QUICK FACTS
Nickname: Old Rough and Ready
Year in office: 1849–1850
Political party: Whig
Birthday: November 24, 1784
Official presidential portrait of Zachary Taylor
by Joseph H. Bush, ca. 1848
Textile, mid-19th century (Gift of Mrs. J. Insely Blair, Smithsonian Open Access)
Zachary Taylor takes center stage in this textile depicting the Battle of Palo Alto. In this first battle of the Mexican-American War, Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande and met Taylor’s troops at Palo Alto. The Mexican troops, having suffered heavier losses, retreated to the south. Taylor’s hero status following this war propelled him into the White House.
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 in which Taylor ever voted.
BATTLE OF PALO ALTO
Brownsville, TX
GRAVESITE
Louisville, KY
BOOKS
Davis, Kenneth C., and Pedro Martin. Don’t Know Much about the Presidents. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2014.
DeGregorio, William A., and Aaron Jaffe. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, Inc., 2017.
Kane, Joseph Nathan, and Janet Podell. Facts about the Presidents: A Compilation of Biographical and Historical Information. New York: H.W. Wilson, 2009.
WEBSITES
Encyclopedia Britannica, britannica.com
Library of Congress, loc.gov
Miller Center, University of Virginia, millercenter.org/the-presidency
The White House, whitehouse.gov
Our Book
If you enjoy our infographics, you’ll love our book!
Our Posters
Check out our full line of infographic posters for the classroom!