Millard

Millard Fillmore

Millard Fillmore, the 13th president of the United States (1850-1853). The most famous feat of his tenure was to send the US East India fleet to Japan, and Matthew Perry, the commander of the fleet, sent his own letter to the shogunate to promote the founding of Japan. He had always taken a compromise attitude towards slavery, but he also played an important role in the international status of the United States and promoted the economic development of the United States. After he left office, he ran for president of the United States again, but unfortunately he was defeated. He is one of the most controversial presidents in the history of the United States, and his evaluation has been divided into two levels.

Basic information

Father: Daniel Fillmore

Mother: Phoebe Mead Fillmore

Stepmother: Eunice

Madam: Abigail Bowles Fillmore (1798-1853), married on February 5, 1826; Caroline Carmichael mackintosh (1813-1881), married on February 10, 1858

Children: Millard Bowles Fillmore (1828-89); Mary Abigail Fillmore (1832-54)

Education: no formal education

Presidential term: July 10, 1850 - March 4, 1853

Other government positions: New York State Council member, 1828-1831 U.S. House of Representatives member, 1833-1835 U.S. House of Representatives member, 1837-1845 New York auditor, 1847 vice president, 1849-1850 (under President Zachary Taylor)

Character experience

Millard Fillmore was born in New York State in 1800. His father, Daniel Fillmore, was a farmer and later a tenant. Fillmore helped his family farm early and was an apprentice. He used to work on his father's farm and was apprenticed at the age of 15. He had only received the most basic education and became useful by self-study. He fell in love with Abigail powers, a redhead teacher, and later became his wife.

In 1823, at the age of 23, Fillmore passed the bar examination and became a lawyer. Seven years later, he put what he had learned into practice in Buffalo, New York. As a colleague of thurowed, a Whig politician, Fillmore has always been a member of the house of Representatives.

He joined the anti Freemasonry movement in 1828.

Elected to the New York state legislature in 1829.

He joined the Whig Party in 1834 and became an outstanding leader of the north.

He was elected to the US Congress in 1832.

In 1848, at the Whig Congress of the United States, Z. Taylor was proposed as the presidential candidate, and Fillmore was nominated as the vice presidential candidate.

After the death of President Taylor in 1850, he became president. Throughout his political career, he advocated domestic development in the United States and early supported expansion into the Pacific.

In 1853, the U.S. fleet was sent to Japan to force the Japanese government to change its traditional closed door policy and develop diplomatic and trade relations with the West.

In 1852, he was one of the three candidates nominated by the Whig party. He also allowed the American party to nominate him for president. He retired after losing the election.

As the president spent too much during his term of office, he had no savings when he left office and was in financial trouble. He formally proposed to the U.S. government that each outgoing President be paid $12000 a year. "It's a shame for the country that our presidents are left out in the cold, ignored, or forced to make a living and open a grocery store on the corner of the street," he said. "We elect a man to be president, expect him to be honest and maybe give up his profitable career. However, after taking advantage of him, we will let him live in seclusion, and perhaps let him fall into poverty. " But there was no reply. After his failure in the general election in 1856, Fillmore devoted himself to the public cause in his hometown of buffalo. Fundraising for the establishment of secondary schools, youth associations, historical societies, general hospitals and libraries in Buffalo. But it is already heavily in debt and unable to pay its debts.

Fortunately, he got the love of a rich widow, Caroline, in February 1858. After marriage, Caroline paid off his debts, enabling him to continue to engage in his favorite career in the years to come. On March 8, 1874, Fillmore died of a stroke at the age of 74.

Personal life

On February 5, 1826, Fillmore married Abigail powers. He has a son and a daughter. My son is Millard Bowles Fillmore. He majored in law and studied with his father, a lawyer. 15 years after his father's death, Bowles died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the Tift hotel. He doesn't have a confidant. Bowles donated part of his legacy to several charities, including the American society against cruelty to animals, the Christian Federation of young women, and several hospitals and churches. He left the rest of the property to his two aunts and returned a sum of money to John haucott of Denver, but the relationship between them could not be verified.

Daughter Mary Abigail Fillmore. Her family and friends call her Abby. Abby was very interested in music as a child. Her formal education was higher than that of her contemporaries. But also inherited his father's vitality and self-confidence. She wanted to be a teacher, but because her mother was half disabled, she had to take the place of her mother as the hostess of the White House. In 1850, vice president Fillmore took over the presidency of Zachary Taylor, who died. Abby, a teenager, took on the responsibility of hostess of the White House. Abby is as unmarried as her brother. Shortly after his father's term of office ended in 1853. Her mother died. Abby and her father escorted her mother's coffin back to buffalo for burial and began her coaching career. One year after her mother died, Abby, who was eager to help others, rushed to East Aurora, New York, to help her grandfather settle in his new home, regardless of his illness. But less than 12 hours after she arrived at her grandfather's house, she died of cholera.

Character evaluation

Fillmore is the second person in the history of the United States to succeed to the presidency as vice president. He has been in office for only two years and eight months. Fillmore always held a compromise attitude on the issue of slavery. In 1850, he signed a compromise bill against the southern slave owners. The bill was dissatisfied by the north and failed to win the trust of the south. He was defeated in the presidential election of 1852 because of his double dealing. The most remarkable achievement in Japan's foreign policy is that he led the Japanese Navy to open the door to foreign trade. Another of his achievements is to build railways in the West. Before 1840, most of the American Railways were to the east of the Appalachian Mountains, and there were no railways in the West. In 1852, the East-West railway was connected in Chicago, which made Chicago the center of American railway network and promoted the development of capitalist economy in the West.

Historical ranking

Fillmore was named the 10th worst American president because he failed to solve the slavery crisis.

Fillmore began his short term as president after the death of Zachary Taylor. The 1850 compromise led to a dual system of slavery. The slave trade was banned in the District of Columbia and California, but at the same time, the power of the remaining slaves was strengthened. Columnist Camilla Cavendish said: "the compromise he reached to extend slavery prepared the ground for the American Civil War."

Nevertheless, he made outstanding contributions in diplomacy and railway construction, which laid a solid foundation for the future development of the United States. Many historians are beginning to think that it is unfair to rate him as the worst president.

Chinese PinYin : Mi Le De