Hail to the Chiefs Part XIII: Millard Fillmore
Originally written June 27, 2010
One year, on the first day of summer school, the bus driver asked me where my mother was from. I guess something about her gave away the fact that she's not a native-born Sheboyganite. When I told him she was from Buffalo, every day I was greeted with: "HILARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE
However this wasn't the case during the time of Millard Fillmore. Thanks to its primo location on the Erie Canal it was actually a pretty happening place. Buffalo is going to come up for 3 other presidents.
Millard Fillmore was born in a log cabin in Summerhill, New York. Most of his early years was pretty standard for most of the presidents. Went to law school, got married, got elected to first the New York state assembly and then then House of Representatives...yadda yadda. Although what isn't typical is in 1846 he founded the college that is today known as SUNY Buffalo. (Makes me wonder if they have a Millard Fillmore mascot.) He also was the first elected Comptroller in New York State and apparently the banking system he helped create wound up being a model for the national system later on.
In 1850 Fillmore was elected as Zachary Taylor's vice-president. One thing that is often forgotten is the Vice-President is also considered part of the senate and is able to cast a tie-breaking vote. By 1850 the slavery debate had gotten quite heated. In addition all the increasingly desperate attempts to hold the Union together were in Congress....as there certainly wasn't much leadership coming from the White House once Polk left town.
The latest attempt to, as a fellow grad student once put it, bandage a gaping chest wound, was the Compromise of 1850. Here's what Congress ultimately agreed to and Millard Fillmore signed into law:
1. California would be admitted to the Union as a free state.
2. The slave trade (not slavery itself) would be abolished in the District of Columbia. Northerners in Congress found it repugnant that there were slave auctions right down the street from Capitol Hill.
3. The Utah and New Mexico Territories would be organized under popular sovereignty....so pretty much they could decide themselves. Northerners liked this option as they figured the arid climate of both regions wasn't conducive to plantation style farming so slavery probably wouldn't happen there.
4. The Fugitive Slave Act was passed which required all America citizens to participate in the capture of runaway slaves.
5. Texas would give up a chunk of it's land for compensation so they once and for all could get rid of the debt from their days as a republic.
The combination of the passage of the Fugitive Slave act, and the Dred Scott decision in the (predominantly Southern slave owner) Supreme Court that stated Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in U.S. territories....caused a huge ruckus. It created a rift in the already weakening Whig party and pretty much can be given a lot of the credit for the creation of the Republican party. Republicans like Abraham Lincoln felt these decisions had found a back door way to force Northern States to become slave states.
What does that mean for our buddy Millard? It means he left office with the nation in an even greater state of disarray than when he'd entered it, and inadvertently helped to make things worse. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you: Dunderhead number two.
The main positive legacy of Fillmore was he was horrified at the lack of books in the White House, and started the White House library. After leaving office he went back to his beloved Buffalo, and carried on as chancellor. He took a trip to Europe and rumor has it that Queen Victoria thought he was quite the hottie. He ran for president again with the Know-Nothing Party....and proved he belonged with that group by opposing Lincoln throughout the entire Civil War. He died of a stroke in 1874, and at first it looked like he was going to fade into obscurity.
But a funny thing happened in the intervening years. It's probably that funny name. Millard Fillmore has found such a niche in popular culture, that one of my president books refused to include him in a section about obscure presidents because he's gotten famous for being obscure. Here is a sampling:
Mallard Fillmore
Somehow I suspect there won't be any comic strips inspired by Rutherford B. Hayes.
Head of the Class
Before there was Freaks and Geeks, before there was Big Bang Theory...there was this marvelously geeky show which took place at Millard Fillmore High.
American Douchebag
Then there is this "tribute" on youtube which plays fast and loose with the facts, but is still a lot of fun.
Alec Baldwin
One web site noted a strong resemblance between Alec Baldwin and Millard Fillmore. You judge for yourself:
totallylookslike.com/2010/05/23/alec-bal
And it's onward and....downward...as we move on to Franklin Pierce!
