12. Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor had a long and distinguished military career, followed by a rather short and unremarkable presidency. 

He joined the Army in 1808 as a First Lieutenant and served in the War of 1812.  During the defense of Fort Harrison against an attack by Tecumseh, Taylor and his 50 men held off 400 natives.  As a result of his actions he was given a brevet major rank (he had been promoted to captain in 1810).  He was the first person in the Army to be given a brevet rank (the brevet rank is temporary rank that often comes with more responsibility, but no more pay).  Once the war was over he was reduced back to a captain; this did not sit well with him and he left the Army.  It wasn’t long before he was back in.  Over the course of 40 years Taylor served in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War (1832-37), fought the Seminole Indians (1837), and finally served in the war with Mexico.  During the Black Hawk War, he personally accepted the surrender of Chief Black Hawk.  He served with great distinction during wars with the Seminole Indians in Florida.  Eventually he was given command of all the troops in Florida.  By this time he had been promoted to brigadier general.  It was in Florida that he got his famous nickname “Old Rough and Ready”.

It was during the war with Mexico that Taylor gained national fame.  In 1845, President Polk sent Taylor down to the disputed border area between Texas and Mexico.  When Taylor’s men were attacked by Mexican forces Polk told Congress that a state of war existed.  On May 8, 1846, Taylor defeated a Mexican army 3 times the size of his force at Palo Alto.  Taylor’s use of artillery gave him the advantage over the Mexican forces.  Victory brought another promotion, this time to major general.

In September, he again defeated a much larger Mexican force at Monterrey in northern Mexico.  This battle involved fighting in the city literally in hand-to-hand combat in an urban setting.  The Mexican defenders surrendered after Taylor agreed to an 8 week armistice.  He faced criticism for allowing the Mexican army to leave with their weapons and did not get agreement that they would not fight again.  Polk, by this time, started to get uncomfortable with the success and praise that Taylor was receiving.  Even though Polk had pledged not to run for president again he was getting concerned that Taylor might be recruited to run for president from a rival party.  Polk was critical of Taylor after Monterrey, and might have removed him if Taylor wasn’t so popular.  Instead what Polk did was order Winfield Scott to take Mexico City and gave him many of Taylor’s best troops.

The Mexican general, Santa Anna, intercepted a letter that stated that Taylor was left with only about 5,000 men.  Santa Anna determined that he was going to attack Taylor with 15,000 – 20,000 Mexican troops.  This battle took place at the Battle of Buena Vista.  It lasted two days and ended as a huge victory for Taylor.  During the battle, Santa Anna had Taylor’s forces pinned down and sent a message to Taylor requesting his surrender.  The response that was sent back was “Tell him to go to hell!”.  After the battle, as Polk had feared, members of the Whig party began to encourage Taylor to run for president.

Taylor defeated Lewis Cass (Democrat) and Martin Van Buren (Free Soil) in the 1848 election.  With little experience in politics and believing himself to be independent, Taylor did not buy into the entire Whig platform.  He was opposed to the ideas of a national bank, increasing tariffs and spending federal money on internal improvements.  Even though he was a slave holder, he believed that the future states should have the right to decide in their own constitutions if they would allow slavery.  This did not endear him to southern politicians, some of whom began to discuss secession.  He reportedly told 3 southern congressmen speaking of secession, “If it becomes necessary, in executing the laws, I will take command of the army myself, and, if you are then taken in rebellion against the Union, I will hang you with less reluctance than I hanged deserters and spies in Mexico.”

The Compromise of 1850 was being hotly debated when Taylor died.  He did not come out strongly in favor or against the compromise.  I’ll cover this when I write up Millard Fillmore since that is when it passed, but in general, it consisted of 5 majors items: California statehood, Texan claims to New Mexico lands, the Fugitive Slave Law, slave trading in DC, and two new territories (Utah and New Mexico).

His only international accomplishment had to do with a proposed canal across Honduras.  The Clayton-Bulwer treaty was important because it stated that neither the US nor the UK could claim control over any canals built in Central America.

On July 4, 1850, after watching a dedication ceremony for the Washington Monument, Taylor returned to the White House where he reportedly ate a bowl of cherries and drank a glass of milk.  He died on July 9, just 16 months into his term of office.  His cause of death was listed as gastroenteritis.  There has been speculation that he was poisoned with arsenic.  He was even exhumed in 1991 so tests could be run; the results proving that the levels of arsenic in his body were several hundred times lower than a fatal dosage.

 

Fun Facts!

• Zachary Taylor’s son-in-law was Jefferson Davis (his daughter Sarah died from Malaria 3 months after marrying him)
• His only son, Robert, served as a lieutenant general in the Confederate army
• Due to religious reasons, Taylor refused to be inaugurated on March 4th (a Sunday) as stated in the Constitution at the time;  Because the Polk administration had officially ended, and no president or vice president was sworn in, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (David Atchison)was technically president for a day
• Taylor is the only president that died in office despite being elected in a year ending in a zero, although he did die in a year ending in “0” (1850)
• He is one of only 4 presidents that did not get to nominate a judge for the Supreme Court (William Henry Harrison, Andrew Johnson, Jimmy Carter)
• Taylor was the last southerner elected president until Lyndon Johnson
• Taylor has the 3rd shortest presidency after Harrison and Garfield
• Taylor never voted in an election as he never registered to vote
• He is the last president to own slaves while in office
• During the war with Mexico a controversy arose due to Taylor have two officers working for him of equal rank, but one held a brevet rank.  This led to an issue over which officer had seniority and eventually forced the army to review the brevet rank.

11. James K. Polk

OK, where to start with James Polk…  So far in my reading about each of the presidents none has surprised me with what they accomplished  more than James Polk.  He went into the presidency with very clear objectives and a pledge to only serve one term.  He accomplished all of his goals within the 4 years and died 3 months after leaving office.  For those of you who read my blog on Jefferson you’ll recall that I stated that only one other president added more land to the United States than Thomas Jefferson; that was James Polk.  Through a war and the threat of war he rounded out the remaining territories of the lower 48 states.  He is considered the strongest president between Jackson and Lincoln and is consistently rated in top quartile of US Presidents.  Polk has been called the “least known consequential president”.

