Millard Fillmore 1800–1874

Thirteenth president, 1850–1853

Millard Fillmore was a member of the center-right Whig party. Since he left office in 1853, every U.S. president has been affiliated with either the Republican or the Democratic party. As Zachary Taylor’s vice president, Fillmore presided over the Senate’s increasingly volatile debates on the Compromise of 1850, which he privately supported. When he ascended to the presidency upon Taylor’s death, Fillmore worked with senators to push through this complex bundle of laws, which included the Fugitive Slave Act. Fillmore’s enforcement of the new Fugitive Slave Act cost him the support of many Northern Whigs, and the party eventually nominated General Winfield Scott as its candidate, denying Fillmore the possibility of winning a term of his own.

Several years after leaving office, Fillmore sat for this portrait by James Reid Lambdin. An accomplished artist, Lambdin painted every U. S. president from John Quincy Adams to James A. Garfield.

Private collection