Zachary Taylor: The American Presidents Series: The 12th President, 1849-1850
2008 / English / EPUB
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The rough-hewn general who rose to the nation's highest
office, and whose presidency witnessed the first political
skirmishes that would lead to the Civil War
The rough-hewn general who rose to the nation's highest
office, and whose presidency witnessed the first political
skirmishes that would lead to the Civil War
Zachary Taylor was a soldier's soldier, a man who lived up to his
nickname, "Old Rough and Ready." Having risen through the ranks
of the U.S. Army, he achieved his greatest success in the Mexican
War, propelling him to the nation's highest office in the
election of 1848. He was the first man to have been elected
president without having held a lower political office.
Zachary Taylor was a soldier's soldier, a man who lived up to his
nickname, "Old Rough and Ready." Having risen through the ranks
of the U.S. Army, he achieved his greatest success in the Mexican
War, propelling him to the nation's highest office in the
election of 1848. He was the first man to have been elected
president without having held a lower political office.
John S. D. Eisenhower, the son of another soldier-president,
shows how Taylor rose to the presidency, where he confronted the
most contentious political issue of his age: slavery. The
political storm reached a crescendo in 1849, when California,
newly populated after the Gold Rush, applied for statehood with
an anti- slavery constitution, an event that upset the delicate
balance of slave and free states and pushed both sides to the
brink. As the acrimonious debate intensified, Taylor stood his
ground in favor of California's admission―despite being a
slaveholder himself―but in July 1850 he unexpectedly took ill,
and within a week he was dead. His truncated presidency had
exposed the fateful rift that would soon tear the country apart.
John S. D. Eisenhower, the son of another soldier-president,
shows how Taylor rose to the presidency, where he confronted the
most contentious political issue of his age: slavery. The
political storm reached a crescendo in 1849, when California,
newly populated after the Gold Rush, applied for statehood with
an anti- slavery constitution, an event that upset the delicate
balance of slave and free states and pushed both sides to the
brink. As the acrimonious debate intensified, Taylor stood his
ground in favor of California's admission―despite being a
slaveholder himself―but in July 1850 he unexpectedly took ill,
and within a week he was dead. His truncated presidency had
exposed the fateful rift that would soon tear the country apart.