Millard Fillmore

By Atlas MeyersThe 13th Presidency (1850–1853)

Biography and Memoir

History

Length44m

About this book

Summary

THE BANALITY OF CAPITULATION Millard Fillmore was the "accidental executive" who viewed the presidency not as a pulpit, but as a mechanism for legal maintenance. This volume examines how a Northern man became the jailer of the South's escaped slaves, believing that order was preferable to justice. Inside, you will discover: The legislative mechanics of the Compromise of 1850. The "Man in the Gray Suit" and the horror of the Fugitive Slave Act. The violent collision between federal law and the abolitionist mob. The imperial aggression of Commodore Perry in Japan. The annihilation of the Whig Party. Fillmore bought the Union a decade of time, but the currency he used was the integrity of the republic. This is a study of the moderate who tried to stand in the middle of a moral war, only to find the ground collapsing beneath him.