One year, on the first day of summer school, the bus driver asked me where my mother was from. I guess something about her gave away the fact that she's not a native-born Sheboyganite. When I told him she was from Buffalo, every day I was greeted with: "HILARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE
However this wasn't the case during the time of Millard Fillmore. Thanks to its primo location on the Erie Canal it was actually a pretty happening place. Buffalo is going to come up for 3 other presidents.
Millard Fillmore was born in a log cabin in Summerhill, New York. Most of his early years was pretty standard for most of the presidents. Went to law school, got married, got elected to first the New York state assembly and then then House of Representatives...yadda yadda. Although what isn't typical is in 1846 he founded the college that is today known as SUNY Buffalo. (Makes me wonder if they have a Millard Fillmore mascot.) He also was the first elected Comptroller in New York State and apparently the banking system he helped create wound up being a model for the national system later on.
In 1850 Fillmore was elected as Zachary Taylor's vice-president. One thing that is often forgotten is the Vice-President is also considered part of the senate and is able to cast a tie-breaking vote. By 1850 the slavery debate had gotten quite heated. In addition all the increasingly desperate attempts to hold the Union together were in Congress....as there certainly wasn't much leadership coming from the White House once Polk left town.
The latest attempt to, as a fellow grad student once put it, bandage a gaping chest wound, was the Compromise of 1850. Here's what Congress ultimately agreed to and Millard Fillmore signed into law:
1. California would be admitted to the Union as a free state.
2. The slave trade (not slavery itself) would be abolished in the District of Columbia. Northerners in Congress found it repugnant that there were slave auctions right down the street from Capitol Hill.
3. The Utah and New Mexico Territories would be organized under popular sovereignty....so pretty much they could decide themselves. Northerners liked this option as they figured the arid climate of both regions wasn't conducive to plantation style farming so slavery probably wouldn't happen there.
4. The Fugitive Slave Act was passed which required all America citizens to participate in the capture of runaway slaves.
5. Texas would give up a chunk of it's land for compensation so they once and for all could get rid of the debt from their days as a republic.
The combination of the passage of the Fugitive Slave act, and the Dred Scott decision in the (predominantly Southern slave owner) Supreme Court that stated Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in U.S. territories....caused a huge ruckus. It created a rift in the already weakening Whig party and pretty much can be given a lot of the credit for the creation of the Republican party. Republicans like Abraham Lincoln felt these decisions had found a back door way to force Northern States to become slave states.
What does that mean for our buddy Millard? It means he left office with the nation in an even greater state of disarray than when he'd entered it, and inadvertently helped to make things worse. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you: Dunderhead number two.
The main positive legacy of Fillmore was he was horrified at the lack of books in the White House, and started the White House library. After leaving office he went back to his beloved Buffalo, and carried on as chancellor. He took a trip to Europe and rumor has it that Queen Victoria thought he was quite the hottie. He ran for president again with the Know-Nothing Party....and proved he belonged with that group by opposing Lincoln throughout the entire Civil War. He died of a stroke in 1874, and at first it looked like he was going to fade into obscurity.
But a funny thing happened in the intervening years. It's probably that funny name. Millard Fillmore has found such a niche in popular culture, that one of my president books refused to include him in a section about obscure presidents because he's gotten famous for being obscure. Here is a sampling:
Mallard Fillmore
Somehow I suspect there won't be any comic strips inspired by Rutherford B. Hayes.
Head of the Class
Before there was Freaks and Geeks, before there was Big Bang Theory...there was this marvelously geeky show which took place at Millard Fillmore High.
American Douchebag
Then there is this "tribute" on youtube which plays fast and loose with the facts, but is still a lot of fun.
Alec Baldwin
One web site noted a strong resemblance between Alec Baldwin and Millard Fillmore. You judge for yourself:
totallylookslike.com/2010/05/23/alec-bal
And it's onward and....downward...as we move on to Franklin Pierce!