Millard Fillmore
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First Lady: Abigail Powers
Political Party: Whig Vice President : None Cabinet: Secretary of State John M. Clayton (1850) Daniel Webster (1850-1852) Edward Everett (1852-1853) Secretary of the Treasury William M. Meredith (1850) Thomas Corwin (1850-1853) Secretary of War George W. Crawford (1850) Charles M. Conrad (1850-1853) Attorney General Reverdy Johnson (1850) John J. Crittenden (1850-1853) Postmaster General Jacob Collamer (1850) Nathan K. Hall (1850-1852) Samuel D. Hubbard (1852-1853) Secretary of the Navy William B. Preston (1850) William A. Graham (1850-1852) John P. Kennedy (1852-1853) Secretary of the Interior Thomas Ewing (1850) Thomas M. T. McKennan (1850) Alexander H. H. Stuart (1850-1853) Born : January 7, 1800, Locke Township, Cayuga, New York Died: March 8, 1874, Buffalo, Erie, New York Buried : Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, Erie, New York Parents: Nathaniel Fillmore, Phoebe Millard Married : Abigail Powers, Caroline Carmichael McIntosh Children : 2 In Office : July 9, 1850 to March 3, 1853 Education: No formal education Occupation: Lawyer Other Political Offices : New York State Assembly, 1828-1831 Counsellor of New York Supreme Court, 1829 U.S. House of Representatives, 1833-1835, 1837-1845 Comptroller of New York, 1847 Vice President, 1849-1850 (under Zachary Taylor) Note: He worked on his father's farm, and at age 15 was apprenticed to a cropper in the wollen industry. He became president on the death of Zachary Taylor in 1850. Most of his early years he was almost entirely self-educated. He was admitted to the bar in 1823 and set up a law office in East Aurora. He entered politics with the Anti-Masonic Party under the sponsorship of Thurlow Weed and subsequently followed Weed into the Whig Party. In congress Fillmore held office for three consecutive terms, declining renomination in 1842. He authorized Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan in 1852-1854. In 1856 he accepted the nomination for President of the Know Nothing, or American, Party. During the Civil War he was against President Lincoln and during the Reconstruction period supported President Johnson. Two of his accomplishments were the Compromise of 1850, and the Fugitive Slave Act. On August 6, 1850, he delivered a message to Congress recommending that Texas be reimbersed for her claims to part of New Mexico. On being elected as president appointed his new Cabinet, with Daniel Webster at its head and his policy was different from Taylor. In 1854 he toured the Southern and Western States, and in 1855 traveled to Europe. In private life after he retired from office, he gave much of his time to civic activities. |
