Zachary Taylor was neither a politician, nor had he worked with the government. He didn’t even vote in the elections. But the public adored him. Wonder why? Zachary Taylor was a war hero. He was a general and national hero in the United States Army from the time of the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. Taylor thought that it was a strange idea when his name came up for the presidential candidacy.
Taylor was a soldier at heart; he fought in the War of 1812 and in many battles against Indian tribes. But it was his success in battles against Mexico that gained him popularity and elevated him to the status of a hero. The Whigs saw a possibility in Taylor’s popularity and that is why he was nominated.
Taylor gained the nomination on the fourth ballot at the Whig Party convention in 1848. He defeated the Democratic candidate, Lewis Cass and went on to become the 12th president of America, something which he did not imagine, even in the wildest of dreams.
As the president, Taylor’s top priority was to preserve the Union. He was criticized for not making any progress on the most divisive issue in Congress, slavery. Taylor’s service was brief; he died sixteen months into his term. His vice-president Fillmore served the remainder of his term. Historians and scholars have ranked Taylor in the bottom quartile of U.S. presidents. This is of course partly due to his short term of office.
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