Millard
Fillmore, the son of a poor farmer, was born in Cayuga County, in
1800. After a brief schooling he found work as a clerk in the law
office of a county judge. By 1823 he gained admission to the bar in
Erie County and moved to Buffalo to practice law.
Fillmore
became involved in politics and in 1828 was elected to the New York
legislature. He joined the Whig Party and
in 1832 won election to Congress. He soon became one of the most important
figures in the party and in 1848 presidential candidate Zachary
Taylor selected him as his running mate.
Taylor
obtained 1,360,101 votes and defeated the Democratic
Party candidate, Lewis Cass (1,220,544)
and Martin Van Buren (291,263) of the Free
Soil Party.
The great issue before the nation was the problem of slavery
in the land taken from Mexico. New Mexico and California were being
ruled by military governors but Zachary
Taylor favoured
them becoming part of the United States. This became more complicated
after the people of California and New Mexico approved constitutions
prohibiting slavery. Taylor's son-in-law, Jefferson
Davis and John Calhoun, led the pro-slavery
faction in Congress that opposed the admission of California and New
Mexico as free states.
Zachary
Taylor died on 9th July, 1850 and was replaced by Fillmore as
president. Fillmore, who detested slavery,
but wanted "to get rid of it without destroying free government".
He therefore signed the Compromise of 1850 and tried to enforce the
Fugitive Slave Law.
This upset the radical wing of the Whig Party
and he failed to win the presidential nomination in 1852.
After
the defeat of Winfield Scott, the Whigs
split into two factions. The radicals formed the Republican
Party and the conservatives the American Party. Horace
Greeley called them the "Know-Nothing" party.
In
1856 Fillmore was nominated for president and one of his main policies
was the demand for a 21 year residence in the United
States for all foreigners before naturalization. He also called
for non-interference with slavery in the territories and a victory
for John C. Fremont and the Republican
Party would result in the South seceding from the Union.
In
the election James Buchanan (Democratic
Party) won with 1,838,169 votes. John
C. Fremont got 1,341,264 and Fillmore came third with 874,534
and the only state he won was Maryland.
In
the 1860 presidential election Fillmore supported John
Bell and the Constitutional Union Party. Although he opposed Abraham
Lincoln he supported the Union
Army during
the American Civil War. Millard Fillmore
died in 1874.
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