Read complete books and articles on: Millard Fillmore

Fillmore, Millard - 1800–1874, 13th President of the United States (July, 1850–Mar., 1853), b. Locke (now Summerhill), N.Y. Because he was compelled to work at odd jobs at an early age to earn a living his education was irregular and incomplete. He read law in his spare time and was admitted (1823) to the bar. After practicing law in East Aurora, N.Y., until 1830, he settled in Buffalo. Thurlow Weed made Fillmore a lieutenant in the Anti-Masonic party, and with Weed's support he served in the New York state assembly (1829–31) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1833–35). In 1834 he joined the Whig party and was reelected three times (1836, 1838, 1840) to the House. When the Whigs came into national power in 1840, Fillmore became prominent in his party. As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he promoted the high tariff of 1842. He was considered (1844) for the vice presidential candidacy, but instead became Whig candidate for the governorship of New York. His defeat by Silas Wright in a close contest was caused by the split between proslavery and antislavery Whigs. With Henry Clay's backing, Fillmore was nominated (1848) for Vice President on the Whig ticket with Zachary Taylor. As Vice President, Fillmore presided with notable fairness over the Senate during the turbulent debates of 1850. Succeeding to the presidency upon Taylor's death, he encouraged and then signed the Compromise of 1850, which included the Fugitive Slave Act. He tried to enforce the measures despite the criticism his course evoked from the North. Cheaper postal rates were introduced during his administration. He appointed Daniel Webster Secretary of State, emphasized nonintervention in foreign disputes, and approved the treaty that opened Japan to Western commerce. He unsuccessfully tried to make the Whigs a national party that, by occupying middle ground on the issue of slavery, could conciliate North and South and prevent extremists from gaining power. Neither he nor Webster could win the support of the Whig convention in 1852, and the nomination went to Gen. Winfield Scott, representative of the more radical antislavery element. With the division of the Whigs over the slavery issue and the party's consequent rapid decline, Fillmore's political career came to an end. He joined the Know-Nothing movement in the vain hope that it might unite North and South, and he accepted (1856) the nomination of that group for the presidency, being endorsed also by the small remnant of the Whigs. He opposed Lincoln's election and his Civil War administration and supported Andrew Johnson's stand against radical Reconstruction measures, but he took no active part in the controversies over these issues.

See biographies by R. J. Rayback (1959), R. Scarry (1965, repr. 1970), and W. L. Barre (1856, repr. 1971).

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14 of the Best Books and Articles on: Millard Fillmore

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War (Chap. 17 "Fillmore ... Is Precisely the Man for the Occasion") » Read Now
by Michael F. Holt. 1296 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The political home of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Horace Greeley, and the young Abraham Lincoln, the American Whig Party was involved at every level of American politics--local, state, and federal--in the years before the Civil War, and controlled the White House for eight of the twenty-two years...
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The political home of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Horace Greeley, and the young Abraham Lincoln, the American Whig Party was involved at every level of American politics--local, state, and federal--in the years before the Civil War, and controlled the White House for eight of the twenty-two years that it existed. Now, in The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party, Michael F. Holt gives us the only comprehensive history of the Whigs ever written--a monumental history covering in rich detail the American political landscape from the Age of Jackson to impending disunion. In Michael Holt's hands, the history of the Whig Party becomes a political history of the United States during the tumultuous Antebellum period. He offers a panoramic account of a time when a welter of parties (Whig, Democratic, Anti-Mason, Know Nothing, Free Soil, Republican) and many extraordinary political statesmen (including Andrew Jackson, John C. Calhoun, William Seward, Daniel Webster, Martin Van Buren, and Henry Clay) struggled to control the national agenda as the U.S. inched towards secession. It was an era when Americans were passionately involved in politics, when local concerns drove national policy, and when momentous political events rocked the country, including the Nullification Controversy, the Panic of 1837, the Annexation of Texas, the Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Holt captures all of this as he shows that, amid this contentious political activity, the Whig Party continuously strove to unite North and South, repeatedly trying to find a compromise position. Indeed, the Whig Party emerges as the nation's last great hope to prevent secession and civil war. The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party is a magisterial work of history, one that has already been hailed by William Gienapp of Harvard as "one of the most important books on nineteenth-century politics ever written."
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2.

