Millard Fillmore

Who was Millard Fillmore?

Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States, the last Whig President, and the last President not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties. He is consistently included in the bottom 10 of historical rankings of Presidents of the United States. As Zachary Taylor's Vice President, he assumed the presidency after Taylor's death. Fillmore was a lawyer from western New York state, and an early member of the Whig Party. He served in the state legislature, as a U.S. Representative, and as New York State Comptroller. He was elected Vice President of the United States in 1848 as Taylor's running mate, and served from 1849 until Taylor's death in 1850, at the height of the "Crisis of 1850" over slavery.

As an anti-slavery moderate, he opposed abolitionist demands to exclude slavery from all of the territory gained in the Mexican War. Instead he supported the Compromise of 1850, which briefly ended the crisis. In foreign policy, Fillmore supported U.S. Navy expeditions to "open" Japan, opposed French designs on Hawaii, and was embarrassed by Narciso López's filibuster expeditions to Cuba. He sought re-election in 1852, but was passed over for the nomination by the Whigs.