(signed in by John C. Montgomery)
Wednesday March 28, 1849
Athenaeum
Politics, Diplomacy & Law
Occupation: Lawyer and Politician
Residence: Buffalo, N. Y. [New York]
RECORD OF STRANGERS IMAGE
Volume 5
Millard Fillmore, January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874
Millard Fillmore was an American lawyer and politician. Fillmore served as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee before becoming the Comptroller of New York. He was selected by Zachary Taylor as his running mate, and was sworn in as the 12th Vice President of the United States on March 4, 1849, just a few weeks before his visit to the Athenaeum. Fillmore would assume the role of President following Taylor's death in 1850. During Fillmore's presidency, California was admitted as a free state and slave trade in the District of Columbia was abolished, but Fillmore continued to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act and return escaped slaves to their owners with the aid of federal officers. As a Whig, Fillmore was the last president to be affiliated with a party other than the Republicans or the Democrats.
Portrait courtesy of Smithsonian Open Access — Source