Polk was the first of the “dark horse” presidents (others included Pierce, Lincoln, Hayes, Garfield and Harding).  The “dark horse” candidates were generally compromise candidates when two factions of a party have strong candidates and are unwilling to support the other.  The party conventions generally required more than a simple majority to win the nomination.  So while John Quincy Adams received a majority of the votes on the first ballot he was unable to garner the 2/3rds votes required.  On the 9th ballot Polk won the nomination of the Democratic party.

During the campaign against Henry Clay (the incumbent, Tyler, had lost the support of his party and was not re-nominated in 1844) in the regular election, Polk came out strongly for the annexation of Texas and went so far as to suggest that the US might be willing to go to war with England over the Oregon Territory.  The issue of the Oregon Territory led to the rallying cry of “54-40 or fight”.  This referred to the 54 degrees 40 minutes latitude that marks Alaska’s southern border.  Polk ended up settling for the 49th parallel.  On a side note, there is a great book called “How the States got Their Shapes” that explains all of the borders of the states and how they were decided (check out Delaware’s northern border that is a semicircle!).  Where was I…..

During the election, New York became the critical battleground state which Polk won thanks to the 19th century version of Ross Perot.  James Birney, from New York, was able to siphon off enough votes from Clay to allow Polk to take New York.  Of course I don’t think he had the ears or the charts of Perot!  During Polk’s inaugural address he outlined 4 goals for his presidency.

1. Reestablishing an independent treasury system
2. Lowering tariffs
3. Settling the Oregon issue with Great Britain
4. Acquiring California and New Mexico from Mexico

The first two objectives were met without too much trouble.  The Independent Treasury had been established in 1840 after Jackson vetoed the 2nd Bank of the United States.  It was established to store the nations funds and regulate currency.  The system was closed down by the Whigs in 1841.  The Polk administration with the support of the new Democratic majority in Congress reestablished the system in 1846 and it survived until 1913 when it was replaced by the current Federal Reserve system.  Also with the support of the Democrats in Congress, Polk was successful in lowering most tariffs.  Two down, two to go.

Polk believed in the eventual creation of a United States that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans.  The phrase “Manifest Destiny” has been used to describe the policy of expansion west ward.  Both the 3rd and 4th goals were thorny at best.

The Oregon territory had been jointly administered by the US and Great Britain.  However, Americans were moving west in droves and staking claims in the territory under the assumption that it would eventually become part of the United States.  Polk put pressure on Great Britain to settle the issue at the 49th parallel.  When Great Britain refused to negotiate due to the rich lands around the Columbia River, Polk switched tactics and returned to the rallying cry of “54-40 or Fight” giving the impression that we was willing to go to war over the issue.  Eventually Great Britain agreed to set the boundary at the 49th parallel.

Now to the issue of Texas.  Texas became a hot topic for a couple of reasons; slavery and territorial disputes both with Mexico and with New Mexico.  So, Mexico fights a war for independence from Spain in the 1820’s.  Due to the low population levels of the Mexican state of Texas the government loosened the immigration laws to encourage settlers.  It didn’t take long before the Americans that were moving west (remember Manifest Destiny) vastly outnumbered the native Mexican population.  In 1835 Texas fought a war for independence against Mexico.  It was during this war that the battle at the Alamo was fought.  I’m not going to spend a lot of time here talking about that war, but it is important to have some background for what’s to come.  Texas gained it’s independence from Mexico (with at least the threat of American intervention from Andrew Jackson).

Now there are two separate but related issues going on in 1846.  Polk was very interested in buying California and New Mexico from Mexico.  At the same time, the US had annexed Texas in the closing days of the Tyler administration.  Polk sent an emissary out to negotiate the purchase of the new land from Mexico.  When the Mexican government, surprised that Polk was not offering some form of compensation for the loss of Texas, expelled the emissary Polk was more than a bit ticked off.  There had been a long standing dispute between Texas and Mexico over the southern border.  Polk decided to send some troops (under Zachary Taylor) down to test the border and to pressure Mexico to accept the offer for California and New Mexico.  What started out as a border dispute turned into the Mexican-American War.  It didn’t take long and instead of buying California and New Mexico we took it.  It has long been considered a black mark on the Polk administration because even at that time the US was a much stronger country than Mexico.  In the end Mexico lost almost 50% of its land area, while the US grew by 33% and added the area of the future states of California, Nevada, Utah and parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming.

There was also a dispute between Texas and New Mexico about the border between those states which was ultimately settled in favor of New Mexico.  In part because Texas was viewed as already being big enough.

While the concept of Manifest Destiny was very popular it also fueled the issue of slavery.  While Polk did not believe that slavery could survive in the newly acquire territories he felt that it should be up the population of those areas to decide.  He did suggest extending the line set up in the Missouri Compromise of 1820 to the Pacific.  The issue of slavery continued to create problems and ultimately led to the Civil War 12 years after he left office.  You certainly can’t fault Polk for the Civil War; every time new states were added the issue of slavery popped up.

Polk lived up to his promise and did not run again in 1848.  In fact, as I mentioned he died 3 months after leaving office of cholera that it’s believed he contracted in New Orleans.  Polk is generally given high marks for having set the objectives of administration and achieving them. 

Now for the trivia to impress your friends!

