Mass Comm 103: Prof. Craig: Presidents Before Lincoln 

Presidents Before Lincoln

Zachary Taylor	Millard Fillmore	Franklin Pierce	James Buchanan

Notable Facts:

• Taylor became a national hero in Mexican War; nominated by Whigs in spite of no political experience
• “Old Rough and Ready” Taylor died of food poisoning after barely more than a year in office
• Fillmore opposed slavery but refused to outlaw it in the South, effectively splitting the Whig party
• Fillmore wasn't nominated by the Whigs for reelection
• Pierce served as a senator and as a general in the Mexican War
• Pierce's inaction on the slavery issue angered fellow Democrats, and they refused to nominate him for reelection
• Buchanan campaigned for president three times before winning election
• Divisiveness of slavery issue drove Buchanan not to seek a second term  

The four presidents before Lincoln (above) and the five after (Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur) are regularly listed by historians as among the worst presidents in U.S. history.