Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the

United States, serving from 1850 to 1853, the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in
the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from upstate New
York, Fillmore was elected as the 12th vice president in 1848, and succeeded to the
presidency in July 1850 upon the death of Zachary Taylor. Fillmore was instrumental in
passing the Compromise of 1850, a bargain that led to a brief truce in the battle over the
expansion of slavery. He failed to win the Whig nomination for president in 1852 but gained
the endorsement of the nativist Know Nothing Party four years later and finished third in the
1856 presidential election.

Fillmore was born into poverty in the Finger Lakes area of upstate New York. His
parents were tenant farmers during his formative years. Though he had little formal schooling,
he studied diligently to become a lawyer. He became prominent in the Buffalo area as an
attorney and politician, and was elected to the New York Assembly in 1828 and to the House
of Representatives in 1832. Fillmore initially belonged to the Anti-Masonic Party, but became
a member of the Whig Party as formed in the mid-1830s. He was a rival for the state party
leadership with the editor Thurlow Weed and his protégé William H. Seward. Throughout his
career, Fillmore declared slavery evil but said it was beyond the federal government's power
to end it. Seward was openly hostile to slavery and argued that the federal government had a
role to play in ending it. Fillmore was an unsuccessful candidate for Speaker of the U.S.
House of Representatives when the Whigs took control of the chamber in 1841, but was made
chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Defeated in bids for the Whig nomination for
vice president in 1844 and for New York governor the same year, Fillmore was elected
Comptroller of New York in 1847, the first to hold that post by direct election.

As vice president, Fillmore was largely ignored by Taylor; even in dispensing patronage
in New York, Taylor consulted Weed and Seward. But in his capacity as president of the
Senate, Fillmore presided over its angry debates, as the 31st Congress decided whether to
allow slavery in the Mexican Cession. Unlike Taylor, Fillmore supported Henry Clay's
omnibus bill, the basis of the 1850 Compromise. Upon becoming president in July 1850, he
dismissed Taylor's cabinet and pushed Congress to pass the compromise. The Fugitive Slave
Act, expediting the return of escaped slaves to those who claimed ownership, was a
controversial part of the compromise. Fillmore felt duty-bound to enforce it, though it
damaged his popularity and also the Whig Party, which was torn between its Northern and
Southern factions. In foreign policy, he supported U.S. Navy expeditions to open trade in
Japan, opposed French designs on Hawaii, and was embarrassed by Narciso López's filibuster
expeditions to Cuba. Fillmore sought the Whig nomination for a full term in 1852 but was
passed over in favor of Winfield Scott.

As the Whig Party broke up after Fillmore's presidency, he and many in its conservative
wing joined the Know Nothings and formed the American Party. Despite his party's emphasis
on anti-immigration and anti-Catholic policies, during his 1856 candidacy, he said little about
immigration, focusing on the preservation of the Union, and won only Maryland. During the
American Civil War, Fillmore denounced secession and agreed that the Union must be
maintained by force if necessary, but was critical of Abraham Lincoln's war policies. After
peace was restored, he supported President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies.
Fillmore remained involved in civic interests in retirement, including as chancellor of the
University of Buffalo, which he had helped found in 1846. Historians consistently rank
Fillmore among the worst presidents in American history, largely for his policies regarding
slavery, as well as among the least memorable. His association with the Know Nothings and
support of Johnson's reconstruction policies further tarnished his reputation and legacy.

Early life and career

Millard Fillmore was born on January 7, 1800, in a log cabin, on a farm in what is now
Moravia, Cayuga County, in the Finger Lakes region of New York. His parents were Phoebe
Millard and Nathaniel Fillmore,[1] and he was the second of eight children and the oldest son.
[2]

Nathaniel Fillmore was the son of Nathaniel Fillmore Sr. (1739–1814), a native of
Franklin, Connecticut, who became one of the earliest settlers of Bennington, Vermont, when
it was founded in the territory that was then called the New Hampshire Grants.[3]

Nathaniel Fillmore and Phoebe Millard moved from Vermont in 1799 and sought better
opportunities than were available on Nathaniel's stony farm, but the title to their Cayuga
County land proved defective, and the Fillmore family moved to nearby Sempronius, where
they leased land as tenant farmers, and Nathaniel occasionally taught school.[4][5] The
historian Tyler Anbinder described Fillmore's childhood as "one of hard work, frequent
privation, and virtually no formal schooling."[1]
 Historical marker at the site of Fillmore's birth
Historical marker at the site of Fillmore's birth in Cayuga County, New York
Over time Nathaniel became more successful in Sempronius, but during Millard's
formative years, the family endured severe poverty.[b] Nathaniel became sufficiently
regarded that he was chosen to serve in local offices, including justice of the peace.[8] Hoping
that his oldest son would learn a trade, he convinced Millard, who was 14, not to enlist for the
War of 1812[9] and apprenticed him to clothmaker Benjamin Hungerford in Sparta.[10]
Fillmore was relegated to menial labor, and unhappy at not learning any skills, he left
Hungerford's employ.[11]

