VP Fillmore Writes Taylor of the “Enthusiasm of the People” to See the President

General Zachary Taylor, the victor at Buena Vista in February of 1847, gained national fame during the Mexican War.  “Rough and Ready” clubs formed nationwide to extol his victories, and a growing faction within the Whig Party began to call for his candidacy for the presidency. The pro-Taylor voices eventually became loud enough to drown out those Whigs who favored perennial candidate Henry Clay. Taylor had some very attractive credentials for an 1848 run for the presidency: he was a slave-holding Southerner who, as a lifetime military man, had abstained from active political involvement (so he had not alienated either side of the slavery question), and he held a level of status commensurate with a national hero. The selection of Millard Fillmore, who was from the Buffalo-Rochester portion of New York, would alleviate some Northern concerns and ultimately contributed to Taylor’s electoral victories in New York and Pennsylvania. Those states brought him the presidency.

Taylor was sworn in on March 5, 1849 and quickly acclimated to life in Washington. He enjoyed being among the people and would take walks through the city, his black silk hat and informal attire becoming well known to the Executive Mansion’s neighbors.  For his first major trip as president, Taylor chose to head North, an area with which he was largely unfamiliar but which had been crucial to his winning in the recent election. On this trip, he was accompanied by Vice President Fillmore, Dr. Robert Wood, his son-in-law, and others who would join him along the way.  His ambitious itinerary included cities such as Baltimore, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Erie, Albany and Boston, and he would proceed by train and steamer.  It also coincided with a wide-spread outbreak of cholera (it would eventually claim 10% of the populations of St. Louis and Cincinnati). Large gatherings of people would amplify the risk of spread of the disease, but in spite of this danger, Taylor insisted on going; and once on the road the citizens insisted on seeing him. As John Eisenhower wrote in his biography of Taylor, “At every place the entourage stopped, great crowds gathered and gala events were lavishly planned.  Taylor was an extrovert and he enjoyed such gatherings.”  

Taylor left on August 9, 1849, and when he arrived in Pittsburgh gave a significant speech on protective tariffs.  He reassured Northern Free Soilers that “the people of the North need have no apprehension of a further expansion of slavery.”  As he continued on, he became ill.  On August 24, south of Erie, his sickness became acute, and his wife was summoned; but he quickly recovered.  His party at this point convinced him that while he could continue through New York, he would be wise to curtail his trip and avoid Boston. On September 1, he resumed his Northward trip, taking a steamer from Erie to Niagara Falls, and reaching there that evening.  On the 3rd he was well enough to visit Goat Island near the Falls.

Fillmore, who was just miles away from his home, arranged many of the details of this portion of the itinerary and was charged with simultaneously satisfying pubic demand to see the President and ensuring the President’s well being.  In this letter, after dispensing first with a military appointment recommendation, he informs Taylor of the mood of New Yorkers in preparation for his visit.

Autograph Letter Signed as Vice President, Buffalo, N.Y., September 3, 1849, to President Taylor.  “I can do no less than forward you the enclosed letters from Dr. Cogswell and Adgt Genl. Stevens, recommending Major Birgh as paymaster, but from what you told me yesterday I presume the matter is settled and so advised them. Our citizens are anxious to see you and I think we can arrange it as to give them that opportunity with very little if any fatigue for you. I have received a letter from Dr. A. Kelsey, chair of the committee at Rochester and advised him to avoid all display in your reception there, and give you as quiet a reception as the enthusiasm of the people will permit.  I think our folks will desire to bring you up by water and probably only the chairman and myself will go down agreeably to the suggestion of Dr. Wood. Truly your friend, Millard Fillmore.”  

This would have been one of the final visits of the president’s great Northern Tour. On the 6th, he arrived in Oswego to meet representatives of Thurlow Weed, and then took a train to Albany, where he attended a state dinner. He returned to Washington exhausted; but as Eisenhower summarized the trip, “his activities along the way were significant because they showed a growing political sophistication. Ominous as the trip was regarding Taylor’s health, it demonstrated that he was learning his job.”

An uncommon letter from a sitting vice president to his president.