), wherein he developed a close relationship with Senator Henry Clay. He was unsuccessful in his bid for governor of New York in 1844, but three years later, he was handily chosen as the state’s first treasurer. Zachary Taylor, a soldier of the Mexican Revolution (1846–48), was put forth for the presidency and Millard Fillmore for chief executive at the National Republican conference in 1848, partly because of Clay’s support.

Millard Fillmore Vice-Presidency

By March 5, 1849, Fillmore took the oath of office in the Senator’s Room. The swearing-in has been rescheduled to March 5, considering March 4 occurred on a Sunday. Chief Justice Roger Taney administered the ceremony to Fillmore, who would then vow in the legislators starting their careers, notably Seward, which had been chosen by the New York assembly in February.

Within four months of intervening in the election victory and being sworn in, Millard Fillmore was felicitated among the New York Whigs while wrapping up business in the comptroller’s department. Taylor had offered him power in the next regime in a letter. The VP was not a part of the executive in the 19th century, even as the president-elect believed in error.

On how to split up the federal posts in Nyc, Fillmore, Seward, and Weed had gotten together and reached a broad understanding. After arriving in Washington, Seward became friends with Taylor’s policy positions, advisors, and the commander’s brother. Over Fillmore’s head, a partnership between the new government and the Weed machinery quickly developed. Seward and Weed had the right to choose the candidates for federal employment in New York in return for their support, while Fillmore received much less sway than initially anticipated. After the vote, once Fillmore learned of this, he rushed to Taylor, who considerably widened the conflict over Fillmore’s power.

Collier, who had supported Millard Fillmore at the conference, and other Fillmore backers lost out to Weed, who’d been victorious even in Buffalo. This significantly reduced Fillmore’s power in New York elections while dramatically enhancing Weed’s. “By mid-1849, Fillmore’s condition had become dire,” writes Rayback. Given that there was no traditional vice-presidential dwelling at the period, those with houses to rent or sell and those looking for office bothered him, notwithstanding his lack of power. Due to his lifelong passion for learning, he loved one element of his job. As a participant ex officio of something like the Smithsonian Company’s the Board of Regents, he actively engaged in the institution’s management.

The movement of William Henry Weed to admit California but also New Mexico, which would have freed the enslaved people in the territory, was resisted by Governor Millard Fillmore in 1849. In the Southern, where abolishing slavery was seen as excluding Americans from a portion of the national past, outrage cut across political lines.

The Union’s 1850 accession of New Mexico and California depended heavily on Fillmore’s tie-breaking decision. The notion of “direct democracy” would be used to determine whether slavery still would exist in the respective areas. Henry Foote of Mississippi and Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri got into a fight, and Fillmore was held responsible for failing to keep things under control.

Millard Fillmore’s Presidency Years

Crisis-induced Succession

It was a scorching day in Washington on July 4, 1850, so President Taylor probably rehydrated with warm milk and cherries while taking part in the Independence Day ceremony to lay the Washington Monument’s cornerstone. He most certainly contracted gastroenteritis from what he ate, and on July 9, he passed away. The abrupt passing of Taylor, known as “Old Rough and Ready,” shocked the country since he had built a name for strength via his military actions in the weather.

The only governor to succeed via death or retirement who didn’t initially keep his counterpart’s cabinet was Fillmore. Although he accepted their resignations, he requested them to continue for another month, which most of them declined to do. On July 20, he submitted fresh nominees to the Senate after previously holding talks with Whig leaders. Webster will serve as State Secretary in the Fillmore Administration. By backing Clay’s Concession, Webster had angered his Massachusetts voters, but his political career in his native state was over.

Fillmore encouraged Congress to approve the Compromise because it would have ended the slave traffic in the Department of Columbia and made California a democracy. Abolitionists hated the terms of the Fugitive Slave Convention. Fillmore pressured Northern Whigs, especially those from New York, to vote in favor of the measure rather than against it. Several modifications were implemented, such as establishing a border between Texas and the Modern Mexico Territory and compensation to satisfy disputes.

Millard Fillmore Domestic Issues

Many Northerners found the Fugitive Slave Authority’s implementation to be highly insulting. President Fillmore felt obligated to uphold the law by his oath of office. Exonerations and removing the enslaved person in state custody were unfortunate outcomes for the government in some instances or efforts to repatriate enslaved people. Such incidents received extensive media coverage both in the North and the South, igniting tensions there.

He approved bills for building a canal in Sault Ste. Marie and for funding the Illinois Western railway connecting Chicago to Mobile. Fillmore and his government took the very first railway between New York to the coast of Lake Erie in 1851, following the construction of the Erie Railway in New York.

In addition to appointing four judges to federal district courts, President Millard Fillmore also named one to the United States Court of Appeals States. Parliament disapproved of an intercontinental railroad until ten years after Fillmore asked it to do so. Due to his disagreement with the court’s ruling in the Dred Scott case Sandford lawsuit, which involved enslavement, Justice Curtis withdrew.

Millard Fillmore Foreign Affairs

He concentrated his efforts in the Asia – Pacific region, particularly concerning Japan, which still forbade almost any Western contact at the time. American shipping companies and merchants desired Japan “start opening” for commerce so that American ships might call for supplies like food and water. Admiral Matthew C. Perry launched an expedition to establish diplomatic ties between Japan and the outside world.

