Rambling Thoughts about Millard Fillmore and Random Benefits of Reading History

The presidential biography reading project continues. But please remember as you read my “book reports” or rants as the case may be with our thirteenth president, that I am no scholar. I just want to write a few passing thoughts I have about these historical figures as I go. Plus, I can't help but think that after reading 137 pages about Millard Fillmore I know more than most people in my circles do about this poor excuse for a national leader. 

These days the presidents I'm reading are obscure, basically boring figures in their own right, but the time periods in which they served were anything but boring. They each in their own ways helped create the fertile environment that erupted into the Civil War—decades before the actual violence broke out. Fillmore is in no way an inspiring man about which to read, but I have enjoyed the way his biographer, Paul Finkelman, has written about the times. Finkelman has helped me to absorb the information that I have read multiple times in previous biographies. Reading in chronological order ensures that the same topics and events will be covered by different biographers and from different vantage points. Repetition is an educational tool.

Here's an excerpt about Millard Fillmore. It's really all you need to read to get a flavor for the man. Believe me, the casual reader is not going to be interested in any more than this. 

“Born in poverty, poorly educated, and utterly unsophisticated, Millard Fillmore is one of our most obscure presidents, and one of our worst. In 1848, this virtually unknown former congressman from Buffalo, New York, was elected vice president, and when Zachary Taylor died he became America's second 'accidental president.' He took office at a crossroads in America's history and his failures set the stage for the larger failure of politics that led to the Civil War. Fillmore pushed through the Compromise of 1850, obsessively enforced the oppressive Fugitive Slave Act, and was rejected by his own party, the Whigs, when he sought a full term of his own. Hostile to foreigners, non-Protestants, and abolitionists, he received his only presidential nomination in 1856, from the anti-Catholic Know-Nothing Party. He opposed Abraham Lincoln and was pro-slavery to the end; his neighbors in Buffalo considered in a traitor in the Civil War.”

I know I've written it before and it bears repeating. If you are feeling squeamish about the state of the country or the world these days, read some history. You'll be equal parts deflated and reassured by pretty much every era known to humankind. Why? Because the tomfoolery we are experiencing today IS NOT NEW. It feels new because we've only lived through this iteration of it. Reading history provides valuable time travel and the benefit of hindsight to understand what generations before us could not appreciate in their own time.

When one reads history, one is reminded that humans are humans are humans. It doesn't matter whether these people wore knee-high knickers and powdered wigs or trousers and tails, very human characteristics—insecurity, greed, selfishness, ignorance, ego—guide us no matter in which period of human history we live. And power or the pursuit of power magnifies these awful traits.

The excerpt above describes a president who both appalls me and helps me keep perspective on our current state of affairs. Whatever you may think of the past few decades' worth of men who have occupied the Oval Office, none could be reasonably described as the worst.

I've read this short volume pretty quickly because I am forcing myself to keep this project moving forward. (I do not want to be still in the midst of this project when I am 50—nine years from now.) But I have to say, besides the dry-ish material these biographers have had to work with, the time period makes me very sad. And sad reading makes for slow, apprehensive progress.

Before this project began, I would have said that everything about slavery was bad and distasteful and the Civil War was an egregious waste of human life for the Union and the Confederacy, but I wouldn't have been able to say much more about it than that.

Now I can tell you a little about the Fugitive Slave Act. It was an awful thing, and Fillmore's full support of it was even worse. It allowed slave hunters to whisk away black men and women who had long escaped captivity and thrust them back into a life of captivity and tortuous servitude without an opportunity to speak in their own defense. They had no chance to argue their cases, much less let their wives or families know what was happening before they were removed to the South. Many of these people had lived in the North for years. They had married, had children, jobs, and upstanding lives.

Northerners opposed the Act. They were affected by it too. They could find themselves in trouble with the law for having any sort of contact with a fugitive, even in cases where they had no idea that the person was a fugitive. 