His father then placed him in the same trade at a mill in New Hope.[12] Seeking to
better himself, Millard bought a share in a circulating library and read all the books that he
could.[12] In 1819 he took advantage of idle time at the mill to enroll at a new academy in the
town, where he met a classmate, Abigail Powers, and fell in love with her.[13]

Later in 1819 Nathaniel moved the family to Montville, a hamlet of Moravia.[14]

Appreciating his son's talents, Nathaniel followed his wife's advice and persuaded Judge
Walter Wood, the Fillmores' landlord and the wealthiest person in the area, to allow Millard
to be his law clerk for a trial period.[15] Wood agreed to employ young Fillmore and to
supervise him as he read law.[15] Fillmore earned money teaching school for three months
and bought out his mill apprenticeship.[16] He left Wood after eighteen months; the judge had
paid him almost nothing, and both quarreled after Fillmore had, unaided, earned a small sum
by advising a farmer in a minor lawsuit.[17] Refusing to pledge not to do so again, Fillmore
gave up his clerkship.[18] Nathaniel again moved the family, and Millard accompanied it
west to East Aurora, in Erie County, near Buffalo,[19] where Nathaniel purchased a farm that
became prosperous.[20]

In 1821 Fillmore turned 21, reaching adulthood.[21] He taught school in East Aurora
and accepted a few cases in justice of the peace courts, which did not require the practitioner
to be a licensed attorney.[21] He moved to Buffalo the following year and continued his study
of law, first while he taught school and then in the law office of Asa Rice and Joseph Clary.
Meanwhile, he also became engaged to Abigail Powers.[21] In 1823 he was admitted to the
bar, declined offers from Buffalo law firms, and returned to East Aurora to establish a practice
as the town's only resident lawyer.[19][22] Later in life, Fillmore said he had initially lacked
the self-confidence to practice in the larger city of Buffalo. His biographer, Paul Finkelman,
suggested that after being under others' thumbs all his life, Fillmore enjoyed the independence
of his East Aurora practice.[23] Millard and Abigail wed on February 5, 1826. They had two
children, Millard Powers Fillmore (1828–1889) and Mary Abigail Fillmore (1832–1854).[24]

Buffalo politician
Other members of the Fillmore family were active in politics and government in
addition to Nathaniel's service as a justice of the peace.[c] Millard also became interested in
politics, and the rise of the Anti-Masonic Party in the late 1820s provided his entry.[27]

Photograph of a yellow house with white porch pillars and a center door with a window
on either side
Millard Fillmore helped build this house in East Aurora, New York, and lived there
from 1826 to 1830.
External videos
video icon Tour of Millard Fillmore House Museum, East Aurora, New York, August
19, 1995, C-SPAN
Many Anti-Masons were opposed to the presidential candidacy of General Andrew
Jackson, who was a Mason. Fillmore was a delegate to the New York convention that
endorsed President John Quincy Adams for re-election and also served at two Anti-Masonic
conventions in the summer of 1828.[1] At the conventions, Fillmore and one of the early
political bosses, the newspaper editor Thurlow Weed, met and impressed each other.[27]
Fillmore was the leading citizen in East Aurora, having successfully sought election to the
New York State Assembly, and served in Albany for three one-year terms (1829 to 1831).[1]
Fillmore's 1828 election contrasted the victories of the Jacksonian Democrats (soon the
Democrats), who swept the general into the White House and their party to a majority in
Albany and so Fillmore was in the minority in the Assembly.[28] He proved effective anyway
by promoting legislation to provide court witnesses the option of taking a non-religious oath
and, in 1830, abolishing imprisonment for debt.[9] By then much of Fillmore's legal practice
was in Buffalo, and later that year he moved there with his family. He did not seek re-election
in 1831.[27][29]
 Fillmore was also successful as a lawyer. Buffalo was then rapidly expanding,
recovering from British conflagration during the War of 1812, and becoming the western
terminus of the Erie Canal. Court cases from outside Erie County began falling to Fillmore's
lot, and he reached prominence as a lawyer in Buffalo before he moved there. He took his
lifelong friend Nathan K. Hall as a law clerk in East Aurora. Hall later became Fillmore's
partner in Buffalo and his postmaster general during Fillmore's presidency. Buffalo was
legally a village when Fillmore arrived, and although the bill to incorporate it as a city passed
the legislature after he had left the Assembly, Fillmore helped draft the city charter.

