“Old Rough and Ready”

Presidential Basics

Full name: Zachary Taylor
Years in office: 1849–1850
Political party: Whig
Vice president: Millard Fillmore
Age at inauguration: 64
Nickname: “Old Rough and Ready”

Random Trivia

First-time voter: Zachary Taylor voted for the first time in his own presidential election.
The infamous son-in-law: Taylor’s daughter married Jefferson Davis, much to Taylor’s disapproval.

Birth & Death

Birthday: November 24, 1784
Birthplace: Orange County, Virginia
Death date: July 9, 1850
Place of death: Washington, D.C.
Place of burial: Jefferson County, Kentucky
Last words: “I regret nothing, but I am sorry to leave my friends.”

Family

Father: Lt. Col. Richard Taylor (1744–1829); Soldier, landowner, civil servant
Mother: Sarah Dabney Strother Taylor (1760–1822)
Wife: Margaret Mackall Smith (1788 – 1852)
Marriage: June 21, 1810 in Kentucky
Kids: Six
- Anne Mackall (1811–1875)
- Sarah Knox (1814–1835)
- Octavia Pannill (1816–1820)
- Margaret Smith (1819–1820)
- Mary Elizabeth (1824–1909)
- Richard (1826–1879)
Home: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Other Facts

Height: 5’8″
Eye color: Hazel
Ancestry: English
Religion: Episcopalian
Born in a log cabin: Yes
Owned enslaved people: Yes
Freemason: No

Education

Early education: Some tutoring
College degree: No

Career

Military Service: Yes
Lawyer: No
Lieutenant, U.S. Army (1808)
Major in War of 1812 (1812)
Colonel in Black Hawk War (1832)
Brigadier General in Seminole War (1836–1837)
Major General in Mexican War (1845–1847)
President (1849–1850)

Writings

Letters of Zachary Taylor

Elections

Zachary Taylor thought himself an unlikely candidate for the presidency. But, his popularity as a Mexican War hero propelled him to the top of the Whig ticket. The election of 1848, the one in which he was a candidate, was the first election Taylor ever voted.

Campaign Poster

Union, five-color woodcut by Thomas W. Strong, c. 1848 (Library of Congress)

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12. Zachary Taylor