Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor, a career soldier and hero of the Mexican–American War known as 'Old Rough and Ready,' had never held political office and never even voted before winning the presidency in 1848.

Though a Southern slaveholder, he took a firm nationalist line, opposing the expansion of slavery into the new western territories and threatening force against secession threats. He died suddenly in July 1850, after only sixteen months in office, amid the fierce debate that would become the Compromise of 1850.

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