Sold – Zachary Taylor Modestly Feels He May Not Deserve Being Placed in the Company of the Great George Washington and Other Luminaries of the Revolution

Taylor thanks an autograph collector “most sincerely for the high compliment you contemplate paying me by placing my humble name among those referred to, particularly those of Washington, his Cabinet, & other compatriots of the Revolution; an honor I did not expect, & much fear I do not deserve."

At the start of 1848, the Whig Party was very used to defeat. They had been beaten by the hated Andrew Jackson and his hand-picked successor Martin Van Buren, won with William Henry Harrison only to see him die in 30 days and find his place taken by Democratic-leaning John Tyler, and watched their darling Henry Clay lose to James K. Polk in 1844 (who decided not to run for reelection in 1848). They were hungry for a victory, saw 1848 as their year, and in the person of popular Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor appeared to have found their candidate. Although not a declared party man, he was known to be sympathetic to Whig principles, and though unwilling to declare for office, had given man reason to believe that he would accept the nomination should it be offered. They were enthusiastic about him because they thought that his long military record would appeal to northerners, while his ownership of slaves would lure southern votes. In the first half of 1848, Whigs held meetings that promoted Taylor as their choice for the party’s presidential nomination. The potential candidate, well known for his modestly, thanked the meetings for their confidence in him but initially made no overt move.

By the spring, however, Taylor had been convinced to accept the nomination that would surely be tendered to him when the Whig convention met in June. His campaign would not dwell on the details of political matters, but would instead stress that he would be a national rather than a sectional president, that principle would prevail over politics, and that he would seek to unite rather than divide. He accepted the nomination, and by July 1848 the presidential campaign was in full swing.

Taylor was distantly related to George Washington, and a great admirer of his. The idea of being placed in the same company as the great Washington, and to other luminaries of the Revolution, seemed an extraordinary compliment to him. So despite a crushing workload during the campaign, he took time out to thank a Kentucky printer for just such a compliment.

Autograph Letter Signed, Baton Rouge, July 30, 1848, to J. B. Boyd, a printer from Maysville, Kentucky. "Your highly esteemed letter of the 19th inst. was this moment received, in which you say among other matters ‘I take the liberty of thus intruding upon your valuable time respectfully to ask the favor of a few lines in reply, from your own pen, which may serve as your autograph, which I desire to place in a collection of such memorials of the great & distinguished men of my country. I have been fortunate in securing original autograph letters of all the great spirits of the Revolution, Washington & his Cabinet among them.’

Such is the multiplicity of my investments at this moment, I have barely time to acknowledge the receipt of your communication, to comply with your request, which I do with much pleasure, & to thank you most sincerely for the high compliment you contemplate paying me by placing my humble name among those referred to, particularly those of Washington, his Cabinet, & other compatriots of the Revolution; an honor I did not expect, & much fear I do not deserve."

As it turned out, Taylor died while placing himself in Washington’s company. As President, he attended the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument on July 4, 1850, sitting for hours in the hot sun. Afterward he drank quantities of ice water and then ate cherries with iced milk. That night he suffered what the doctors described as a cholera attack; he died 5 days later.