Millard Fillmore (1800-74) was the son of a minister-farmer, living not far from Buffalo, NY. Ministers are seldom rich, and farming is iffy at best. But Millard was a big, husky fellow, and by ten or twelve, could practically do a man’s share of work. Schooling was secondary. 

Like Lincoln, Fillmore never denied his humble roots, but never boasted of them. As he grew into young manhood, he had no desire to remain a farmer, so when an attorney-neighbor offered him the chance to ‘read law,” he jumped at the opportunity. But Fillmore lacked even the basic education to pursue that type of vocation. He was advised to consult Abigail Powers, the local schoolteacher, to be tutored in the basics. The two fell in love, and eventually married. 

As soon as he was financially able, he wanted to make the proper impression. His clothing was always the latest fashion and the best quality. He purchased a larger house and even joined a different Church. 

By the time Fillmore married, a 350+ mile canal linking the Hudson River to the Great Lakes had been completed, and proved to be a boon to the area. Within two decades, Buffalo became New York’s second largest city; the trade opportunities made many residents wealthy.

Fillmore was certainly not the most cosmopolitan attorney in Buffalo, nor the best educated. Nor even one with the greatest potential. But he was a hard and diligent worker. He was equally diligent about cultivating friends who could help further his career. This meant politics.

Law. Politics. 

Fillmore always found it easier to obtain political appointments than private clients. In the 1820s and 30s, the Federalist Party was dead and buried. Everyone was basically a Democratic-Republican, but even they were fraying. It was mostly sectional. And local. 

Like many insecure people about their social or intellectual abilities, Millard Fillmore found a home among the fringe that boost their own self-worth by being “against” rather than “for.” He joined groups that vented spleen against Catholics, Freemasons, foreigners, and even abolitionists. While he was never overly vocal about his biases, he was happy to accept their support for his nomination to office.

Thus he became a Congressman for a few terms, and enjoyed the prestige of the office. But once the Whig Party became viable in the 1830s and 40s, Fillmore was overlooked in upstate New York, and lost his base. They were supporting a formidable newspaperman, Thurlow Weed, and his protege William Seward. 

The now-jobless Fillmore opted for a mediocre position in New York State government, but was overlooked there as well.

Philosophy and Practical Politics

By the 1840s, slavery was the key issue, and everybody was lining up to take sides. Millard Fillmore always considered it an evil and said so, however he also believed that the government had no authority to obstruct it. As a New Yorker, the non-position made him viable to straddle a divisive country. 

He went back to Congress. This time, he actually had ambition. No pretensions for the Presidency, of course – way out of his league – but he wanted to be Vice President. An honorable position, very well paid at $5000/year (when the average was perhaps $500/year). He could control patronage and be a hero in his home state, with very little heavy lifting. He approached the aging perennial candidate Henry Clay in 1844 about the post, but Clay paid little attention.

By 1848, with Zachary Taylor, a hero of the War with Mexico leading the ticket, a southern slaveholder and a waffling northerner seemed like a good idea. He got the nomination, and the Whigs it was. With lackluster Lewis Cass running on the Democratic ticket, and most politicians disliking outgoing President Polk, this was about as good as the Whigs could muster.

The POTUS and the VEEP

It was only natural that VP Fillmore sought a comfortable political relationship with his new boss. Taylor, who wasn’t keen on the presidency to begin with, had the customary disdain for the vice presidency, and never heard of Millard Fillmore.  

Taylor definitely was a slave holder with a good sized retirement plantation in Louisiana. He was also career military, accustomed to complete command. He was also a total novice in politics. He was a Unionist. He stunned his fellow southerners by opposing slavery in the territories, and supporting California as a “free” state. This wrecked the free-vs-slave state balance that had existed for thirty years.

The Henry Clay Factor

Henry Clay, now past 70, had been a giant on the national scene. Along with John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster, sometime in agreement, usually in conflict, the three dominated politics for a half century. Now, following his surprising defeat in 1844, he was coaxed out of retirement, and once again sent to represent Kentucky in the Senate. Clay also believed he was titular head of the Whig Party. 

The “Great Compromiser”, as Clay was called, once more cobbled-together an Omnibus Bill, known to history as the Compromise of 1850, purported to make everybody happy. But it didn’t.

Trouble was, Zachary Taylor didn’t like the Compromise, and didn’t like Clay. The feeling was mutual.

It left room for Vice President Fillmore to bond with his new boss. But it didn’t happen, likely due more to the differences in their personalities. Fillmore was shunted aside – like most Vice Presidents then. 

So Fillmore showed little inclination for national issues, and focused on patronage in his home state. Poor Fillmore. Weed and Seward owned NY patronage and ignored him too. 

The Fickle Finger of Fate

No one would have predicted that a previously healthy Zachary Taylor would die in July 1850. But he did. Millard Fillmore, bitterly resentful of being ignored, was now President of the United States. He cleaned house, tried to form a new cabinet (harder than it sounds), and supported the Compromise of 1850 (worse than it sounds).

But Fillmore’s insecurities never left him. When offered an honorary degree (in Latin, of course) from Oxford University in 1855, he declined, stating “no man should…. accept a degree he cannot read.”

Sources:

Cohen, Jared – Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America – Simon & Schuster, 2019

Finkelman, Paul – Millard Fillmore – Times Books, 2011

Rayback, Robert J. – Millard Fillmore, Biography of a President – Easton Press (reprint) – 1986

https://millercenter.org/president/fillmore/life-before-the-presidency

https://www.senate.gov/senators/FeaturedBios/Featured_Bio_Clay.htm

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/william-h-seward