The Post-Presidential Life of Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the last President from the Whig Party. He was never elected to the office, but became President following the unexpected death of Zachary Taylor on July 9, 1850. As the election of 1852 approached, Fillmore waffled on the question of whether or not he would run for a full term as President, but in early 1852, he decided he would. However when the Whigs held their National Convention in June of 1852, the Whig Party had other ideas. Fillmore was unpopular with northern Whigs for signing and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act.
On the first ballot at the convention, Fillmore had a two vote lead over Winfield Scott (133 to 131), but he was short of a majority and could gain any further support. By the 8th ballot two of Fillmore's votes had shifted to Scott, who now led 133 to 131, but who also could not get a majority. On the 52nd ballot, Daniel Webster's delegates switched to General Winfield Scott (giving Scott exactly 50% of the delegates) and Scott won the nomination on the 53rd ballot. But Democrat Franklin Pierce defeated Scott in the November election.
The loss was not entirely bad for Fillmore, who welcomed escape from Washington. He and his family had never liked the city. Abigail Fillmore had been so unwell during most of the administration that her daughter, Mary, had been pressed into hostess duty for White House functions. Abigail Fillmore felt obliged to sit outside for hours on Pierce's cold, wet inauguration day. She caught pneumonia and died less than a month later.
Not long afterward, Fillmore suffered another tragedy when Mary, just twenty-two-years-old, died of cholera. Fillmore was devastated by the sudden loss of his wife and only daughter. (The Fillmores also had a son, also named Millard, but better known as Powers). Fillmore embarked on a tour of Europe in 1855. He met Queen Victoria and she is alleged to have called Fillmore the handsomest man she had ever met. Fillmore was offered an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree by the University of Oxford, but he turned down the honor, explaining that he had neither the "literary nor scientific attainment" to justify the degree.
It seems that Fillmore then sought solace for his grief by returning to politics. After the election of 1852, the Whig Party disintegrated and a number of former Whigs were now without a party. Some had organized a new party with the strange name of the Know-Nothing Party. It was primarily an anti-immigrant party. It tried to attract native-born Americans at a time when hordes of immigrants were flocking to the United States. The Know-Nothings advocated immigration restrictions and a waiting period for new citizens to vote. Irish Catholic immigrants, who were perceived as a threat to jobs for native-born Americans, were a prime target.
To his credit, Fillmore refused to be part of the anti-immigrant sentiment advocated by the party. Fillmore was not anti-immigrant and he was also not anti-Catholic. In fact his daughter Mary had attended a girls' Catholic boarding school for a year and Fillmore had contributed financially to the construction of St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo. But at this time, the Know-Nothing Party was the only alternative for non-Democrats who were not militantly anti-slavery. The Know-Nothings made him their presidential candidate in 1856. He ran on a ticket with Andrew Jackson Donelson, nephew of his namesake, Old Hickory. The ticket received only 21 percent of the vote. It prevented another candidate he deeply opposed, John C. Frémont of the newly formed Republican Party, from becoming President.
That was Fillmore's last attempt at political office. He retired in Buffalo and married Caroline McIntosh, a wealthy Albany widow, in early 1858. Fillmore was active in many causes and charities. Fillmore continued to believe that conciliation with the South was necessary and he felt that the Republican Party was at least partly responsible for break-up of the union. But he was also publicly very critical of secession and was also critical of President James Buchanan for not taking military action when South Carolina seceded. When the Civil War began in 1861, Fillmore became a staunch Unionist, helping to organize enlistment and war-financing drives. He even commanded the Union Continentals, a corps of home guards of males over the age of 45 from the upstate New York area. The Continentals trained to defend the Buffalo area in the event of a Confederate attack.
But there were those who never forgave Fillmore's support of the Fugitive Slave Law. Although he was in favor of saving the Union, Fillmore was not a political supporter of President Abraham Lincoln. In the 1864 Presidential election, Fillmore supported Democratic candidate George B. McClellan for the presidency. He believed that the Democratic Party's plan for immediate cessation of fighting and allowing the seceded states to return with slavery intact was the best one for restoring the Union. Fillmore also maintained a correspondence with Franklin Pierce, in which they agreed with each other that Lincoln had overstepped his constitutional authority.
After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, a mob descended on Fillmore's opulent Buffalo home and smudged black ink or paint on the building. (A similar incident took place in Concord, New Hampshire at the home of Franklin Pierce). The crowd demanded to know why Fillmore hadn't draped his house in black bunting as a sign of mourning for Lincoln. Fillmore asked for understanding, explaining that he was at the bedside of his ill wife, and did not know of Lincoln's death. His explanation seemed to satisfy the crowd, which soon departed.
