Video: 'Zachary Taylor | President's Day | Kentucky Life | KET'

(Wednesday, November 24, 1784) — Zachary Taylor, the 12th President of the United States (1849-1850), was born today on a plantation in Orange County, Virginia, to a prominent family of planters of English ancestry.

A career officer in the U.S. Army, Taylor rose to the rank of major general and earned national fame for his victories in the Mexican-American War. His military success propelled him to the presidency, despite his lack of clear political beliefs and no prior experience in elected office, making him the first president to be elected without a political background.

As president, Taylor maintained a hands-off approach with both Congress and his Cabinet, even as the nation faced rising partisan tensions that threatened to fracture the Union.

The debate over the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired territories from the Mexican Cession dominated his presidency, with Southern statesmen threatening secession.

Though a Southern slaveholder, Taylor prioritized national unity over the spread of slavery. He urged settlers in New Mexico and California to draft state constitutions, bypassing the territorial stage and sidestepping the slavery question. This approach set the groundwork for what would later become the Compromise of 1850.

Taylor’s presidency was cut short when he died unexpectedly of a stomach illness on July 9, 1850, leaving behind few legislative accomplishments aside from the ratification of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty.