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Millard Fillmore was the last President to be a member of the Whig Party. As Zachary Taylor's Vice President, he assumed the presidency on July 9, 1850, following Taylor's death. Fillmore was a lawyer from western New York state, and one of the first members of the Whig Party. He served in the state legislature from 1829 to 1831, as a U.S. Representative for two non-consecutive terms (1833–1835 and 1837–1843), and as New York State Comptroller from 1848 to 1849. He was elected Vice President of the United States in 1848 as Taylor's running mate, and served from 1849 until Taylor's death in 1850, at the height of the "Crisis of 1850" over slavery. When the Compromise of 1850 was proposed, it was ironic that Fillmore the northerner supported it, while Taylor, the southerner and slave holder, opposed it.
Fillmore had been an anti-slavery moderate, but not an abolitionist, and he opposed abolitionist demands to exclude slavery from all of the territory gained in the Mexican War. Instead he supported the Compromise of 1850, which briefly ended the crisis, though his critics argue that he merely kicked the problem down the road. In foreign policy, Fillmore supported U.S. Navy expeditions to open up trade with Japan, he opposed French designs on Hawaii, and also opposed Narciso López's "filibuster" expeditions to liberate Cuba from Spain. He sought re-election in 1852, but lost his party's nomination to General Winfield Scott.
When the Whig Party broke up prior to the 1856 election, Fillmore and other conservative Whigs joined the American Party, the political arm of the anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic "Know-Nothing" movement. He was selected as the American Party candidate for President in 1856, but finished third, with 21.6% of the popular vote and only Maryland's 8 electoral votes.
During the Civil War, Fillmore denounced secession and agreed that the Union must be maintained by force if necessary, but he was also very critical of the war policies of President Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln died, an angry mob splashed ink on Fillmore's house because he did not follow the custom of decorating the home with black bunting. After the war, he supported the Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson. He died at 11:10 pm on March 8, 1874, at his home in Buffalo following a stroke. His last words are alleged to be, "the nourishment is palatable", referring to some soup that he was being fed.
This year the University of Buffalo and other community partners mark the 220th anniversary of the birth of Millard Fillmore, today a ceremony beginning at 10 a.m. EST at Forest Lawn Cemetery. The University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Presidential Center are sponsoring the event, which is free and open to the public. The program will begin at Fillmore’s gravesite with brief remarks and the presentations of wreaths. Lt. Col. Shawn Reynolds of the Niagara Falls Air Force Base will place a wreath sent by the White House. The program will then move to the cemetery’s Margaret L. Wendt Archive & Resource Center for a reception. Courtney Speckmann, former director of education for the White House Historical Association, will present “Reflections on Millard Fillmore’s 220th Birthday: His Leadership and Legacy.” Fillmore legacy organizations include the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo Club, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Buffalo General Medical Center, Buffalo History Museum, Buffalo Public Schools and the Buffalo Science Museum, among others.