• Polk is the only US President to have served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives
• At the time he was the youngest elected president at the age of 49
• He had the shortest retirement of any US President, 103 days
• He was the youngest president to die in retirement at the age of 53
• He is the first president to have surviving pictures of him when he was president
• Polk was the last of what are considered the Jacksonian presidents
• Polk oversaw the opening of the Naval Academy, the Smithsonian Institution, the ground breaking of the Washington Monument and the first issuance of US Postage stamps
• He sported what was probably the most famous mullet until Billy Ray Cyrus came along
• Graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Served as a US Congressmen from Tennessee from 1825 – 1839. He was 29 when he was elected to his first term
• Served one term as the Governor of Tennessee (1839 – 1841).  In the early years, many states Governors served 2 years terms.
• So, he was the 11th Governor of Tennessee and the 11th President of the United States, coincidence (yeah probably).
• He and his wife are buried on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capital in Nashville

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Sarah Childress 
• Children: None (ironic that Sarah Childress was Childless!) 
• Party affiliation: Democratic Party 
• Presidency: 1844-1848
• Born: November 2nd, 1795 (Pineville, North Carolina)
• Died: June 15th, 1845 (Nashville, Tennessee)

10. John Tyler

John Tyler was born into an aristocratic Virginian family.  He studied law under his father (who went on to be the Governor of Virginia) and passed the bar at the age of 19.  At 21 he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.  From then on, he almost continually held an elected position: U.S. Representative, Governor of Virginia, U.S. Senator. 

Politically Tyler was a strict constructionist when it came to interpreting the Constitution.  If the Constitution did not explicitly give the power to the federal government, then it belonged to the states.  He was an outspoken critic of the John Quincy Adams administration wanting to spend federal money on infrastructure projects, like roads and bridges.  He was also against federal regulation of commerce and agriculture.  When he first met Andrew Jackson, he believed that he had found someone of a like mind and supported Jackson’s election in 1828.  Once Jackson became president, Tyler helped him to kill the charter for the 2nd Bank of the United States.  However they had a falling out when Jackson removed government funds from the bank.  Tyler felt that this action was unconstitutional.  In fact, he felt that Jackson’s excessive use of federal authority was unconstitutional.  He opposed the Force Bill that would have given Jackson the right to send federal troops into South Carolina. 

By this time, Tyler split from the Jackson camp and aligned himself more with the new Whig party started by Henry Clay.  By 1836, Tyler’s dislike of Jackson was so terrible that when Congress was debating removing the censure of Jackson, Tyler resigned his seat instead of following the instructions from the Virginia Legislature.  During the presidential election of 1836, he ran as a vice-presidential candidate for W. H. Harrison in some states and for Hugh White in other states.

During the 1840 election campaign there were rumors about Harrison’s health problems.  After the inauguration, Tyler only stayed in D.C. long enough to be sworn in and to preside over the Senate during confirmation of Harrison’s cabinet.  He then headed back to his home in Virginia.  On April 1st, he started to get messages that Harrison had taken a turn for the worst, but stayed on in Virginia, not wanting to look like a vulture waiting for Harrison to die.  He was not surprised then when the message arrived that Harrison had died and he was to become president.  As the first of the “accidental” presidents, John Tyler was acutely aware that much of what he did first would be setting a precedent.

Tyler had reviewed the Constitution’s wording on what happened when the president died.  He knew that what exactly it meant would be up for debate.  Would he only be president until a special election could be held?  Was he the president until the end of Harrison’s term?  Did he have all the powers of the president?  When he got to D.C., he made sure that Harrison’s cabinet was present during the swearing-in ceremony.  He then called the cabinet into a special cabinet meeting.  Harrison had taken the view that major decisions would be made by consensus of the cabinet.  Taylor made it clear that this would change.  He told the cabinet “I am the president and I shall be held responsible for my Administration.  I shall be pleased to accept your counsel and advice.  But I can never consent to being dictated to…  When you think otherwise your resignation will be accepted.”  Tyler’s independence really angered the leadership of the Whig party (including Henry Clay) who had been expecting to control Harrison.

One of the first bills that the Whig-controlled Congress tried to push through would have re-chartered the 2nd Bank of the United States.  Tyler was opposed to the Bank and vetoed the bill.  The Whigs pushed through another bill that was essentially the same thing.  After the second veto, his entire cabinet resigned (except his Secretary of State Daniel Webster).  Tyler moved quickly to replace the cabinet members.  After vetoing a series of tariff bill that he believed were unconstitutional, the House of Representatives attempted to impeach him.  The vote failed by a large margin.

The only other things of significance that happened during his presidency happened near the end.  He had been lobbying to try and annex Texas.  Naturally, the issue of slavery continued to be brought into the discussion.  Tyler signed a treaty with Sam Houston, the President of the Republic of Texas.  However all treaties have to be approved by 2/3 of the Senate.  This one failed to be ratified by the Senate.  In a procedural maneuver, Tyler decided that Texas could be annexed through a joint resolution which only required a simple majority.  This passed the Senate by 2 votes.

On a more personal side, in Feb 1844, he was leading a group of senior military and state department staff on a tour of the USS Princeton.  During the tour, one of the main guns exploded killing several people to include his Secretary of the Navy, Abel Upshur (his Secretary of State), and his future father-in-law David Gardiner.

Tyler made an attempt to run for reelection in 1844, but it became clear that he was too unpopular and did not have the support of a major party so he dropped out of the race.

 

• John Tyler is the first president born after the signing of the Constitution
• Tyler is the president that had the most children: 15!  Eight from his first wife and 7 from his second wife.
• Tyler was 70 years old when his last child (Pearl) was born.  She lived until 1947.  It was almost 160 years from the time her father was born until she died!
• As of March 2011, Tyler has two living grandsons through his son Lyon
• He was the first president to get married while in the White House.  His children from his first marriage did not approve and didn’t attend the wedding.
• He is considered the traitor president.  Tyler was elected to the Confederate Congress in 1862, but died before taking office.
• The only president to have held the office of the President pro tempore of the Senate
• The 1,600 acre farm that Tyler bought is still in the Tyler family and is still a working farm.  Some believe that his second wife, Julia Gardner, haunts the house.
• With the resignation of Webster over the Texas annexation, the death of Upshur on the Princeton, and the appointment of John Calhoun, Tyler had 3 different Secretaries of State in under a year
• Tyler is considered by some to be the only president to have died outside the U.S., since he passed away in Richmond, Virginia, which was part of the Confederate States

 

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Letitia Christian (Married 1814-1842), Julia Gardner (Married 1844-1862)
• Children: 8 sons, 7 daughters 
• Party affiliation: Democratic Party (1825-1834), Whig (1834-1841), independent (1841-1862)
• Presidency: 1841-1844
• Born: March 29th, 1790 (Greenway, Virginia)
• Died: January 18th, 1862 (Richmond, Virginia)

9. William Henry Harrison

At 68, William Henry Harrison was the oldest man elected president to date.  In an effort to prove that he was fit enough for the job he delivered the longest Inaugural Address in history in the rain and cold without a hat or proper coat.  He was dead 30 days later.  He sparked a constitutional crisis, the impact of which is still felt today.  Not to be forgotten, he also bears responsibility for the infamous presidential curse! 

