ZACHARY TAYLOR
THE LONGEST LIST OF THE LONGEST STUFF AT THE LONGEST DOMAIN NAME AT LONG LAST

Zachary Taylor
Born: November 24, 1784
Died: July 9, 1850
12th President of the United States of America
Served: March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850

Zachary Taylor was a true nationalist after he spent over forty years in the army. He was a President that appealed to all men because his long service in the military was considered a desirable trait among those that lived in the North and the fact that he owned over 100 slaves made him a hero in the South. During a time when Southerners wanted slavery to be extended through the territories and the Northerners who were strongly against the extension of slavery, Taylor encouraged California and New Mexico to avoid the territorial issues by applying for statehood after drafting their own constitutions.

This however, pleased no one as those from the South believed that this was not a solution to them being given permission to own slaves and those from the North were furious over the idea of slavery being permitted in the District of Columbia. The South was so enraged in fact that they threatened to withdraw from the Union. This however angered Taylor and he promised that if that were to be the case, he would personally lead the Army. It was shortly after this that the President went to take part in a July 4 celebration. At the party, Taylor ate cherries and milk however, the day proved to be too hot for him and he became ill. He died five days later.

• Zachary Taylor believed in the Sabbath and so, when he was inaugurated in March 1849 he would not take the Oath of Office because it was a Sunday. Because there was no one to fill the position of Vice President and President, they needed to find someone to take the role of President until Taylor could take the Oath. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate, David Rice Atchinson, took the position until the following day. It was an uneventful day for him as President and he said, “I went to bed. There had been two or three busy nights finishing up the work of the Senate, and I slept most of that Sunday."

• Taylor had presidential blood. His second cousin was James Madison, his fourth cousin once removed was Robert E. Lee, and his fourth cousin three times removed was Theodore Roosevelt.

• Taylor’s body was once exhumed because there was belief that his death was caused by murder and not natural causes.

• He was the second president to die while serving in office.

• He did not vote until he was 62 years old. He didn’t even cast a vote for his own election because he was serving in the military and moved so much that it was impossible for him to establish a legal residence until after he left the army.

• Taylor would not accept any mail that had postage due on it. Because of this, he didn’t even know that he was nominated for President until a few days after nominations had taken place.

• Taylor had an old warhorse named Whitney that stayed on the lawn of the White House. People who wanted souvenirs of Taylor or of the White House in general, often would take some hair from the horse.

• He loved chewing tobacco and had quite a skill for never missing the spittoon when he would spit it out.

• Before becoming President, Taylor had never taken a position in a political office.

• Taylor had a daughter, Sarah Knox Taylor that married an army man, Jefferson Davis. Taylor was upset about it and claimed, “I’ll be damned if another daughter of mine will marry into the army!”

• When taking his horse into a battle, Taylor always rode sidesaddle.

• At his funeral, Abraham Lincoln delivered the eulogy. 

Zachary Taylor

Page Sponsored By: Photo Resizer Software