

“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
Links
- White House
- Miller Center
- Zachary Taylor’s Boyhood Home Springfield, Kentucky
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