Presidents in Retirement: Millard Fillmore
Three former presidents unsuccessfully sought a return to the office by running as candidates for a third party in a presidential election. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt ran for President as the candidate for the Progressive Party (also known as the Bull Moose Party). Martin Van Buren was the Presidential candidate for the Free Soil Party in 1848. The third ex-president to do so was Millard Fillmore, who ran for president under the banner of the American Party, also known as the "Know-Nothing Party."
Fillmore became president in July of 1850, following the death of Zachary Taylor. He supported the Compromise of 1850, stating that while he was personally opposed to slavery, as long as it was tolerated under the constitution, he would enforce laws allowing for it. As the election of 1852 approached, Fillmore considered his own run for a full term as president, as the candidate of the Whig Party. Secretary of State Daniel Webster planned a final attempt to run for the office, and Fillmore was sympathetic to Webster's ambitions, but he still kept his options open, fearing that abolitionists would take control of the Whig Party. At the national convention in Baltimore in June 1852, the major candidates were Fillmore, Webster and General Winfield Scott. The Democrats nominated former New Hampshire senator Franklin Pierce, who had been out of national politics for nearly a decade, but whose profile had risen as a result of his military service in the Mexican War. The nomination of Pierce, a northerner sympathetic to the southern view on slavery, united the Democrats. It also made it more appealing for the Whigs to nominate their own war hero.
Fillmore was unpopular with northern Whigs for signing and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act, but he had considerable support from the South, where he was seen as the only candidate capable of uniting the party. The convention deadlocked, and this continued for 46 ballots. On the 48th ballot, Webster delegates began to defect to Scott, who won the nomination on the 53rd ballot. In the presidential election, Scott was handily beaten by Pierce. In hindsight, many Whigs believed that they probably would have done much better with Fillmore at the top of their ticket.
Daniel Webster died in October 1852, and during his illness, Fillmore acted as his own Secretary of State without incident, before appointing Edward Everett to finish Webster's term after his death. Fillmore had planned to lecturing Congress on the slavery issue in his final annual message in December, but he was talked out of it by his cabinet. His final message commented on the prosperity of the nation and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve as President. Fillmore left office on March 4, 1853, after attending Pierce's inauguration.
When Fillmore returned to private life, he was not a wealthy man, nor was he any sort of significant landowner. He struggled with the question of how he would make a living consistent with the dignity of his former office. His friend, Judge Hall, convinced him that it would be proper for him to practice law in the higher courts of New York, and this is what Fillmore did. Fillmore and his wife Abigail had planned a tour of the South after leaving the White House, but Abigail caught a cold at President Pierce's inauguration. The cold turned into pneumonia, and before the end of the month, died in Washington on March 30, 1853. A grieving Fillmore returned to Buffalo. He was visited by personal tragedy a year later when, on July 26, 1854 his only daughter Mary died of cholera.
In early 1854, Fillmore weighed in on the debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, legislation which planned to open the northern portion of the Louisiana Purchase to settlement, with slavery permitted if a majority supported it. This would end the northern limit on slavery under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Fillmore embarked on a national tour, hoping to rally disaffected Whig politicians to preserve the Union and support him in another run for the presidency. Fillmore made public appearances opening railroads and visiting the grave of Senator Clay, but he also met behind the scenes with politicians.
The Kansas-Nebraska bill had divided the Whig Party. Many northern Whigs, such as Seward, supported a new party, the Republicans. Fillmore saw no home for himself there because of his past support for the Fugitive Slave Act. In the early 1850s there was considerable hostility towards immigrants, especially Catholics, who had recently arrived in the United States in large numbers. Several nativist organizations were formed, including the Order of the Star Spangled Banner, to promote the nativist cause. By 1854, the Order had morphed into the American Party. That party was also called the "Know Nothing Party", because in its early days, members were sworn to secrecy about party deliberations. If asked about the party, they were to say that they knew nothing about them (much like the character Sergeant Schultz in the 1960s television show Hogan's Heros). Many of Fillmore's former Whig supporters joined the Know Nothings and influenced the organization to take up causes besides nativism. The Know Nothings had some success in the 1854 midterm elections. They won in several Northeastern states and showed strength in the South. This encouraged Fillmore, and on January 1, 1855, he sent a letter for publication, warning against immigrant influence in American elections, and soon thereafter joined the Order of the Star Spangled Banner.
Later in 1855, Fillmore went on a tour of Europe. He said that since he lacked any political office, he might as well take the time to travel. His political friends advised him that by touring, he would avoid involvement in the contentious issues of the day. He spent over a year, from March 1855 to June 1856, in Europe and the Middle East. In London, Queen Victoria was said to called Fillmore the handsomest man she had ever seen. He was in the gallery of the House of Commons at the same time as another former president, Martin Van Buren. Fillmore was offered an honorary Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) degree by the University of Oxford, but he turned down the honor, allegedly saying that he had neither the "literary nor scientific attainment" to justify the degree, and that he "lacked the benefit of a classical education" and could not, therefore, understand the Latin text of the diploma. He added, "no man should accept a degree he cannot read."
In Europe he met up with Dorothea Dix, an American advocate for improved conditions for the mentally ill and for prisoners. They continued to correspond, and met several times. In Rome, Fillmore had an audience with Pope Pius IX. Fillmore carefully weighed the political advantages and disadvantages of meeting with Pius. He met only after it was orchestrated such that he did not have to kneel and kiss the pope's hand.
Meanwhile back at home, Fillmore's allies were in full control of the American Party, and they arranged for him to get its presidential nomination while he was in Europe. As Fillmore's running mate, the Know Nothing convention chose Andrew Jackson Donelson of Kentucky, nephew by marriage and onetime ward of President Jackson. Fillmore returned home in June 1856, arriving to a huge reception in New York City. He traveled across the state to Buffalo, speaking at a series of welcomes. These addresses were ostensibly in thanks for his reception. The custom at the time was that it was considered office-seeking for a presidential hopeful to make campaign speeches. But Fillmore used the opportunity to warn his audiences that electing the Republican candidate, former California senator John C. Frémont, who had no support in the South, would divide the Union and lead to civil war. Both Fillmore and the Democratic candidate, former Pennsylvania senator James Buchanan, agreed that slavery was principally a matter for state and not federal government. Fillmore's message was mainly on preservation of the Union, and he did not speak much about nativist issues.
Once Fillmore was back home in Buffalo, his campaign stagnated through the summer and fall of 1856. Those former Whigs with campaign experience, such as Thurlow Weed of New York, tended to join the Republican Party. The Know Nothings lacked experience in running a campaign at that level. Although the South was friendly towards Fillmore, many there feared a Frémont victory would lead to secession, and some sympathetic to Fillmore moved into the Buchanan camp so as not to split the anti-Frémont vote.
On Election Day, Buchanan won the presidency with 1,836,072 votes (45.3%) and 174 electoral votes to Frémont's 1,342,345 votes (33.1%) and 114 electoral votes. Fillmore finished third, winning 873,053 votes (21.6%) and carrying only the state of Maryland and its 8 electoral votes. The American Party ticket narrowly lost in several southern states, and a change of fewer than 8,000 votes in Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee would have thrown the election to the House of Representatives.
After his defeat in 1856, Fillmore declared his political career to be at an end. His financial worries were removed when on February 10, 1858, when Fillmore married Caroline McIntosh, a wealthy widow. Their combined wealth allowed them to purchase a large house on Niagara Square in Buffalo, where they lived for the remainder of Fillmore's life. In Buffalo, the couple devoted themselves to philanthropic pursuits. Among these were the Buffalo Historical Society and the Buffalo General Hospital, which he helped found.
In the election of 1860, Fillmore supported Stephen Douglas, the nominee of the northern Democrats, even though he had once met Abraham Lincoln when both men where Whigs. After Lincoln was elected, Fillmore refused to take any part in the secession crisis that followed. He was critical of Buchanan's inaction as states left the Union, writing that those advocating secession should simply be regarded as traitors. When Lincoln came to Buffalo en route to his inauguration, Fillmore led the committee selected to receive the president-elect. He hosted Lincoln at his mansion, and took him to church. Once war came, Fillmore supported Lincoln in his efforts to preserve the Union. He 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. They performed military drills and ceremonial functions at parades, funerals, and other events. The Union Continentals guarded Lincoln's funeral train in Buffalo. They continued operations after the war, and Fillmore remained active with them almost until his death.
Fillmore was criticized in many newspapers when he gave a speech in early 1864 calling for magnanimity towards the South when the war came to an end. Fillmore was called a Copperhead and a traitor by some. In the 1864 presidential election Fillmore supported Democratic candidate George B. McClellan for the presidency, believing that the Democratic Party's plan for immediate cessation of fighting and allowing the seceded states to return with slavery intact was the best possibility for restoring the Union. After Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, black ink was thrown on Fillmore's house because it was not draped in mourning like others. Fillmore had been out of town at the time and put black drapes in the windows once he returned. He was among those selected to escort the body when Lincoln's funeral train passed through Buffalo, but there was still a lot of anger against him for his wartime positions. Fillmore supported President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies, feeling that the nation needed to be reconciled as quickly as possible.
Fillmore enjoyed good health, even later in life. But he suffered a stroke in February 1874, and died after a second one on March 8, 1874. Two days later, he was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo after a funeral procession.
Fillmore became president in July of 1850, following the death of Zachary Taylor. He supported the Compromise of 1850, stating that while he was personally opposed to slavery, as long as it was tolerated under the constitution, he would enforce laws allowing for it. As the election of 1852 approached, Fillmore considered his own run for a full term as president, as the candidate of the Whig Party. Secretary of State Daniel Webster planned a final attempt to run for the office, and Fillmore was sympathetic to Webster's ambitions, but he still kept his options open, fearing that abolitionists would take control of the Whig Party. At the national convention in Baltimore in June 1852, the major candidates were Fillmore, Webster and General Winfield Scott. The Democrats nominated former New Hampshire senator Franklin Pierce, who had been out of national politics for nearly a decade, but whose profile had risen as a result of his military service in the Mexican War. The nomination of Pierce, a northerner sympathetic to the southern view on slavery, united the Democrats. It also made it more appealing for the Whigs to nominate their own war hero.
Fillmore was unpopular with northern Whigs for signing and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act, but he had considerable support from the South, where he was seen as the only candidate capable of uniting the party. The convention deadlocked, and this continued for 46 ballots. On the 48th ballot, Webster delegates began to defect to Scott, who won the nomination on the 53rd ballot. In the presidential election, Scott was handily beaten by Pierce. In hindsight, many Whigs believed that they probably would have done much better with Fillmore at the top of their ticket.
Daniel Webster died in October 1852, and during his illness, Fillmore acted as his own Secretary of State without incident, before appointing Edward Everett to finish Webster's term after his death. Fillmore had planned to lecturing Congress on the slavery issue in his final annual message in December, but he was talked out of it by his cabinet. His final message commented on the prosperity of the nation and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve as President. Fillmore left office on March 4, 1853, after attending Pierce's inauguration.
When Fillmore returned to private life, he was not a wealthy man, nor was he any sort of significant landowner. He struggled with the question of how he would make a living consistent with the dignity of his former office. His friend, Judge Hall, convinced him that it would be proper for him to practice law in the higher courts of New York, and this is what Fillmore did. Fillmore and his wife Abigail had planned a tour of the South after leaving the White House, but Abigail caught a cold at President Pierce's inauguration. The cold turned into pneumonia, and before the end of the month, died in Washington on March 30, 1853. A grieving Fillmore returned to Buffalo. He was visited by personal tragedy a year later when, on July 26, 1854 his only daughter Mary died of cholera.
In early 1854, Fillmore weighed in on the debate over the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, legislation which planned to open the northern portion of the Louisiana Purchase to settlement, with slavery permitted if a majority supported it. This would end the northern limit on slavery under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Fillmore embarked on a national tour, hoping to rally disaffected Whig politicians to preserve the Union and support him in another run for the presidency. Fillmore made public appearances opening railroads and visiting the grave of Senator Clay, but he also met behind the scenes with politicians.
The Kansas-Nebraska bill had divided the Whig Party. Many northern Whigs, such as Seward, supported a new party, the Republicans. Fillmore saw no home for himself there because of his past support for the Fugitive Slave Act. In the early 1850s there was considerable hostility towards immigrants, especially Catholics, who had recently arrived in the United States in large numbers. Several nativist organizations were formed, including the Order of the Star Spangled Banner, to promote the nativist cause. By 1854, the Order had morphed into the American Party. That party was also called the "Know Nothing Party", because in its early days, members were sworn to secrecy about party deliberations. If asked about the party, they were to say that they knew nothing about them (much like the character Sergeant Schultz in the 1960s television show Hogan's Heros). Many of Fillmore's former Whig supporters joined the Know Nothings and influenced the organization to take up causes besides nativism. The Know Nothings had some success in the 1854 midterm elections. They won in several Northeastern states and showed strength in the South. This encouraged Fillmore, and on January 1, 1855, he sent a letter for publication, warning against immigrant influence in American elections, and soon thereafter joined the Order of the Star Spangled Banner.
Later in 1855, Fillmore went on a tour of Europe. He said that since he lacked any political office, he might as well take the time to travel. His political friends advised him that by touring, he would avoid involvement in the contentious issues of the day. He spent over a year, from March 1855 to June 1856, in Europe and the Middle East. In London, Queen Victoria was said to called Fillmore the handsomest man she had ever seen. He was in the gallery of the House of Commons at the same time as another former president, Martin Van Buren. Fillmore was offered an honorary Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) degree by the University of Oxford, but he turned down the honor, allegedly saying that he had neither the "literary nor scientific attainment" to justify the degree, and that he "lacked the benefit of a classical education" and could not, therefore, understand the Latin text of the diploma. He added, "no man should accept a degree he cannot read."