After the war, Fillmore supported President Andrew Johnson's conservative Reconstruction policies, and opposed the policies of the Radical Republicans. He died at 11:10 pm on March 8, 1874, from the aftereffects of a stroke.
On the first ballot at the convention, Fillmore had a two vote lead over Winfield Scott (133 to 131), but he was short of a majority and could gain any further support. By the 8th ballot two of Fillmore's votes had shifted to Scott, who now led 133 to 131, but who also could not get a majority. On the 52nd ballot, Daniel Webster's delegates switched to General Winfield Scott (giving Scott exactly 50% of the delegates) and Scott won the nomination on the 53rd ballot. But Democrat Franklin Pierce defeated Scott in the November election.
The loss was not entirely bad for Fillmore, who welcomed escape from Washington. He and his family had never liked the city. Abigail Fillmore had been so unwell during most of the administration that her daughter, Mary, had been pressed into hostess duty for White House functions. Abigail Fillmore felt obliged to sit outside for hours on Pierce's cold, wet inauguration day. She caught pneumonia and died less than a month later.
Not long afterward, Fillmore suffered another tragedy when Mary, just twenty-two-years-old, died of cholera. Fillmore was devastated by the sudden loss of his wife and only daughter. (The Fillmores also had a son, also named Millard, but better known as Powers). Fillmore embarked on a tour of Europe in 1855. He met Queen Victoria and she is alleged to have called Fillmore the handsomest man she had ever met. Fillmore was offered an honorary Doctor of Civil Law degree by the University of Oxford, but he turned down the honor, explaining that he had neither the "literary nor scientific attainment" to justify the degree.
It seems that Fillmore then sought solace for his grief by returning to politics. After the election of 1852, the Whig Party disintegrated and a number of former Whigs were now without a party. Some had organized a new party with the strange name of the Know-Nothing Party. It was primarily an anti-immigrant party. It tried to attract native-born Americans at a time when hordes of immigrants were flocking to the United States. The Know-Nothings advocated immigration restrictions and a waiting period for new citizens to vote. Irish Catholic immigrants, who were perceived as a threat to jobs for native-born Americans, were a prime target.
To his credit, Fillmore refused to be part of the anti-immigrant sentiment advocated by the party. Fillmore was not anti-immigrant and he was also not anti-Catholic. In fact his daughter Mary had attended a girls' Catholic boarding school for a year and Fillmore had contributed financially to the construction of St. Joseph Cathedral in Buffalo. But at this time, the Know-Nothing Party was the only alternative for non-Democrats who were not militantly anti-slavery. The Know-Nothings made him their presidential candidate in 1856. He ran on a ticket with Andrew Jackson Donelson, nephew of his namesake, Old Hickory. The ticket received only 21 percent of the vote. It prevented another candidate he deeply opposed, John C. Frémont of the newly formed Republican Party, from becoming President.
That was Fillmore's last attempt at political office. He retired in Buffalo and married Caroline McIntosh, a wealthy Albany widow, in early 1858. Fillmore was active in many causes and charities. Fillmore continued to believe that conciliation with the South was necessary and he felt that the Republican Party was at least partly responsible for break-up of the union. But he was also publicly very critical of secession and was also critical of President James Buchanan for not taking military action when South Carolina seceded. When the Civil War began in 1861, Fillmore became a staunch Unionist, helping to organize enlistment and war-financing drives. He even commanded the Union Continentals, a corps of home guards of males over the age of 45 from the upstate New York area. The Continentals trained to defend the Buffalo area in the event of a Confederate attack.
But there were those who never forgave Fillmore's support of the Fugitive Slave Law. Although he was in favor of saving the Union, Fillmore was not a political supporter of President Abraham Lincoln. In the 1864 Presidential election, Fillmore supported Democratic candidate George B. McClellan for the presidency. He believed that the Democratic Party's plan for immediate cessation of fighting and allowing the seceded states to return with slavery intact was the best one for restoring the Union. Fillmore also maintained a correspondence with Franklin Pierce, in which they agreed with each other that Lincoln had overstepped his constitutional authority.
After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, a mob descended on Fillmore's opulent Buffalo home and smudged black ink or paint on the building. (A similar incident took place in Concord, New Hampshire at the home of Franklin Pierce). The crowd demanded to know why Fillmore hadn't draped his house in black bunting as a sign of mourning for Lincoln. Fillmore asked for understanding, explaining that he was at the bedside of his ill wife, and did not know of Lincoln's death. His explanation seemed to satisfy the crowd, which soon departed.
After the war, Fillmore supported President Andrew Johnson's conservative Reconstruction policies, and opposed the policies of the Radical Republicans. He died at 11:10 pm on March 8, 1874, from the aftereffects of a stroke.