 |
Zachary Taylor
b. 24 Nov 1784, Montebello (near Barboursville), Orange County, Virginia
d. 9 Jul 1850, Washington, D.C. |
| Title: |
President of the United States |
| Term: |
4 Mar 1849 - 9 Jul 1850 |
| Chronology: |
14 Feb 1849,
the election to the office of the President of the United States is declared upon the ascertainment and counting of the electoral vote (cast 6 Dec 1848),
joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives, House Chamber, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [1] |
|
4 Mar 1849,
commencement of term |
|
5 Mar 1849,
took the oath of office as the President of the United States, inaugural ceremony as part of the special session of the Senate, East Portico, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. [2][3] |
|
9 Jul 1850, died [4] |
| Biography: |
| Moved with parents to Kentucky from Virginia; received only a rudimentary education; enlisted in the army (1806); commissioned first lieutenant in the infantry (1808); promoted to captain (1810); commanded Fort Knox, Vincennes, Indian Territory (1811); promoted to major (1812); resigned commission (1815); re-commissioned (1816); promoted to lieutenant colonel (1819); commanded Fort Snelling, Northwest Territory (1828-1829); promoted to colonel and assigned command of Fort Crawford, Michigan Territory (1829); served Black Hawk War (1832); won victory against Seminole Indians near Lake Okeechobee, Florida, in Second Seminole War 1837; promoted to brigadier general (1838); commander of all Florida forces (1838-1840); commander, 2nd Department Western Division of US Army (1841); commander, 1st Department Western Division US Army (1844); won victory over Mexicans at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma (8-9 May 1846); promoted to major general (1846); won victory in the Battle of Buena Vista (22-23 Feb 1847); commander of U.S. Forces in Northern Mexico (1847); nominated presidential candidate at the Whig convention in June 1848; elected President of the United States in 1848; advocated statehood for California and New Mexico, but faced bitter opposition of Southerners in Congress, who feared a permanent majority of free states in the US Senate; financial improprieties on the part of three Cabinet members revealed in 1850; died suddenly. |
| Biographical sources: "Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest", by Jack K. Bauer (Louisiana State University Press, 1993). |
| Elections: |
| Candidate |
Electoral vote (6 Dec 1848) |
| Zachary Taylor |
163 |
| Lewis Cass |
127 |
| total number of electors appointed |
290 |
| number of votes for a majority |
146 |
|
| Source of electoral results: Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Session, 534-535. |
| |
| [1] |
Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Session, 534-535. |
| [2] |
Congressional Globe, 30th Congress, 2nd Session, Appendix, 326-327; Senate Executive Journal, vol. VIII, 65-67. |
| [3] |
Inauguration was postponed as 4 Mar 1849 fell on a Sunday. |
| [4] |
Congressional Globe, 31st Congress, 1st Session, 1363-1365. |
|
Image: portrait of Zachary Taylor (photographed 1849; reproduction of a daguerreotype by Mathew Brady). |
