February 21, 2024 – Theme Week Day 3

We’re smack dab in the middle of our Obscure Presidents theme week! Today we’re talking about our 12th President, Zachary Taylor. He was a career officer in the U.S. Army and a war hero. He never publically spoke about his political beliefs before 1848, and had never even voted before that time. He had a negative opinion about most politicians and considered himself an independent and firm American nationalist. Nevertheless, the Whig Party convinced a reluctant Taylor to lead its ticket in the 1848 election. With his victory, he became the first president elected without having previously held political office.
After his inauguration, Taylor attended an unusual number of funerals, including for former President Polk and Dolley Madison. He coined the term “First Lady” in his eulogy for Madison. As president, Taylor kept his distance from Congress and his Cabinet, even though tensions threatened to divide the Union, with threats of secession from Southerners. Although he was Southern and a slave owner himself, Taylor didn’t push for the expansion of slavery and sought sectional harmony above all else.
On the 4th of July, 1850, Taylor was at a fund-raising event at the Washington Monument, which was under construction at the time. He reportedly ate copious amounts of cherries and iced milk while there, and over the next few days he became very ill with a digestive ailment. His condition only worsened, and he died on July 9, 1850, just 16 months into his term. He was 65 years old. Almost immediately after his death, rumors swirled that he was poisoned. These theories persisted into the 21st century, so much so that in 1991, Taylor’s body was exhumed and tested for arsenic. Analysis revealed no evidence of poisoning and concluded that he had contracted “cholera morbus or acute gastroenteritis”. Washington had open sewers at the time, so it’s likely something he ate or drank had been contaminated with bacteria.
Historical rankings generally place Taylor in the bottom quarter of presidents, although he has been described as “more a forgettable president than a failed one”. Learn more here.