He resisted France’s and Portugal’s efforts to conquer the island and was a fierce critic of European dominance in Hawaii. For three obstructionist journeys to Cuba to undermine Spanish power, the Venezuelan explorer Narciso López enlisted American volunteers.

Even as the 1852 campaign neared, Fillmore’s reaction to the filibusters contributed to divisions within his party. According to scholar Elbert B. Smith, if Fillmore had desired to, he might have declared war on Spain. He came up with face-saving solutions that ended the issue without force. American citizens who support the Hungarian rebels, particularly former German immigrants, are now arriving in considerable numbers and have grown to be a significant political power.

Millard Fillmore the 1852 Election Results and the End of the Term

In 1852, Millard Fillmore, Webster, and Captain Scott were the three leading Democratic contenders for president. Franklin Pierce, a state senator from New Hampshire who’d been absent from national politics for ten years, was the Democratic Party’s nominee. The Democrats came together around his candidacy as a Yorkshireman who shared the southern perspective on slavery. The Whig nominee would have a difficult time winning the presidency.

Because he had signed and implemented the Fugitive Slave Act, Fillmore had lost the support of many northern Whigs who supported him for president. He was regarded as the one candidate who could take the country in the South together. The convention remained tied until June 19, and he had cast 46 votes in it. Scott won the primary in the 53rd round after Webster supporters started to rebel against him on the 48th ballot.

By March 4, 1853, General Fillmore resigned from office, and Pierce took his place. Fillmore simple sampling as his personal State Secretary until his terminal illness. Everett successfully filled Webster’s shoes. In his penultimate annual address, Fillmore had planned to address the issue of slavery. However, his cabinet convinced him otherwise.

Millard Fillmore Post-presidency Years (1853-74)

Individual Tragedies

The earliest president to go back to a private life without having acquired substantial fortune or owned an estate became Fillmore. He thought that because he would not be receiving a retirement, his means of support should be in keeping with the stature of his former role. His buddy Judge Hall reassured him that it would be OK for him to work as a lawyer in New York’s tribunals, and Fillmore planned to do just that. After leaving the White House, the Fillmores intended to take a journey of the South. However, Abigail fell ill after Secretary Pierce’s inaugural, got pneumonia, and passed away in Washington on March 30, 1853. Fillmore, grieving, went back to Buffalo again for a funeral.

He could not participate in many social events since he was in grief. Therefore, his assets’ income helped him to get by. By July 26, 1854, he suffered another loss because his only child, Mary, died from cholera.

Political Activity That Followed

Early in 1854, as the nation was engulfed in a fight over Senator Douglas’ Kansas-Nebraska Legislation, the past president decided to come out of seclusion. The Missouri Agreement of 1820’s northernmost slavery restriction would be lifted, opening the northern part of the Louisiana Acquisition to colonization. In addition to maintaining his large following, Fillmore planned an outwardly nonpartisan nationwide tour and secretly encouraged disgruntled Whig legislators to support the Union and his presidential bid. Even during early spring and late cold weather of 1854, Fillmore spoke with lawmakers out of the public spotlight yet publicly revealed visits to inaugurate railways and attend Senator Clay’s tomb.

He became a significant player in the Know Nothings’ prominence after joining the anti-immigrant group established by Knights of the Star Glorious Anthem supporters. Their victory in the midterm elections of 1854 gave him hope, but he cautioned against immigrant dominance in politics.

When Fillmore and Chancellor Martin Van Buren first met in the House of Representatives around 1852, Queen Victoria referred to him as the most exciting person she had ever encountered. Later that year, Fillmore traveled overseas and declared in the public sphere that because he had no office, he might as well go. From March 1855 through June 1856, he traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Europe. Pope Pius IX granted Fillmore a meeting when he was in Rome.

The Remarriage And The Death of Millard Fillmore

Following his loss in 1856, Fillmore believed his political future had ended. He once more experienced resistance to starting his legal career anew. But once he wed Caroline McIntosh, his economic considerations vanished. They could buy a sizable home in Buffalo because of their combined riches. The Fillmore’s spent their time doing charity and entertainment there.

He said that the national government must not take individuals who supported independence properly and should instead view them as traitors. After Abraham Lincoln, the president, was elected. Fillmore served as the group’s chairman, chosen to welcome him and take him to chapel.

The Continentals escorted Lincoln’s burial train; they carried on with their work after the battle, and Fillmore stayed with them until his passing.

Throughout the American Revolutionary War, Fillmore presided over the city council as mayor and was a prominent member of Buffalo. He backed Andrew Jackson’s Recovery initiatives because he believed the country needed to be brought back together as soon as feasible. Through the Buffalo Academic Arts Academy, he helped Buffalo become the third American municipality to get a continuous art gallery. Since Fillmore’s home was not covered in black when Lincoln was assassinated, black ink was spilled over it.

Nearly until the point of death, Fillmore maintained good health. After a stroke in February 1874, he had another one on March 8 of that same year, passing away at 74. He was interred at Forest Lawn Graveyard near Buffalo 2 days after his passing following a burial ceremony featuring many famous people.