| Millard Fillmore | |
|---|---|
| File:Millard Fillmore Presidential Portrait.jpg | |
| Order | 13th President of the United States |
| In office | July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853 |
| Vice President | None |
| Preceded by | Zachary Taylor |
| Succeeded by | Franklin Pierce |
| Born | January 7, 1800 Summerhill, New York, United States |
| Political Party | Whig |
| Spouse | Abigail Fillmore (m. 1826–1853) Caroline Carmichael McIntosh (m. 1858–1874) |
| Children | Millard Powers, Mary Abigail |
| Profession | Lawyer, politician |
| Alma mater | Read law (no formal college) |
| Signature | 
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Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the **13th president of the United States**, serving from 1850 to 1853. The last Whig to hold the presidency, he assumed office after the death of Zachary Taylor and is best known for signing the **Compromise of 1850**, including the controversial **Fugitive Slave Act**.
Early Life and Education
Born in frontier New York to a poor farming family, Fillmore apprenticed as a cloth-dresser and educated himself. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and established a practice in upstate New York. He helped found what became the **University at Buffalo**, later serving as its first chancellor.
Rise in Politics
A Whig, Fillmore served in the **New York State Assembly** and in the **U.S. House of Representatives** (1833–1835; 1837–1843), where he focused on finance and tariffs. He lost the 1844 New York governor’s race but became **Comptroller of New York** (1848–1849). In 1848 he was elected **vice president** on the Whig ticket with Zachary Taylor.
Presidency (1850–1853)
Fillmore became president on **July 9, 1850**, after Taylor’s sudden death. He supported and signed the **Compromise of 1850**, a package intended to ease sectional tensions by, among other things, admitting **California** as a free state and strengthening the **Fugitive Slave Act**. While the compromise briefly calmed the crisis, enforcement of the fugitive law angered Northerners and accelerated the breakup of the Whig coalition.
Domestic and Foreign Policy
- **Compromise of 1850:** Signed all five measures; backed enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, which proved deeply unpopular in the North.
- **Economic/administrative:** Continued tariff moderation and civil service regularization consistent with Whig priorities.
- **Foreign affairs:** Initiated the naval mission under Commodore **Matthew C. Perry** to open Japan to U.S. trade (the treaty would be concluded under Pierce). Supported commercial expansion and a stronger Pacific posture.
Later Life
Denied his party’s nomination in 1852, Fillmore returned to Buffalo. In 1856, he ran for president as the candidate of the **American (Know Nothing) Party**, finishing third. He remained active in civic and cultural institutions and hosted public events during the Civil War while backing Union preservation.
Legacy
Fillmore is remembered as a capable administrator whose embrace of the Fugitive Slave Act damaged his standing in the North and hastened the **collapse of the Whig Party**. Modern assessments credit his competence and institution-building but judge his sectional policies as short-sighted.