Millard Fillmore was determined that the Fugitive Slave Act was followed to the letter of the law even though many people balked and asked for reasonable modifications. Nope. He wanted to be elected to his own presidency when Taylor's term was done, and he knew he needed the support of the South. Carrying out the Fugitive Slave Act so stringently was one way to accomplish that. Thank goodness his plans were thwarted and he didn't get the nomination. After he lost the Whig nomination, Fillmore joined the Know-Nothing party. Their platform was anti-Catholic. Fillmore said, “I have for a long time looked with dread and apprehension at the corrupting influence which the contest for the foreign vote is exciting upon our election.” Sound familiar?

I wonder if there's any chance that Millard Fillmore and Donald Trump are distant relatives. Since history has such an uncanny knack of repeating itself, I pray I won't have to one day read HIS presidential biography. There would be no valiant crossing of the Delaware captured in that one. 

To wrap up this post, I just want to say something about how reading history gives context to other reading I do. I am currently listening to the audio version of Elizabeth Gilbert's novel Signature of All Things, which is set during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Her novel is a sweeping story that spans generations and happens to discuss the abolitionists of the 1840s and 50s. I can picture this time period and her characters so much more vividly now because of the context I have from these biographies. I love how such different reading materials have the power to inform one another.

I look forward with anticipation to what I'm going to learn or understand better when I read about Franklin Pierce. Stay tuned.

#11 Read Four More Presidential Biographies - CHECK

Hi lovely readers,

I have procrastinated writing this post for more than two weeks because honestly writing about James K. Polk, U.S. President No. 11 seems about as exciting as reading about the man. That's a wordy way of saying I didn't enjoy learning much about Mr. Polk. But I am excited to cross off another item from the list, so my motivation has been reinvigorated.

Here's a bulleted list of some of the things I learned about American history whilst reading this short, but looonnnnggg, biography:

*Polk's presidency was made possible when the two presidential front runners, Martin Van Buren (for re-election) and Henry Clay (long time presidential aspirant and total grouch) spoke out against annexing Texas. They were out of step with what Americans wanted and their outspokenness cost them their careers.

*In the vein of "some things never change," Toqueville visited from France and "concluded that "religious insanity is very common in the United States." Separation of church and state, in those days as now, did not keep preachers out of politics."

*"Somehow he [Polk] is the least acknowledged among our presidents of great achievement, which is somewhat mystifying. He boldly exerted the influence of the presidency in both foreign and domestic affairs. He threatened war with the British to take from them a major share of the Oregon Territory, waged war against Mexico to grab California and New Mexico, and increased the landmass of the country by a third, creating a continental nation that reached from ocean to ocean. He reduced the tariff, permanently stripped public tax funds from the unaccountable and often corrupt control of private banks, and created an independent Treasury that was viable for more than 60 years." (page 1)

*One of the reasons, I'm not a fan of Polk: "Yet over a career that ran more than a quarter century, as state legislator, U.S. Congressman, Speaker of the House, governor and president, Polk seemed TO GROW OR CHANGE LITTLE AT ALL. [All caps are mine.] He knew what he knew about traditional Republican orthodoxy satisfied that he was true to his beliefs, and thus concluded he was indisputably right." (page 2) Boo to not growing or expanding one's experience. However...

*Here's something I can admire: "Polk believed that if democracy was to have meaning, the great mass of people were as entitled as the wealthy few to vote and to serve in high offices." (page 29)

*Polk's "Great Measures": "He would lower the tariff; He would recreate Van Buren's independent treasury; He would acquire Oregon from the British; He would acquire California from Mexico." (pages 102-103)

*"...Harry Turman published his list of eight great presidents and rated Polk, chronologically, behind Washington, Jefferson, and Jackson. "A great president," said the thirty-third chief magistrate of the eleventh. "He said exactly what he was going to do and he did it." (page 103) Yes, Mr. 33, but at what cost? Dare I ask.

*And finally..."Polk left office with no iconic image, no host of hero-worshipers, no hordes of admirers sated with his charisma. If his administration approached "greatness" - and most...agree that it did - it was on the basis of performance alone." (page 155)

So there you have it. A brief snapshot of the notes and quotes I copied as I read this biography. I believe I have entered the "boring stage" of this writing project. I am undeterred. I will trudge on, but first I will read more Anne of Green Gables and the book I've chosen from the high school reading list first. When those are complete, I'll be able to check off numbers 10 and 22 as well.