William Henry Harrison was born to an affluent family in Virginia.  When he was 3 years old, his father, Benjamin, was one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Initially, William followed his father’s wishes and began to study in medicine.  Eventually he gave up the study of medicine to join the army.  Serving under General “Mad” Anthony Wayne at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (near present-day Toledo, Ohio) during the wars with Native Americans in the Northwest Territory, he was cited for bravery during the battle and named commander of Fort Washington (now Cincinnati). 

In 1795, he met Anna Symmes and asked her father for permission to marry.  Her father, John Cleves Symmes, refused due in part to the concern about a young army officer being unable to provide for his daughter.  William waited until her father left town on business and the young couple eloped.  They went on to have 10 children (9 that lived into adulthood) and were married until his death in 1840.

Harrison began his political career after leaving the army in 1797.  He was elected as the first delegate from the Northwest Territory.  Since he wasn’t from a state, he did not have voting rights, but he could debate issues, serve on committees and submit legislation.  In this role he served on the committee that created the Indiana and Ohio Territories.  Without his knowledge, John Adams appointed him to be the Governor of the Indiana Territory.  He accepted this new role, only after getting assurances from the Jefferson administration that they would not remove him.  The Indiana Territory consisted of the future states of Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and the eastern portion of Minnesota.  At the age of 27, William Henry Harrison was sent to govern a large portion of the current Midwest (It covered most of the original Big Ten, my bet is that his ties to Tippecanoe would have made him a Boilermaker!).

He was involved in several treaties signed with the various tribes throughout the Indiana Territory; one in particular was the “Treaty of Fort Wayne” signed in 1809.  This treaty involved buying land from the Miami Indians, who claimed ownership of 2,500,000 acres inhabited by the Shawnee, Kickapoo, Wea and Piankeshaw tribes.  However, the Shawnee leaders, Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (the Prophet), refused to give up their land.  In August 1810, Tecumseh led 400 of his warriors down to Vincennes to meet with Harrison and plead their case.  During an impassioned speech by Tecumseh, one of the Shawnee that was friendly to Harrison warned him that the words could lead to trouble.  Some witnesses stated that Tecumseh was urging his warriors to kill Harrison.  Given that the entire population of Vincennes at that time was only 1,000 people, the warriors could have easily wiped out the town.  Once some of Harrison’s soldiers starting pulling guns, the situation calmed down.  Tecumseh left and traveled around the region to try and convince other tribes to join him in creating a confederation against the United States.  In November 1811, while Tecumseh was traveling, he left his brother, the Prophet, in charge of the village at Prophetstown.  Taking advantage of Tecumseh’s absence, Harrison led a force of 1,000 men to try and intimidate the Prophet into signing a peace treaty.  The Prophet launched a surprise attack during the night.  The Americans were able repel the attack and defeat the Prophet’s forces.  The entire battle, later known as the Battle of Tippecanoe, was over in a couple of hours.  The Prophet, who was the spiritual leader of the Shawnee, had assured his people that he had cast a spell to protect them from the Americans.  After the loss, he lost the support of his people.  Tecumseh returned to find his village burned, his forces scattered and his brother discredited.  He soon joined the British and fought against the Americans in the War of 1812.  Some historians believe that this marked the beginning of the War of 1812, and a common belief at the time was that the British were aiding the Native Americans and encouraging ongoing conflicts in the Northwest Territory.

At the outbreak of the War of 1812, Harrison requested to be transferred to the East.  He felt that the important battles would be fought there and not in the Northwest Territory.  His request was denied, but he was promoted to Brigadier General and became the overall commander of the Army of the Northwest.  After winning battles in Indiana and Ohio, and recapturing Detroit, Harrison moved his forces into Canada.  He fought a crucial battle outside of what is now Chatham, Ontario.  The Battle of the Thames, coupled with the earlier Battle of Lake Erie, effectively ended the War of 1812 in the Northwest.  The British were pushed out of the territory and the Americans gained control of Lake Erie.  This was considered one of the most important victories of the war, second only to the Battle of New Orleans.  Just before the crucial Battle of the Thames, Tecumseh, who had joined the British forces, was killed by a stray bullet.  If you believe the curse, Harrison was not finished in his dealings with the Shawnee brothers.

Harrison left the army in 1813 after a dispute with the Secretary of War.  Over the next 20 years, Harrison served as congressman and senator from Ohio, and minister to Columbia.  He ran, unsuccessfully, for president against Martin Van Buren in 1836.  It was during the 1836 campaign that the Prophet emerged again to allegedly put a curse on Harrison and the presidency.  The curse basically stated that Harrison would probably be elected in 1840 and die in office, and that every president elected in a year ending in a “0” would also be cursed to die in office.  Harrison did die while still in office and every president elected in a year ending in “0” followed in his footsteps until Ronald Reagan.  Now, Harrison was the oldest elected president until Reagan was elected in 1980, hmmm…

Harrison ran again for president against Van Buren in the election of 1840.  Given Harrison’s western appeal, in order to balance the ticket the Whigs added John Tyler to the ticket.  In fact, both of these candidates came from wealthy Virginia families.  This was probably the first election with a lot of marketing.  The Harrison camp came up with the slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too”, a phrase most school children today probably recognize if they know anything about Harrison or Tyler.  Van Buren supporters tried to portray Harrison as an out-of-touch old man who would rather sit in his log cabin and drink hard cider.  This tactic backfired.  Harrison’s supporters latched onto the idea and the login cabin and hard cider became part of their campaign and they began portraying Van Buren sipping fine wine and champagne.  Harrison won the 1840 election in a landslide.  The voter turnout was 50% higher in 1840 compared to 1836.

