Student Question
Was Millard Fillmore an effective President?
Quick answer:
Millard Fillmore is often regarded as an ineffective president, criticized for his weak leadership during a divisive era and for supporting the Fugitive Slave Act, which bolstered slavery. His presidency, following Zachary Taylor's death, coincided with rising tensions over slavery, and he is seen as failing to take a strong moral stance. Fillmore's association with the anti-immigrant Know Nothing Party further tarnished his legacy, contributing to his low historical ranking.
Milliard Fillmore is often ranked as one of the worst and most forgettable presidents, although some say history has judged him too harshly.
He was never elected president. He became president only because Zachary Taylor died in office. His own party wouldn't even renominate him in the following presidential election, and he ran, therefore, as the candidate on the Know Nothing party ticket of 1852, carrying just one state.
Beyond his lackluster political performance as a presidential candidate, Taylor has long been condemned for his weak and inconsistent position on slavery while he was president. He has been criticized for his attempts at compromise; he signed the Fugitive Slave Act into law, a piece of legislation that criminalized giving aid to escaping slaves and thus inflamed abolitionist sentiments. After his term as president ended, the Whigs (the party he represented) faded away.
Fillmore is considered a president who did little...
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to show leadership or take control during a polarizing and contentious period of US history, as tensions rose higher and higher over slavery. Running as the candidate of the Know Nothing Party—a party that opposed immigration—did little to enhance his reputation.
Those who defend him say that he was conscientious and obeyed the laws of the land. Unfortunately, however, he did not take a firm stance against laws that history has condemned as immoral, which condemns him as amoral by association.
What was Millard Fillmore like as a president?
Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) was the 13th President of the United States, whose time in office in the decade before the Civil War was highly consequential in the grand scheme of American history. Millard Fillmore became the president in 1850 after his predecessor Zachary Taylor died in office and his administration inherited a deeply divided nation. Fillmore successfully advocated for the Compromise of 1850, which involved the fight over slavery. Fillmore pressured Congress to pass this legislation which saw the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act. This law stipulated that escaped slaves that stood up to their masters and claimed their freedom were required to be returned to their owners if captured.
This policy is instrumental when approaching the question of Fillmore's legacy and he has criticized for bolstering the institution of slavery. When the Whig Party fell apart and factions formed their own political groups, some former Whigs created the Know Nothing party, which Fillmore later joined. The Know Nothing movement is known for its extremist anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic and conspiratorial beliefs. The Know Nothings wanted political life to remain in the hands of native white Protestants. These xenophobic beliefs have lead many to the conclusion that how Fillmore acted as president directly encouraged many of the nation's most daunting crises.