Presidential Anecdotes (Chap. Thirteen "Millard Fillmore 1850-53") » Read Now
by Paul F. Boller Jr. 472 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
3.

Presidents from Taylor through Grant, 1849-1877: Debating the Issues in Pro and Con Primary Documents (Chap. 1 "Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) and Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)") » Read Now
by Jeffrey W. Coker. 233 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The years 1849-1877 were among the most pivotal in the nation's history. Over the course of three decades, the United States endured a catastrophic civil war, abolished slavery, expanded westward and added eight states to the Union, and witnessed the beginnings of industrialization. In politics, the...
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The years 1849-1877 were among the most pivotal in the nation's history. Over the course of three decades, the United States endured a catastrophic civil war, abolished slavery, expanded westward and added eight states to the Union, and witnessed the beginnings of industrialization. In politics, the era saw the demise of one national party, the birth of another, and the historic leadership of Abraham Lincoln. The country also faced difficult questions of state sovereignty and federal responsibility answered ultimately by secession and war. In short, it was a time of growth, consolidation, tragedy, and triumph for a dynamic and youthful nation. This resource of primary documents and commentary covers the Taylor through Grant administrations by selecting and describing five to ten of the foremost issues of the day and showing the actual text of the president's position along with the opposing viewpoint.
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4.

Facts about the Presidents: A Compilation of Biographical and Historical Data ("Millard Fillmore: 13th President" begins on p. 88) » Read Now
by Joseph Nashan Kane. 372 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
5.

The Rise of the Vice Presidency ("Millard Fillmore" begins on p. 53) » Read Now
by Irving G. Williams, Edward R. Murrow. 276 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
6.

Texas, New Mexico, and the Compromise of 1850: Boundary Dispute & Sectional Crisis (Chap. Seven "The Fillmore Administration's Baptism: Texas-New Mexico Destroys the Omnibus") » Read Now
by Mark J. Stegmaier. 448 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Writing from the vantage point of the Texas-New Mexico boundary issue, Mark Stegmaier provides a comprehensive analysis of the dispute, the compromise, and the overall implications for the Civil War. He meticulously examines the crisis through a close reading of Texan and New Mexican documents, U.S...
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Writing from the vantage point of the Texas-New Mexico boundary issue, Mark Stegmaier provides a comprehensive analysis of the dispute, the compromise, and the overall implications for the Civil War. He meticulously examines the crisis through a close reading of Texan and New Mexican documents, U.S. government records, maps, newspapers - particularly the reports of Washington correspondents - and collections of personal letters. In addition, he introduces a revisionist analysis of roll call voting in the U.S. Congress and the Texas legislature. Stegmaier recounts how, with the support of Southern radicals, Texas attempted to extend its jurisdiction despite opposition from New Mexicans and U.S. political leaders. Threatened by military occupation, New Mexicans countered by seeking free state status, while Presidents Taylor and Fillmore committed U.S. forces to defend the territory against a Texan attack. The resolution of this issue allowed the passage of the Compromise of 1850, the last great accord on the sectional issues between North and South. Texas, New Mexico, and the Compromise of 1850 deserves the term "definitive". It will appeal to all students of the Civil War era.
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7.

Nativism and Slavery: The Northern Know Nothings and the Politics of the 1850's (Chap. 9 "The Know Nothings and the Presidential Election of 1856") » Read Now
by Tyler Anbinder. 352 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Politicians have used immigrants as scapegoats for the nation's problems throughout American history. No group achieved more success with this tactic than the Know Nothing Party, which directed its attacks primarily against Catholic immigrants. Within a year of its appearance in 1854, the party had...
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Politicians have used immigrants as scapegoats for the nation's problems throughout American history. No group achieved more success with this tactic than the Know Nothing Party, which directed its attacks primarily against Catholic immigrants. Within a year of its appearance in 1854, the party had elected eight governors, over one hundred members of Congress, and thousands of local officials. Prominent politicians of every persuasion joined the organization, which eventually became known as the American Party. Many observers predicted that the party would elect the next President. The Know Nothings experienced a precipitous decline, however, and in the 1856 election their presidential candidate, Millard Fillmore, carried only one state. The Know Nothings have not attracted much interest from historians, because the events involved in the coming of the Civil War eclipsed interest in a movement that was apparently only peripherally involved with Civil War issues. In this important new book, however, Anbinder argues that the Know Nothings's phenomenal success was inextricably linked to the firm stance their northern members took against the extension of slavery. Nativism and Slavery presents the first comprehensive history of the Know Nothings as well as a major revision of the political crisis that led to the Civil War.
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8.