As you should know, Harrison died a month after taking the oath of office.  Many historians believe that it was due to his giving the incredibly long inaugural address in bad weather without a proper hat and coat.  In fact, he did not fall ill until three weeks after the inauguration.  Modern medicine has shown that respiratory illnesses are not tied to exposure to weather, so it was probably just a coincidence but does make for a good story and lesson.

Harrison’s death briefly sparked a constitutional crisis.  All the constitution said in article II was “In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, ... and [the Vice President] shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected".  Scholars at the time disagreed on what this meant: Was John Tyler only an “acting” president until a special election could be held?  Did it mean that Tyler was to serve out the remainder of Harrison’s term?  Tyler believed the latter and began to act like a president and not just a placeholder.  After some debate, both houses of Congress passed resolutions stating that Tyler was president and would serve out the 4 years (sorry, 3 years, 11 months) of Harrison’s remaining term.  This succession policy was not solidified until the 25th amendment was ratified in 1967 after the Kennedy assassination.

Party conversation starters (or enders):

• William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) holds the record for the longest inauguration speech in history at 8,578 words long and one hour and 40 minutes
• He was the last president born before the signing of the Declaration of Independence
• Until Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, he was the oldest elected president at 68
• Due to the death of Harrison, three presidents served within a single calendar year (Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler). This has happened on only one other occasion, in 1881, when Rutherford B. Hayes was succeeded by James A. Garfield, who was assassinated later that year. With the death of Garfield, Chester A. Arthur stepped into the presidency
• Harrison was the first sitting president to have his picture taken
• Harrison was the first of only 4 presidents (Taylor, A. Johnson, Carter) that did not get the opportunity to name a justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, he did not appoint a federal judge at any level
• Harrison’s son, John Scott Harrison, was a US Congressman from Ohio from 1853-1857
• Once when William was carrying his infant son, John,  through the dining room at Grouseland, someone fired a bullet through a window.  The bullet hole is still there today
• His grandson, Benjamin Harrison, was elected the 23rd president in 1888
• Harrison’s widow, Anna, outlived him by 23 years, dying in 1864
• By 1840, when Harrison campaigned for president a second time, more than 12 books had been published on his life. In many he was hailed as a national hero
• Harrison produced more grandchildren (48) and great-grandchildren (106) than any other President

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Anna Symmes, died in 1864 at the age of 88
• Children: 6 sons, 4 daughters (the youngest son died at the age of 5)
• Party affiliation: Whig
• Presidency: 1841
• Born: Feb 9th, 1773 (Berkley, Virginia)
• Died: Apr 4th, 1840 (Washington DC)

8. Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the first in a string of what my niece calls the “Forgotten Presidents”.  Of course it was difficult to follow a president with the stature of Andrew Jackson.  Much of his term in office was taken up with the Panic of 1837, the first major economic crisis to hit the United States.  This crisis was not due to anything that Van Buren did, but rather it had more to do with the vetoing of the re-chartering of the 2nd Bank of the United States by Jackson.  In those days, the president did not have many tools at his disposal to combat a  financial crisis, and they just had to wait it out and hope for the best, which is what Van Buren did.  He did establish the Independent Treasury System to try to control federal funds in 1840.  This was disbanded by W. H. Harrison, but revived later in the 1840’s and ultimately was replaced by the current Federal Reserve System.

Van Buren was born in 1782 in the small village of Kinderhook, New York.  His father owned a tavern and young Martin would listen to the political discussions going on.  Martin became a gifted politician and is credited with creating the Democratic Party and was instrumental in getting Jackson elected to two terms.  Van Buren helped create the system of campaigning that we see today with local committees that organize volunteers and grass roots campaigning.

Van Buren was twice elected a US Senator from New York and then elected Governor of New York in 1828.  His term as Governor of New York is the second shortest on record; he took office in January 1829 and resigned in March of 1829 to become Jackson’s Secretary of State.  While Secretary of State, Van Buren helped craft Jackson’s speech explaining his veto of the Maysville Road Bill that would have used federal money to build a road within the state of Kentucky.  Because the road did not link multiple states together (although supporters claimed it was part of the Cumberland Road system) Jackson did not support the use of federal money for a state improvement project.

Van Buren sided with Jackson in the Petticoat Affair.  Jackson was very unhappy with his cabinet over the whole Eaton affair and wanted to replace most of them.  Van Buren helped him save face by resigning first.  This allowed Jackson to ask the entire cabinet to resign (with the exception of the Postmaster).  Because of his support of the Eatons (and Jackson) he was appointed Minister to the Court of St. Jame’s (UK).  Although when he arrived in England to take over the post, he found out that the Senate had rejected his nomination, due in large part to the influence of John Calhoun, the vice president.  During his reelection run in 1832 Jackson replaced Calhoun with Van Buren as his vice president.

In the election of 1836 Van Buren won pretty easily (170-73) over William Henry Harrison due in large part to the endorsement of Jackson who was still very popular.  During his presidency he continued the policies of Jackson with respect to the Native American expulsion from Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina to Oklahoma.  During this forced march thousands of Native Americans died in what has become known as the Trail of Tears.

During the election of 1840 Van Buren was soundly defeated by William Henry Harrison.  In the election of 1840 he was in the lead at the Democratic convention for the nomination, however he did not have the required two-thirds.  His opposition to the annexation of Texas led to his defeat and the nomination went to James K. Polk.  He ran again in 1848 as a Free Soil candidate, but received no electoral votes.  His running mate in the election of 1848 was Charles Francis Adams, the son of John Quincy Adams.

Van Buren’s major lasting legacy is the creation of the system of electioneering that we have today.  The concept of local party chair’s and organizing volunteers to promote a candidate was created by Martin Van Buren.

