ZT: A Brief Background
Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) was born to a fine old Virginia family, but the rugged individual type. They moved to the western part of Kentucky when Zachary was still a boy. Independence and ruggedness was a family trait that found a lifelong home in young Taylor. He was happy to leave formal schooling behind for the opportunities of the frontier military life. His commission was signed by President Thomas Jefferson.
As a young officer with instinctive albeit limited military training, he rose in the ranks. Basically unobtrusive, he invariably did his duty quickly and to everyone’s satisfaction. He rose even higher in rank.
Along the way, he acquired a reputation for carelessness of dress and personal habits. His soubriquet “Old Rough and Ready,”suited him. He married Margaret Mackall Smith, and she and their children followed along, from pillar to post. Army life suited them both.
As they aged and their savings grew, they purchased a fair sized plantation not far from Baton Rouge LA, and expected to make it their home for the rest of their lives.
Then came the War with Mexico
In 1846-7, the US was engaged in a war with Mexico, part of the fall-out from the independence and annexation of Texas. Democrat President James K. Polk, a non-military fellow, was an armchair political general, who tended to micromanage the war from Washington – some 3000 miles away. At least that’s what his (many) political enemies said – and his two main generals nodded in agreement.
Taylor, and his rival general, Winfield Scott were poles apart in appearance, manner, style, and practically everything. Taylor, around 5’7”, stocky and disheveled, paled in comparison to Scott, who at 6’5” towered over just about everyone, and presented himself like a flagship of an armada.
Zachary Taylor, now past 60, was never perceived as a strong strategist or tactician, but most believed him to be a solid and competent leader. He won the battle of Monterrey at great cost. It was one of the bloodiest battles in that war, resulting in enormous (for that time) casualties. The losses horrified General Taylor, who organized a truce for a few weeks so both sides could tend to the wounded and rest their exhausted forces.
Polk was furious! He was looking to end the war quickly through complete victory – and perhaps a major land grab.
He “punished” General Taylor by transferring 10,000 of his best troops over to General Winfield Scott, leaving the former with a weak force of only 5,000. Then he sent Taylor to Buena Vista, a small town of relatively no importance.
Buena Vista was indeed a small town, but the young Mexican General Santa Ana did not seem to care. He had a large force – nearly 20,000 – and was anxious to make a glorious name for himself. Four-to-one odds in his favor promised an easy route to glory. But nobody told Zachary Taylor.
Becoming Electable
With his much smaller force, Taylor’s “David” managed to out-maneuver and out-general his Mexican “Goliath”, and achieve a stunning victory that Winfield Scott was yet to equal, and even the implacable President Polk could not deny.
The newspapers went wild for their latest hero! This not-so-young newcomer to the public eye was starting to look very promising. Medals were struck and souvenirs were produced. All sorts of stories about Taylor began circulating, most of them centering on his dedication to his soldiers, and his own modest behavior.
Problem was, Taylor was completely non-political, and admitted that he had never voted, let alone favored a political party. He had no affiliations. And no ambition. That was not going to stop the Whigs, who were in a quandary.
Jacksonian Democrat Polk had pledged himself from the outset to a single term and there appeared to be a long list of wannabes for their party’s nomination. Including Winfield Scott – maybe.
But who would be the choice of the Whigs, a newer and cobbled-together assortment of sectional factions? Henry Clay, their formidable standard bearer, was nearly seventy, and had already lost three times. If he were again nominated, it would be another losing election.
They needed someone agreeable to Southern interests. Taylor was a Southerner – and a slave owner. Hmm. They needed someone agreeable to Northern interests. Taylor was opposed to the annexation of Texas, the spread of slavery, and favored honest treatment of the natives. Hmmm. He was also a bona fide war hero. And he couldn’t stand Polk. Aha! Electable.
You’ve Gotta Be Kidding
The Whigs had only won a single election – in 1840, their maiden voyage. (They had fielded a few sectional candidates in 1836, hoping to winnow out a front-runner.) The front-runner of 1836, a somewhat washed-up William Henry Harrison, a military general of modest distinction from the War of 1812, was even longer in the tooth than Taylor. But he won.
Their candidate in 1844, Henry Clay, a political giant of longstanding national accomplishments, lost badly – to James Knox Polk, an unknown ex-Tennessee congressman.
The Whig politicians (minus an aging and grumbling Henry Clay) knew their best chance was with another military hero. It would be Taylor…. Or another loss.
When the Mexican War ended in February 1848, the politicians shifted into high gear, sending delegations and emissaries to the General, dangling the Presidency. Taylor’s only ambition a was to retire to his plantation in Louisiana, surrounded by his children and grandchildren, where he and his wife Margaret could live out the remainder of their days. Quietly.
He was flattered, but no thanks. He wasn’t really a Whig. He didn’t want to be President. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Washington.
In fact, when the old General was finally coerced to accept, he signed on stating, “I am a Whig, but not an ultra-Whig.”
Sources:
Cohen, Jared – Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America – Simon & Schuster, 2019
Eisenhower, John S.D. – Zachary Taylor – Times Books, 2008
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Monterrey-1846
https://dp.la/exhibitions/outsiders-president-elections/military-hero-president/zachary-taylor
