Worst Presidents: Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
Reader Comments
Some slave-owners wanted to free them but...
Some owners wanted to free slaves but gave reasons to keep them. What would the freed slaves do? If they stayed in slave states, they'd need to always have ID with them. Without money, where could they go? If one man freed them, his equally rich neighbor planters would kick him out of their circle & make it hard for him to get supplies. Some owners had children by slave women & kept them because of that. The whole system was so corrupt that if any owner admitted they were too lazy to do manual labor or even dress themselves, they would lose face. They used the Bible to keep slaves in line and for an alibi. It tells slaves to be good servants and not cause trouble. Some post-war books express regret over keeping slaves and list some reasons. Slavery weakened the Rebel States. As soon as Lincoln & his cabinet put blacks in uniform, with guns, they were an extremely important part of Union victory. The myth of Ham, being turned black by God to make it easier to identify all blacks for slavery, was extremely harmful. It was carried forward after the mythic Flood, with the curse of slavery on sons of Ham's black Ethiopian wife.
Disagree
You have to give the failed presidents some credit. Unlike the corrupt European countries at the time like France and Britain, They all had leaders and politicians who sought a seat of power for their own gain and not to lead there nation. I believe every failed president sought the presidency to lead there nation to the best of there ability and not for personal gain.
The decision how good or bad A particular U.S.President Performed Depands ---
I would rather say that all the U.S Presidents did their very best at their various terms of their Presidency.One thing that is usually easy,is to critie on what other people do or left undone.To govern is not as easy as one takes a can of pepesi and drink.It means taking simple,hard and sometimes difficult decisions that involves millions of people.In some cases it means taken away life of citizen(s).
All the Presidents came to that seat on different time and situations, such as war,economic crisis like recession etc Also,the World is changing, so also other things like population,enveronment, law, scince and technology.Based on this facts stated above,I come into conclusion that some President did better than the other but there may not be either the best or the worst in the true sense of it.
Very Much Agreed
With Taylor's victories in the Mexican War and Polk's utter fear of his possible political gains, Zachary Taylor may have ended up as a great president. We might not have looked at it that way, knowing that the Civil War happened, but if he had prevented the seceding states from doing so then historians might be looking back at him as the "man who kept the country together."
Z. Taylor
I read nothing here that made him a bad president. If he hadn't died in office I'm sure his legacy would have been better. Imagine if he had set the groundwork to avoid the civil war altogether? Abe Lincoln might have been just a footnote. Without the Civil War, what kind of president would Lincoln have been?
:(
zachary taylor was cooooooooooooooooool!!!!!!!!!!!!
laughable analysis
'Jealous fellow generals mocked his lack of learning and polish'
this is provocative history of the first degree.
taylor was a winner.... in numerous campaigns on the frontier.... the northwest territories, florida, texas....
let us not forget that lauded president Polk was so paranoid about Taylor's numerous brilliant victories in the early part of the mexican american war that he recalled Taylor.... fearful of his political power...... the rear guard victory at buena vista caused some real paranoia in the polk whitehouse... just look at the group of soldiers at buena vista and monterrey who venerated taylor as a commander.... it's a who's who of future great american military leaders... have you read Grant's autobiography??? the parallel between Taylor's peace with the Mexicans at Monterrey and Grant's amnesty to Lee at Appomattox???
so Taylor, the political ingenue goes to washington on the back of the whig political machine..... when he gets there, he does not follow the southern whigs program.... all of a sudden this warrior, who has fought in every possible bad weather condition dies... because of some milk and cherries??? does that make sense?
in terms of the record, it is pretty clear. Taylor viewed the preservation of the Union to be more important than anything else. He was opposed to the compromise that Fillmore eventually signed off on. Taylor died. Does that make him a bad president?
History is revised by the 'winners.'
Response
Taylor was after Tyler you know.
He also came AFTER the annexation of Texas, which was in 1845.
Zachary Taylor
Mr. Taylor was actually a good president. His actions set the page for Tyler, such as the annexation of Texas. It is unfortunate that he did not live as there is a chance that a re-elected Taylor might have overted the Civil War. A staunch Unionist against propagation of slavary, but an understanding of what the slave economy meant for the South.
Taylor belongs in the top 20 not the bottom 10.
zacharytaylor
He understood the concept of federalism.A slave owner yet not willing for that institution to be spread to new states--what's wrong with that--unless the article is incorrect in it's evaluation of his actions.NO less than Abrarham Lincoln gave him praise-according to the author..