Party Favors:

• There are 5 towns (Indiana, Arkansas, Maine, Michigan, New York) and 3 counties (Iowa, Arkansas, Tennessee) named after Van Buren.  I lived in Van Buren, Indiana from birth until we moved to Michigan just before I turned 5.
• Van Buren is one of only two people to serve as Secretary of State, Vice-President and President; the other was Jefferson
• He was the first president who was not of British descent; he was Dutch
• He is the only president not to have spoken English as his first language; he grew up speaking Dutch
• He was the first president born an American, all previous presidents were born British subjects
• The term O.K. is generally traced back to Van Buren’s 1840 reelection campaign.  One of his nicknames was “Old Kinderhook” and OK clubs were started around the country to support his reelection bid.
• Van Buren is one of two widowers elected president; Chester Arthur was the other.  Jackson’s wife died after the election but before he took office.
• He is probably the president with the most nicknames.  The most common were Old Kinderhook, the Magician, Matty Van and Martin Van Ruin.
• When he wrote is autobiography he did not mention his wife of 12 years

Vital Stats:

• Wife: Hannah Hoes, died in 1819 at the age of 35
• Children: 5 sons, one daughter (one son died as an infant and the daughter was stillborn)
• Party affiliation: Democratic-Republican Party (before 1825), Democratic Party (1828-1848), Free Soil Party (1848-1854)
• Presidency: 1836-1840
• Born: Dec 5th, 1782 (Kinderhook, New York)
• Died: Jul 24th, 1862 (Kinderhook, New York)

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson is a giant among the presidents.  Many of our chief executives have either been weak, ineffective or viewed the presidency as merely a caretaker, secondary to Congress.  Jackson believed that the president had not only the right, but the responsibility, to set the agenda and make sure that the government was enacting policies benefitting the common people.  Jackson viewed all six of his predecessors as part of an American aristocracy.  He was the head of a political dynasty that lasted for 20 years; historians refer to the period from 1828 to 1848 as the “Age of Jackson” and he shaped the modern Democratic party.  Jackson was born in South Carolina (although there is a dispute that he was actually born in North Carolina) to a couple that had emigrated from Ireland.  His father died just before his birth.  During the American Revolution, his oldest brother died in 1779 during the battle of Stono Ferry.  He and his remaining brother were both captured by the British (he was serving as a courier at the age of 13).  His brother died of small pox while a POW, and Jackson was struck with a sword by a British officer for refusing to clean the officers boots.   After Andrew was released by the British, his mother went to work as a nurse on a POW ship and died of Cholera.  She was buried in an unmarked grave and later in life Andrew tried unsuccessfully to locate her grave site (her grave site was located in 1949 and a marker placed there).  In the span of two and a half years he lost both his brothers and his mother in a war with the British.  That, coupled with the scars on his face and arm, gave him an intense hatred of the British.

Soon after Jackson moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1788 he rented a room from the Donelson family.  It was here that he first met Rachel Donelson Robards, who had moved back to her parents’ house to escape her violent husband, Captain Lewis Robards.  In 1790, Rachel and Lewis agreed to a divorce and it was granted pending some minor paperwork.  Andrew was ecstatic and married Rachel in 1791.  Unfortunately Lewis Robards had never filed the minor paperwork.  This led to a scandal that would follow Jackson throughout his life; he had wedded a married women.  The divorce from Lewis was ultimately completed, and Andrew and Rachel remarried in 1794.  However, the damage was done.  Over the years, Andrew would get into bar fights and duels to defend Rachel's honor.  He fought 13 duels throughout his life, most in response to slander against his wife (some sources put the number of duels as high as 100, but 13 seems like a more common response).  In 1806 he shot and killed Charles Dickinson, who was known to be an excellent shot.  Dickinson got off the first shot and hit Jackson in the chest.  Jackson took his time and then leveled his pistol, shooting and killing Dickinson.  This was a slight breach of etiquette since they were supposed to fire at the same time.  If the first person fires early, the proper courtesy is for the second to fire into the air.  The bullet lodged in Jackson’s chest was too close to his heart for safe removal, so it stayed there until his death in 1845.

When Jackson first moved to Tennessee, he worked as a frontier lawyer.  He worked his way up the political ladder and was elected as Tennessee’s first US Representative, where he served only one term.  Then he was elected the senator of Tennessee in 1797, only to serve for one year because he didn’t like being a senator and wanted to return to Tennessee to take care of his personal business and deal with some debts.

In 1801 Jackson was appointed commander of the Tennessee militia.  He volunteered to lead a raid into British controlled Canada during the War of 1812, but instead was sent to defend the important port city of New Orleans.  Jackson added local blacks, creoles and militia to his force of 2,000.  When the British attacked with 7,500 men Jackson had a total of 5,000 with which to defend the city.  He set up 3 lines of defense and when the British launched a major assault, they found themselves exposed to fire from a remarkably entrenched defensive force.  In the end, the British had 2,037 casualties (291 dead, 1,262 wounded, 484 captured) to the American loss of 71 casualties (13 dead, 39 wounded, 19 missing).  They also had 3 senior generals killed.  The staggering success of the battle launched Jackson into national prominence.

During the First Seminole War in 1817, Jackson was ordered to Georgia by President Monroe to fight the Seminole and Creek Indians.  The mission was complicated by the fact that the Indians would launch raids into Georgia from Spanish-held Florida.  Jackson decided naturally that the best way to accomplish his mission was to take Florida from the Spanish!  He was given orders from President Monroe that were ambiguous.  It’s possible that what Jackson did was exactly what Monroe wanted, but the orders weren’t that clear, giving Monroe deniability (it depends on the meaning of the word “is”).  He defeated the Seminoles in pretty brutal fashion (this would become his standard manner of handling Indian affairs).  Once he captured Pensacola, he ousted the Spanish governor.   In one final controversial act he executed two British subjects who had been giving aid to the Indians.   The whole affair led to an international incident with both Spain and Britain.  The Spanish were basically told in diplomatic speak, if you can’t keep control of Florida then give it to us, which they did.  This argument also led James K. Polk to launch the Mexican-American War.  Many in Congress felt that Jackson should be censured for his actions, but John Quincy Adams convinced Monroe not to give any formal punishment.  This was a bit ironic given the later animosity between Q and Jackson.