In addition to his legal practice Fillmore helped found the Buffalo High School
Association, joined the lyceum, attended the local Unitarian church, and became a leading
citizen of Buffalo.[30] He was also active in the New York Militia and attained the rank of
major as inspector of the 47th Brigade.[31][32]

Representative
First term and return to Buffalo
In 1832 Fillmore ran successfully for the U.S. House of Representatives. The Anti-
Masonic presidential candidate, William Wirt, a former attorney general, won only Vermont,
and President Jackson easily gained re-election. At the time, Congress convened its annual
session in December and so Fillmore had to wait more than a year after his election to take his
seat. Fillmore, Weed, and others realized that opposition to Masonry was too narrow a
foundation to build a national party. They formed the broad-based Whig Party from National
Republicans, Anti-Masons, and disaffected Democrats. The Whigs were initially united by
their opposition to Jackson but became a major party by expanding their platform to include
support for economic growth through rechartering the Second Bank of the United States and
federally-funded internal improvements, including roads, bridges, and canals.[33] Weed had
joined the Whigs before Fillmore and became a power within the party, and Weed's anti-
slavery views were stronger than those of Fillmore, who disliked slavery but considered the
federal government powerless over it. They were closer to those of another prominent New
York Whig, William H. Seward of Auburn, who was also seen as a Weed protégé.[2]

In Washington Fillmore urged the expansion of Buffalo harbor, a decision under federal
jurisdiction, and he privately lobbied Albany for the expansion of the state-owned Erie Canal.
[34] Even during the 1832 campaign, Fillmore's affiliation as an Anti-Mason had been
uncertain, and he rapidly shed the label once sworn in. Fillmore came to the notice of the
influential Massachusetts Senator Daniel Webster, who took the new representative under his
wing. Fillmore became a firm supporter, and they continued their close relationship until
Webster's death late in Fillmore's presidency.[35] Despite Fillmore's support of the Second
Bank as a means for national development, he did not speak in the congressional debates in
which some advocated renewing its charter although Jackson had vetoed legislation for a
charter renewal.[36] Fillmore supported building infrastructure by voting in favor of
navigation improvements on the Hudson River and constructing a bridge across the Potomac
River.[37]

Anti-Masonry was still strong in Western New York though it was petering out
nationally. When the Anti-Masons did not nominate him for a second term in 1834, Fillmore
declined the Whig nomination, seeing that the two parties would split the anti-Jackson vote
and elect the Democrat. Despite Fillmore's departure from office, he was a rival for the state
party leadership with Seward, the unsuccessful 1834 Whig gubernatorial candidate.[38]
Fillmore spent his time out of office building his law practice and boosting the Whig Party,
which gradually absorbed most of the Anti-Masons.[39] By 1836 Fillmore was confident
enough of anti-Jackson unity that he accepted the Whig nomination for Congress. Democrats,
led by their presidential candidate, Vice President Martin Van Buren, were victorious
nationwide and in Van Buren's home state of New York, but Western New York voted Whig
and sent Fillmore back to Washington.[40]

Second to fourth terms

Van Buren, faced with the economic Panic of 1837, which was caused partly by the lack
of confidence in private banknote issues after Jackson had instructed the government to accept
only gold or silver, called a special session of Congress. Government money had been held in
so-called "pet banks" since Jackson had withdrawn it from the Second Bank. Van Buren
proposed to place funds in sub-treasuries, government depositories that would not lend
money. Believing that government funds should be lent to develop the country, Fillmore felt it
would lock the nation's limited supply of gold money away from commerce. Van Buren's sub-
treasury and other economic proposals passed, but as hard times continued, the Whigs saw an
increased vote in the 1837 elections and captured the New York Assembly, which set up a
fight for the 1838 gubernatorial nomination. Fillmore supported the leading Whig vice-
presidential candidate from 1836, Francis Granger, but Weed preferred Seward.
 Fillmore was embittered when Weed got the nomination for Seward but campaigned
loyally, Seward was elected, and Fillmore won another term in the House.[41]

The rivalry between Fillmore and Seward was affected by the growing anti-slavery
movement. Although Fillmore disliked slavery, he saw no reason for it to be a political issue.
Seward, however, was hostile to slavery and made it clear in his actions as governor by
refusing to return slaves claimed by Southerners.[41] When the Buffalo bar proposed Fillmore
for the position of vice-chancellor of the eighth judicial district in 1839, Seward refused,
nominated Frederick Whittlesey, and indicated that if the New York Senate rejected
Whittlesey he still would not appoint Fillmore.[42]

Fillmore was active in the discussions of presidential candidates which preceded the
Whig National Convention for the 1840 race. He initially supported General Winfield Scott
but really wanted to defeat Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, a slaveholder who he felt could not
carry New York State. Fillmore did not attend the convention but was gratified when it
nominated General William Henry Harrison for president, with former Virginia Senator John
Tyler his running mate.[43] Fillmore organized Western New York for the Harrison
campaign, and the national ticket was elected, and Fillmore easily gained a fourth term in the
House.[44]