Early years

Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, in Orange County, Virginia. Both of his parents, Richard Taylor and Mary Strother, came from prominent Virginia families. His father was an Army officer in the American Revolution.

When Zachary was an infant, the family moved into what is now northern Kentucky. The boy grew up on his father's plantation on the frontier. Because there were no schools in the area, Zachary received his only formal education from a private tutor.

In the evenings young Taylor and his four brothers listened to their father and his comrades tell stories of their military service. All but one of the boys eventually joined the Army. Zachary enlisted in 1806 and was made a lieutenant in 1808.

Marriage

In 1810 Taylor married Margaret Mackall Smith. They had six children, two of whom died in childhood. Their daughter Sarah Knox Taylor married Jefferson Davis, who later became the president of the Confederate States of America. Their only son, Richard Taylor, fought in the American Civil War in the Confederate army.

Military career

Taylor was an able and respected military leader. He served in the Army for almost 40 years. His endurance and stocky build earned him the nickname Old Rough and Ready. Taylor commanded troops in the War of 1812 and in Indian wars in the old Northwest Territory and Florida. In 1846 he advanced to the rank of major general.

Taylor gained national fame during the Mexican War of 1846–48. The conflict grew out of a dispute over the border between the United States and Mexico. In 1845 the United States angered Mexico by annexing Texas, which had been a part of Mexico. Early in 1846 Taylor was sent to the Rio Grande with 4,000 soldiers to help defend the border of the new state. In late April Mexican troops crossed the river and clashed with Taylor's forces. Taylor's troops defeated the Mexicans in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. After the United States declared war on Mexico in May, Taylor crossed into Mexico. He captured Monterrey in September.

Despite these military successes, differences arose between Taylor and President James K. Polk. Polk sent Gen. Winfield Scott to Mexico to replace Taylor as chief American commander. Most of Taylor's troops were reassigned to Scott's command. Nevertheless, Taylor and his remaining soldiers defeated a much larger Mexican army at Buena Vista in 1847. This victory ended the war in northern Mexico and made Taylor a national hero.

A short-lived presidency

Taylor's military success earned him the presidential nomination of the Whig party in 1848. He defeated the Democratic candidate, Lewis Cass, in the election.

The greatest achievement of President Taylor's administration was in foreign affairs. In 1850 his secretary of state, John M. Clayton, arranged the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with Great Britain. This agreement discussed the role of the two countries in Central America. It also paved the way for the building of the Panama Canal half a century later.

At home Taylor had to deal with the difficult issue of slavery.Although a slaveholder himself, Taylor opposed the expansion of slavery. In 1849 California asked to be admitted to the Union as a free state—one that would not permit slavery. Taylor recommended that Congress grant the request. Proslavery Southerners in Congress fought bitterly against the proposal. The controversy was not finally resolved until September of the following year with the adoption of the Compromise of 1850. This series of measures temporarily satisfied both proslavery and antislavery forces.

Taylor did not live to see the end of the crisis. On July 4, 1850, he had laid a cornerstone for the Washington Monument. That night he became ill with cholera, and he died five days later. Taylor was buried near Louisville, Kentucky, in what is now Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.