Once again Jackson was elected to the Senate by the Tennessee legislature in 1823, and once again, he resigned before completing his term.  That probably makes him the only president to resign from the Senate twice.  He resigned from the Senate in 1825 to run for president in 1828.  As you’ll recall from my posting on John Quincy Adams, the election of 1824 was ugly and ended up being decided by the House of Representatives.  The decisive action was when Henry Clay threw his support to Q making him the first president elected without the majority of the popular vote.   Jackson was a bit peeved (to say the least).  He labeled Clay’s actions and Q’s posting him to the Secretary of State’s office as a corrupt bargain that had led to the stealing of the election of the “man of the people” by the “corrupt aristocrat's of the East”.  Jackson believed that the will of people had been thwarted and immediately started running for the 1828 election.  Throughout Q’s term in office Jackson’s supporters in congress stalled and denied most of his wishes. 

If the 1824 election was ugly, then the 1828 was its uglier sister.  The attacks from both sides was brutal and very personal.  Q’s supporters dredged up stories of Jackson’s wife and Adams was called an elitist.  In the end, Jackson beat Adams pretty easily 178-83 electoral votes.  Rachel, Jackson’s wife, died of a heart attack before the inauguration.  Jackson believed that the strain of the campaign, and having to endure the slander, was the cause of his wife’s death.

Jackson was the last president to be elected to two terms until Abraham Lincoln.  What followed him were a series of ineffective presidents and presidents that only wanted one term.  During his presidency there were 3 major issues that arose: the re-charter of the 2nd Bank of the United States, the Nullification Crisis and the Indian removals.

At that time the funds of the United States were held in a national bank, the 2nd Bank of the United States.  Jackson felt that the bank needed to be abolished for several reasons, but among them:

• concentrated all of the nations finances into one institution
• favor of northeastern states over southern and western ones
• too much control of the country’s finances to a handful of rich people

Jackson vetoed the re-charter of the bank in 1832 and withdrew the government’s money in 1833, placing it into local and state banks.  The banks would issue paper bank notes that were not backed by gold or silver reserves to drive up inflation.  Jackson then issued an order that anyone buying government land had to pay in “specie” (gold or silver coins).   This led to the collapse of many of these banks because they did not have enough specie and led directly to the Panic of 1837.  Congress voted to censure Jackson for his actions in removing the money from the 2nd Bank of the United States (although this was later expunged).

The Nullification Crisis was trigged by Jackson’s Vice President, John Calhoun.  Calhoun was from South Carolina and the southern states were being hurt by the “Tariff of Abominations” that was passed during Q’s presidency.  Calhoun issued a statement he called his “Theory of Nullification,” which basically stated that any state could ignore, or nullify, any federal law that it felt was not in the states best interest.  Jackson was a supporter of a strong union and did not believe that the states had the right to nullify federal laws.  In 1832 it really heated up when South Carolina not only state that it intended to nullify a new tariff, but it threatened to secede.  Jackson threatened to send federal troops in to enforce the tariff if necessary.  A compromise was reached, but not before Congress passed the “Force Bill” which authorized the president to send troops in order to support the enforcement of the tariff.

Jackson’s presidency is especially tarnished by his treatment of the Native Americans.  After his election, he signed an act allowing the president to purchase land from the Indians in exchange for land in the West.  The removal act became very popular in Georgia when gold was discovered on Cherokee lands.  This culminated in the Supreme Court decision of Worcester vs. Georgia in which ruled that Georgia could not impose it’s laws on Native American lands.  This led to Jackson stating “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!”.  Jackson’s decisions ultimately led to the forced removal of over 45,000 Native Americans, most famously in the “Trail of Tears” where 4,000 Cherokees died during the forced march.

 

Party conversation starters:

• His relationship with Congress was so bad (especially Henry Clay) that he had the Treasury building built just east of the White House so he wouldn’t have to look at the Capital. 
• Saying “now I can’t see the Capital anymore”
• Only president to have shot and killed a man.
• Killed Charles Dickinson in a duel for spreading gossip about his wife, Rachel
• He is the only president to have been prisoner of war.
• Was serving as a courier at the age of 13, thus the distinction that Monroe was the only president wounded during the American Revolution
• Jackson (1767-1845) was reportedly involved in over 100 duels, most to defend the honor of his wife, Rachel. He had a bullet in his chest from the 1806 duel and another in his arm from a barroom fight in 1813 with Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton.
• The first attempt to assassinate a president was on Jackson by Richard Lawrence, a house painter. Both of their guns misfired—an event that statisticians say could occur only once in 125,000 times. Andrew Jackson then chased after Lawrence with his walking stick.
• President Jackson remains the only president in United States history to have paid off the national debt.
• John Quincy Adams’ supporters also referred to Jackson as a “jackass”, which Jackson liked and used as a symbol for a time.  It was later popularized by Thomas Nast and became the symbol for the Democratic party.  Nast also created the modern version of Santa Claus, Uncle Sam and the elephant of the Republican party.
• Jackson never had any children of his own, but did adopt his nephew and a Creek Indian orphan, Lyncoya.
• The Petticoat Affair occurred during his 1st term.  Basically, Eaton, his Secretary of War, had married Peggy Timberlake soon after her husband died (oh the scandal!).  All of the wives of Jackson’s cabinet members shunned Peggy and refused to associate with her.  This reminded Jackson of the treatment his wife received, so he ordered his cabinet and their wives to play nice. They refused.  He purged his cabinet and formed a more informal advisory group that became known as the “Kitchen Cabinet.”
• Jackson vetoed more bills than all of his predecessors combined (12-9).
• He is quoted as saying "My only two regrets in life are that I did not hang [John] Calhoun and shoot [Henry] Clay."

