Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)
Zachary Taylor was born in 1784 in the state of Virginia and grew up on his parent’s farm. In 1806 Taylor joined the army which was the start of a successful military career which resulted in him becoming General and overall 40 years serving the US Army.
In 1841 Taylor bought a big farm in Missouri which made him a slaveholder even though he did not support the idea of slavery.
As the presidential candidate for the Whigs Party, Taylor won the election of 1848. Possible explanations for the big majority voting for Zachary Taylor was him having served the military for so long that especially the North grew very fond of him. Owning over 100 slaves, however, made him a sympathetic person to the southerners as well.
Zachary Taylor’s goal was to combine the south and the north of America to one Unit. Since the main source of the conflict was the different opinions on slavery anyways he made this the main issue of his presidency. Even though he owned many slaves himself he did not want this to be the reason for the U.S. to split up into two. He fought a split with all means possible and even threatened with military force.
When Taylor died while still being in the position of the President of the United States on July 9th 1850, this put an end to his plans and made him the second president who had died during his presidency.