We're now on the 12th day of my daily presidents threads celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA.Today we have Zachary Taylor (11/24/1784 - 7/9/1850), who served as president from 1849 to halfway through 1850 when he unexpectedly died of a stomach ailment. He was prior a war hero from the Mexican-American WarNotable events or actions during his presidency include the Sectional Crisis, the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, the Galphin Affair, the Compromise of 1850, and the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. What do you think of the guy who put the die in diarrhea?
His legacy is more than what you would have it punctuated as.
>>18505506Taylor disappointed Southern expansionists when he made it clear that he didn't believe slavery should be expanded outside of where it already was.
>Taylor became the second president to die in office. During the 4th of July celebrations in Washington D.C. in 1850, he ate a quantity of fresh vegetables and drank chilled ice milk with cherries, a result of which he became severely ill with gastroenteritis and died a few days later. It was long alleged that he was poisoned by Southern extremists.>His body was exhumed in 1991--the skeletonized remains were buried in a lead-lined black cherry wood casket. Taylor's teeth were in remarkably good condition for a sexagenarian man who lived before modern dental care. Samples of his hair tested negative for arsenic. With no other evidence as to how he could have died, it was concluded that in fact the 12th president's death was food poisoning possibly caused by contaminated White House well water.
>>18505506Taylor was a soldier who was mostly ignorant of politics, most in D.C. were not taken with him. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty was the most notable achievement in his 16 month presidency.
>>18505559Pre-"germ theory" Water, man. No wonder some civilizations just became watered-down alcoholics, it was safer than drinking water.
>>18505871>Clayton Bulwer Treaty- groundwork for the Panama Canal and positive relations with Britain>naval reforms- Set the US on the path to becoming a dominant naval power and that helped the union be ready for the Civil War>negotiated the release of American hostages in Spain>pushed for California and New Mexico’s entrance as free states (despite the latter ultimately having to wait more than 60 years for statehood)>took advantage of the gold rush and organized land rights in the aftermath of the Mexican cession>last president before Lincoln to recognize the slave owners were the ones driving division in the country and not abolitionists
>Texas was also refusing to give up her large western region to the newly created New Mexico Territory and raised an outcry over it. Taylor threatened to personally lead an army against the state if they didn't comply. The Compromise of 1850 ultimately saw Texas cede her western region in exchange for which the Federal government would assume all her outstanding debts.
>>18505559>>18505876The Potomac River in that time was absolutely filthy and choked with garbage. Three presidents (Harrison, Polk, and Taylor) may have died from drinking contaminated water. James Buchanan also became sick during the transitional period prior to the start of his administration, but he recovered. As he was leaving the White House in 1861, he told Lincoln that there were two water wells, one off the West Wing and the other off the East Wing. Buchanan advised him to not drink from the former as its water tasted horrible.
>>18504980>>18505506Zachary Taylor liked to smokeHis breath killed friends whenever he spoke
>>18505559>chilled ice milkin the year 1850? they did not have refrigeration. must have been ice stored in an ice house, hard to believe it lasted that long into the summer
>>18506413Ice in those days was frozen river water harvested during the winter months and stored in ice houses. Men would go down to bodies of water and cut blocks of ice.
>>18506413>in the year 1850? they did not have refrigeration. must have been ice stored in an ice house, hard to believe it lasted that long into the summerShipping ice to warmer climates was a major industry in that era. Thoreau talks about the ice in Walden Pond going to India by clipper ship while in return he would receive the ancient wisdom of the east. Ice packed in sawdust lined walls lasts a long time.
