S.R. writes:

Poor Millard Fillmore. The butt of schoolyard jokes, TV sitcom jokes, and TV advertisement jokes. The thirteenth president of the United States (last prominent member of Whig Party, serving from 1850 until 1853) ascended to the office upon the death of Zachary Taylor. (It's believed Taylor died of gastroenteritis.)


So, what's the truth about President Fillmore? Here are the major points of his three years in office. He pushed five major bills through Congress to:



• Admit California as a free state;

• Settle the Texas boundary and compensate her;

• Grant territorial status to New Mexico;

• Place Federal officers at the disposal of slaveholders seeking fugitives;

• Abolish the slave trade in the District of Columbia.



Another important legacy of Fillmore's administration was the sending of Commodore Matthew C. Perry to open Japan to Western trade, though Perry did not reach Japan until Franklin Pierce had replaced Fillmore as President.


And what of that famous story about the bathtub, for which poor President Fillmore is best remembered (and ridiculed)? Well, some biographers credit humorist and national scold H.L. Mencken with starting the hoax that Fillmore was the first president to have a bathtub with running water in the White House. So, now you know.

And so do the rest of you. Thanks, S.R.!

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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