Taylor was a career soldier. Starting with a commission as a first lieutenant, in 1808, he fought in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and the second Seminole War. President Polk sent an army under his command to the Rio Grande in 1846. When the Mexicans attacked Taylor's troops, Polk declared war. Taylor defeated the Mexicans, despite being outnumbered 4-1. He became a national hero and received the Whig nomination for President in 1848, although he had never even bothered to vote before.

Taylor earned a footnote in Presidential history before he even took office. His term of service was scheduled to begin at noon on March 4, 1849, but being a Sunday, Taylor refused to be sworn in until the following day. As Vice President Millard Fillmore also was not sworn on that day, as a result the nation in effect had no President or Vice President. Over a century and a half later, constitutional scholars and presidential historians differ as to whether David Rice Atchison, then President Pro Tempore of the Senate and under the law at the time next in the line of Presidential succession, was technically Acting President.

Taylor died in office after only 16 months, and was succeeded by his vice president, Millard Fillmore.

Related articles

• David Rice Atchison, who is thought to have held the Presidential position for a single day before Taylor was sworn in
• U.S. presidential election, 1848

External links

• Inaugural Address (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/taylor.htm)

Preceded by: James Knox Polk

Presidents of the United States

Succeeded by: Millard Fillmore