In Europe he met up with Dorothea Dix, an American advocate for improved conditions for the mentally ill and for prisoners. They continued to correspond, and met several times. In Rome, Fillmore had an audience with Pope Pius IX. Fillmore carefully weighed the political advantages and disadvantages of meeting with Pius. He met only after it was orchestrated such that he did not have to kneel and kiss the pope's hand.
Meanwhile back at home, Fillmore's allies were in full control of the American Party, and they arranged for him to get its presidential nomination while he was in Europe. As Fillmore's running mate, the Know Nothing convention chose Andrew Jackson Donelson of Kentucky, nephew by marriage and onetime ward of President Jackson. Fillmore returned home in June 1856, arriving to a huge reception in New York City. He traveled across the state to Buffalo, speaking at a series of welcomes. These addresses were ostensibly in thanks for his reception. The custom at the time was that it was considered office-seeking for a presidential hopeful to make campaign speeches. But Fillmore used the opportunity to warn his audiences that electing the Republican candidate, former California senator John C. Frémont, who had no support in the South, would divide the Union and lead to civil war. Both Fillmore and the Democratic candidate, former Pennsylvania senator James Buchanan, agreed that slavery was principally a matter for state and not federal government. Fillmore's message was mainly on preservation of the Union, and he did not speak much about nativist issues.
Once Fillmore was back home in Buffalo, his campaign stagnated through the summer and fall of 1856. Those former Whigs with campaign experience, such as Thurlow Weed of New York, tended to join the Republican Party. The Know Nothings lacked experience in running a campaign at that level. Although the South was friendly towards Fillmore, many there feared a Frémont victory would lead to secession, and some sympathetic to Fillmore moved into the Buchanan camp so as not to split the anti-Frémont vote.
On Election Day, Buchanan won the presidency with 1,836,072 votes (45.3%) and 174 electoral votes to Frémont's 1,342,345 votes (33.1%) and 114 electoral votes. Fillmore finished third, winning 873,053 votes (21.6%) and carrying only the state of Maryland and its 8 electoral votes. The American Party ticket narrowly lost in several southern states, and a change of fewer than 8,000 votes in Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee would have thrown the election to the House of Representatives.
After his defeat in 1856, Fillmore declared his political career to be at an end. His financial worries were removed when on February 10, 1858, when Fillmore married Caroline McIntosh, a wealthy widow. Their combined wealth allowed them to purchase a large house on Niagara Square in Buffalo, where they lived for the remainder of Fillmore's life. In Buffalo, the couple devoted themselves to philanthropic pursuits. Among these were the Buffalo Historical Society and the Buffalo General Hospital, which he helped found.
In the election of 1860, Fillmore supported Stephen Douglas, the nominee of the northern Democrats, even though he had once met Abraham Lincoln when both men where Whigs. After Lincoln was elected, Fillmore refused to take any part in the secession crisis that followed. He was critical of Buchanan's inaction as states left the Union, writing that those advocating secession should simply be regarded as traitors. When Lincoln came to Buffalo en route to his inauguration, Fillmore led the committee selected to receive the president-elect. He hosted Lincoln at his mansion, and took him to church. Once war came, Fillmore supported Lincoln in his efforts to preserve the Union. He 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. They performed military drills and ceremonial functions at parades, funerals, and other events. The Union Continentals guarded Lincoln's funeral train in Buffalo. They continued operations after the war, and Fillmore remained active with them almost until his death.
Fillmore was criticized in many newspapers when he gave a speech in early 1864 calling for magnanimity towards the South when the war came to an end. Fillmore was called a Copperhead and a traitor by some. In the 1864 presidential election Fillmore supported Democratic candidate George B. McClellan for the presidency, believing that the Democratic Party's plan for immediate cessation of fighting and allowing the seceded states to return with slavery intact was the best possibility for restoring the Union. After Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, black ink was thrown on Fillmore's house because it was not draped in mourning like others. Fillmore had been out of town at the time and put black drapes in the windows once he returned. He was among those selected to escort the body when Lincoln's funeral train passed through Buffalo, but there was still a lot of anger against him for his wartime positions. Fillmore supported President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies, feeling that the nation needed to be reconciled as quickly as possible.
Fillmore enjoyed good health, even later in life. But he suffered a stroke in February 1874, and died after a second one on March 8, 1874. Two days later, he was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo after a funeral procession.