The Know-Nothing Party in the South (Discussion of Millard Fillmore begins on p. 137) » Read Now
by W. Darrell Overdyke. 354 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
9.

Millard Fillmore-Seriously, in The American Enterprise » Read Now
by Bill Kauffman. 1 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
10.

Letter from President Millard Fillmore to the Emperor of Japan: The President's Letter Opened a Closed Country to the West, in Social Education » Read Now
by Marvin Pinkert, Lee Ann Potter. 4 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library
11.

The Heart of the Fillmore Presidency: Abigail Powers Fillmore and the White House Library, in White House Studies » Read Now
by Elizabeth Lorelei Thacker-Estrada. 17 pgs.
12.

Encyclopedia of American Parties, Campaigns, and Elections ("Fillmore, Millard" begins on p. 176) » Read Now
by William C. Binning, Larry E. Esterly, Paul A. Sracic. 484 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In this comprehensive guide to the language of contemporary American politics, Binning offers clear descriptions of terms such as "soft money," "gerrymandering," and "blanket primary." Examples are frequently offered to help clarify definitions. Particular attention is given to the ever-changing...
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In this comprehensive guide to the language of contemporary American politics, Binning offers clear descriptions of terms such as "soft money," "gerrymandering," and "blanket primary." Examples are frequently offered to help clarify definitions. Particular attention is given to the ever-changing organizational structure of parties and contemporary electoral systems. This encyclopedia explains campaign finance reform laws and the Voting Rights Act. The more significant Supreme Court decisions in these areas are summarized, with an eye to giving readers a greater understanding of how these laws have been interpreted and applied. Brief biographies of important political figures such as presidents, vicepresidents, and congressional and party leaders are also included, along with a concise summary of every presidential election since 1789.
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13.

A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1850s in America ("Fillmore, Millard" begins on p. 125) » Read Now
by Robert L. Gale. 507 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The 1850s were a particularly fruitful and eventful period in American history, a time of unrest and preparation for change. This reference work provides a thorough record of the cultural happenings in America during that period. The volume is divided into several sections. It begins with a...
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The 1850s were a particularly fruitful and eventful period in American history, a time of unrest and preparation for change. This reference work provides a thorough record of the cultural happenings in America during that period. The volume is divided into several sections. It begins with a chronology that presents the events of the 1850s in capsule form year by year. A list of entries follows. The encyclopedia that comes after the list of entries contains brief, alphabetically arranged articles for performers, military personnel, theologians, composers, critics, educators, explorers, historians, industrialists, inventors, authors, artists, physicians, scientists, sculptors, and numerous events and creative works. A bibliography, divided into topical sections, directs the reader to the best sources of additional information. An appendix lists the biographical entries according to professional categories, and a detailed index adds to the usefulness of the volume.
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14.

America's Royalty: All the Presidents' Children (Chap. 10 "Millard Fillmore's Children") » Read Now
by Sandra L. Quinn-Musgrove, Sanford Kanter. 326 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

A comprehensive work about the first families' children, this is the only book available that treats these privileged few at any depth. The reading is enjoyable, answering questions such as, "What happened to...?" and, "Did X president have any children?" The book is also informative, glimpsing the...
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A comprehensive work about the first families' children, this is the only book available that treats these privileged few at any depth. The reading is enjoyable, answering questions such as, "What happened to...?" and, "Did X president have any children?" The book is also informative, glimpsing the lives of a few who have been shoved into the limelight at a certain period and for generations to come. Historically, the work functions sometimes as a period piece, sometimes as a human interest piece, but it always serves to help bring to life our first families. Included (where possible and/or appropriate) are the vital statistics of birth, marriage, education, development, profession, and death. The book is a good read, but it also serves an historical function.
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