13.) Millard Fillmore 1850-1853

02/01/21 • 44 min

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When Millard Fillmore became president, the country was on the verge of collapse. President Taylor had just died, the Compromise of 1850 appeared dead, and southern secessionist were organizing a convention to plot disunion. The nation looked to Fillmore to save it.
And he totally whiffed.
Follow along as Fillmore uses the scapegoating of minorities to rise to power, postpones Civil War for a decade with the Compromise of 1850, destroys the Whig party with his overzealous enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, and runs for president with the Know Nothings - a nativist secret-society-turned-political-party that dreamt of building an America where immigrants, catholics, and minorities are second-class citizens.
Bibliography
1. Millard Fillmore – Paul Finkelman
2. Zachary Taylor – John D. Eisenhower
3. Heirs of the Founders – H.W. Brands
4. Abraham Lincoln – David Herbert Donald
5. Franklin Pierce – Michael F. Holt

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12.) Zachary Taylor 1849-1850

"Ol' Rough n' Ready" hadn't even been sworn in yet when the discovery of California gold derailed whatever plans he'd held for his presidency. 100,000 Americans flooded west to California In 1849 and quickly began clamoring for statehood - statehood without slavery. The north loved the idea, the south threatened to secede over it, and Zachary Taylor had to bridge the gap or die trying.
Follow Taylor as he participates in four wars and becomes a national hero for his generalship in the Mexican-American War, gets pulled into politics by a Whig party desperate to reclaim the White House, and then shows he won't be bullied by anyone when the California Gold Rush leads to the threat of a secessionist crisis In 1850.
Bibliography
1. Zachary Taylor – John D. Eisenhower
2. Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America – Walter R. Borneman
3. Millard Fillmore – Paul Finkelman
4. Martin Van Buren and the American Political System – Donald B. Cole
5. Heirs of the Founders – H.W. Brands
6. Abraham Lincoln – David Herbert Donald

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14.) Franklin Pierce 1853-1857

1 Recommendations

"We Polked you in 44, we're Pierce you in 52!"
Franklin Pierce may have my favorite campaign slogan yet. But in terms of presidencies, wow, this guy is a total disaster. I mean, Millard Fillmore just nuked the only major opposition party into oblivion. Governing should be easy, right? Not when you're Pierce, who do his best to one-up Fillmore and wreck the Democratic party on the bloody shoal known as "Bleeding Kansas."
Follow along as Pierce falls hilariously short in his pursuit of military glory in the Mexican-American War, gets elected president anyway when Democratic partisans can't agree on any of the more-qualified candidates, and then triggers a mini Civil War in Kansas after he passes the Kansas-Nebraska act.
By the time Pierce leaves office, we'll be four years away from The Civil War.
Bibliography
1. Franklin Pierce – Michael F. Holt
2. Millard Fillmore – Paul Finkelman
3. Bosom Friends – Thomas J. Balcerski
4. James Buchanan - Jean H. Baker
5. Abraham Lincoln – David Herbert Donald

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[Abridged] Presidential Histories - 13.) Millard Fillmore 1850-1853

Transcript

13.) Millard Fillmore 1850-1853

Welcome to the abridged presidential histories with Kenny Ryan. Episode 13, Millard Fillmore, the Know-Nothing candidate.

Looking back now, it’s easy to see that in the 1850’s, the united states was a dying country.

Compromises over slavery that had always been meant to just to kick that can of controversy down the road were creaking and collapsing under their dead and rotten weight.

The nation’s two political parties – the demo