John Quincy Adams

If you saw the mini-series on John Adams you’ll recall that a young John Quincy Adams (age 7) watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from a distance with his mother.  He is the first president not considered one of the Founding Fathers.  Imagine trying to live up the expectations of that Greatest Generation!  His mother was very strict with her children, but especially with Q since he was the oldest son.  Q spent a lot of his youth traveling throughout Europe.  First for 3 years traveling with his father in England and the Netherlands (age 11-14) and then serving as an aide to Francis Dana for almost 3 years on a mission to Russia to gain recognition of the United States.  He also spent time in Denmark, Finland and Sweden.  During these years he mastered French and Dutch and picked up some German.

Many of our presidents had very successful careers prior to achieving the highest elected office in the US.  John Quincy Adams would have to be on this list, with the most international experience of virtually any president.   During his career in international diplomacy, he was the US Minster (Ambassador) to 4 different countries:

• The Netherlands (1794 – 1797), appointed by George Washington
• Prussia (1797 – 1801) appointed by John Adams
• Russia (1809 – 1814) appointed by James Madison
• The United Kingdom (1814 – 1817) appointed by James Madison

He was recalled from his post in Russia to serve as the chief American negotiator for the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812.  During the time that Jefferson was president, Q served one term as a senator from Massachusetts.  At that time, there were pretty bad feelings between Jefferson and John Adams (the father), so Jefferson would not appoint the son to any official post.

Monroe appointed Q to the post of Secretary of State.  It was during this time that the Monroe Doctrine was written (actually just a portion of the State of the Union address).  There is some disagreement over whether Q or Monroe wrote the policy.  While he was Secretary of State, he negotiated the Treaty of Florida, which resolved some border disputes with Spain left over from the Louisiana Purchase, and turned over Florida to the United States.

The Presidential election of 1824 was a real doozy.  Andrew Jackson won a plurality in both the popular vote and the electoral college.  He did not, however, have enough electoral votes to win outright.  Per the Constitution, the contest was thrown into the House of Representatives to be decided (which has only happened twice; 1800 and 1824).  It was a 4 man race; Adams, Jackson, William Crawford and Henry Clay.  The rule stated that the top 3 candidates were eligible at this point.  William Crawford had a stroke during the campaign, rendering him not fit for service.  Henry Clay came in 4th place, thus not being considered.  Clay really did not like Jackson so he threw his support behind Adams and gave Adams the victory.  Shortly thereafter Adams appointed Clay Secretary of State, a deal that Jackson called a “corrupt bargain”.  The uproar over the appointment led Clay to believe that it put a permanent stain on his political career.

By most accounts, John Quincy Adams’ presidency was unremarkable.  He was ineffective due in part to the way that he came to office.  Q pushed for increased federal funding for infrastructure improvements for roads and canals.  A federal observatory was one of the improvements that he championed to no avail (it would be 20 years before a national observatory would be built).  The congress did pass the Tariff of 1828 (or Tariff of Abominations as it was called).  It increased tariffs that he supported, but the Jacksonians amended the bill to include higher taxes on imported raw materials as well (thinking there was no way it would pass).  It did but the bill was very unpopular, especially in South Carolina.

He lost in a landslide to Andrew Jackson in 1828 in one of the ugliest elections  in American history.  Jackson believed that the personal attacks on his wife, Rachel, led to her premature death before he took office.

In 1830, Q won a seat in the House of Representatives from Boston.  During his time in the House he earned the nickname “Old Man Eloquent” for his passionate oratory.  There are two things that stand out during his time in the House; the Amistad case and the repeal of the gag rule.  The Amistad case (as portrayed in the movie by Anthony Hopkins) involved a slave uprising on a ship.  The slaves were then tricked into sailing to New York instead of back to Africa.  Their case made it all of the way to the US Supreme Court where Q. served as a codefendant for the slaves.  His closing argument came down to the fact that the United States by that time had outlawed the international slave trade (even though slavery was still legal) and that the slaves should be set free instead of returned to Spain. He won the case.

The second item involved the gag rule, the rule in place from 1836 – 1844 and barring any discussion of slavery on the House floor.  The House (primarily the Southern contingency) voted to eject him for high treason after he read a petition calling for breaking up the union on the grounds that federal money was being used to support slavery.  He successfully defended himself in the judicial committee.

Q also opposed the Mexican War and in 1848 rose in the House to give a speech opposed to presenting special awards to generals who had fought in that war.  He collapsed (probably due to a stroke) and died in the office of the Speaker of the House in the Capitol building.  This term of Congress also saw a young freshman congressman from Illinois who only served one term, Abraham Lincoln  So in his lifetime, he saw the birth of his nation and met the man who would become president during its greatest crisis.

Try these out the next time you’re at a party:

• Adams became the first President to win without winning the popular vote.  It has only happened 4 times so far: John Q. Adams (1824), Hayes (1876), B. Harrison (1888) and George W. Bush(2000).
• As president, John Quincy Adams would often skinny dip in the Potomac.  One morning, a reporter named Anne Royal took his clothes and wouldn’t give them back until he promised her an interview, which of course he did.
• He was the first president with a middle name.  It was not a common practice to give people middle names in the US until the mid 1800’s.
• Until Martin van Buren failed to be reelected in 1840, J. Q. Adams and his father were the only two presidents not elected to two terms.
• He was the first of 8 future or former US Presidents to argue a case before the United States Supreme Court (J.Q. Adams, Polk, Lincoln, Garfield, Cleveland, Harrison, Taft, Nixon).
• Only former president to serve in the House of Representatives after being president.  He was elected to 9 terms, serving 17 years and dying in the Capital building.
• His wife, Louisa Catherine Johnson, is the only foreign-born first lady.  Her father was an American living in England.
• In 1779 Adams began a diary that he kept until just before he died in 1848.
• When he showed up at the gates of Berlin for his post as minister to Prussia, the guard would not let him through the gates because he had never heard of the United States.
• After his death, his son Charles Francis Adams had the first presidential memorial library built to hold his father’s 14,000 books.  The library is located in Quincy outside Boston.  In Q’s will, he specified that a fireproof structure be built to house his books and papers.