Millard Fillmore: the record

The American Louis Philippe. The 13th president, 1850-1853, from New York. Every story here is tagged Record, meaning it’s documented, or Legend, meaning it gets told a lot and doesn’t hold up. Each one links to its source.

President: 13th
In office: 1850-1853
Home state: New York
Party: Whig
Height: 5'9"

The record

RecordAs a teenager Fillmore was sent to work for a cloth maker. He hated it and called it little more than slavery, so he borrowed $30, bought his way out of the apprenticeship, and walked home.Source: Miller Center, Fillmore: Life Before the Presidency
RecordFillmore barely went to school. He bought a dictionary with what little money he had and studied it on his own. His teacher, Abigail Powers, pushed him further than anyone, and in 1826 he married her.Source: Miller Center, Fillmore: Life Before the Presidency
RecordWhen France pressured Hawaii's king toward annexation, Fillmore told Napoleon III flatly that the United States would not stand for it.Source: Miller Center, Fillmore: Foreign Affairs
RecordIn 1852 Fillmore led the early voting for the Whig nomination, then lost it to General Winfield Scott on the 53rd ballot. Many historians mark that convention as the beginning of the end for the Whigs.Source: Miller Center, Fillmore: Campaigns and Elections
RecordFillmore didn't smoke, drink or gamble, at a time when almost every American man did at least one of the three.Source: Miller Center, Fillmore: Family Life

What he cared about

Holding the Union together with the Compromise of 1850.
Opening trade in Asia and the Pacific. He sent Commodore Perry toward Japan.
Enforcing federal law even when it cost him at home.

The full record

He signed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and pushed hard to enforce it, backing treason charges against more than 40 people who resisted it in Pennsylvania in 1851.

How he fights in POTUS KO

Farm boy who bought his own way out

Fillmore got where he was by plain, steady grinding: a borrowed $30, a secondhand dictionary, years of study. In the ring he's a plain brawler who keeps walking forward.

See POTUS KO

Questions about Millard Fillmore

Did Millard Fillmore go to school?

Fillmore barely went to school. He bought a dictionary with what little money he had and studied it on his own. His teacher, Abigail Powers, pushed him further than anyone, and in 1826 he married her.

Did Millard Fillmore drink or smoke?

Fillmore didn't smoke, drink or gamble, at a time when almost every American man did at least one of the three.

What happened to Millard Fillmore at the 1852 Whig convention?

In 1852 Fillmore led the early voting for the Whig nomination, then lost it to General Winfield Scott on the 53rd ballot. Many historians mark that convention as the beginning of the end for the Whigs.