John Tyler President #10 - Recap

I continue to be grateful for stumbling on the American Presidents Series. They are well-written, interesting, and concentrate on brevity. This series may be the only way I get through this Presidential reading project before I turn fifty. Just nine years and 9 months to go. Whoa.

The John Tyler biography was written by Gary May.

President Harry Truman's family long believed that they were related to President John Tyler. He was relieved to later learn that it was another John Tyler and not the President that they were related to. Truman said this of President Tyler: "No one can charge John Tyler with a lack of courage. He resigned from the Senate because he did not agree with Andrew Jackson, but I can never forgive him for leaving his party to join the Whigs, or for leaving the Union in 1861." He also thought that Tyler "didn't amount to a great deal."

John Tyler's presidency held several firsts in American history:

1. First Vice President to assume the presidency upon the death of a president. Vice Presidents before Tyler had been considered not particularly important and would often stay home and conduct their own business away from Washington.

2. First President to become widowed during office. His beloved wife, Letitia, died within his first year of office.

3. First sitting President to marry during office. He remarried a woman thirty years his junior, Julia Gardiner.

4. First time impeachment was suggested. Rascally Henry Clay was behind these motivations.

John Quincy Adams had no use for John Tyler. Tyler's biographer included journal entries from John Quincy Adams's vast collection of journals. It turns out he was kind of cranky and whiny. Who isn't when he or she is writing in their own journal? But it was interesting to read Quincy Adams's views. He certainly had a unique vantage point having served as president.

After Harrison died, John QA considered Tyler "Acting President" only.

"But Tyler, within hours of his arrival in Washington, showed the Whig cabinet he was stronger than they had expected."

I was impressed with the speech Tyler gave to Harrison's, and now his, cabinet: "I am very glad to have in my cabinet such able statesmen as you have proved yourselves to be. And I shall avail myself of your counsel and advice. But I can never consent to being dictated to. I am the President and I shall be responsible for my administration."

LOVE THAT!

"Tyler must have been pleased with his first day as president. He established a precedent that would affect the future of the presidency long after he left office and he had managed to keep Harrison's government intact, which provided stability at a critical time."

John Tyler was the last Virginia president and had personal encounters with the Virginia Dynasty men. He looked up to these men. He was also a slave owner, and not a lukewarm one, like Washington (who understood that the practice was not right and not sustainable). He was southern through and through and believed in the institution as part of the fabric of the South.

DO NOT LOVE THAT!

I should be saying something about his role in the annexation of Texas. It was very important to him, but I got lost in the details. I hope that reading James Polk's biography will help me see it from a different perspective and have a better handle on it.

Here are two last quotes that encapsulate John Tyler's presidency:

"Tyler found himself on the wrong side of history, left the Union, died a traitor, his good deeds forever tainted by his final years."

"For good and ill, Tyler preserved and defended the office from those who wished to fundamentally change it. By boldly assuming the full powers and prerogatives of the presidency upon Harrison's death, he established what came to be known as the Tyler "Precedent," not only ensuring the orderly transfer of power in his time but by making the office "independent of death," guaranteeing that future accidental presidents could govern with authority.

P.S. According to this article, John Tyler still has living GRANDSONS. Tyler fathered children with his younger wife into his seventies and then one of his sons had children late in life as well. That is mind boggling!

William Henry Harrison – President #9 – A Recap

Poor William Henry Harrison. I'm not really a fan. His biography by Gail Collins notes in multiple references that he was very well liked by his contemporaries, which makes me feel worse about not really enjoying his story.

Here are some facts:

He was born in Virginia to one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

He and his wife had A LOT of children (ten) who with the exception of one lived to adulthood. (This is quite remarkable for that time period.)

He was a general in the military.

He caught pneumonia after his long-winded inauguration address and died 31 days into his presidency.

His grandson, Benjamin Harrison, would also one day become President.

Here's why his story got tiresome for me: He had a lot of mouths to feed, so he was in debt a lot. He would seek a better-paying government job to keep his family fed and to get himself out of debt. This was a cycle that repeated over and over again.

I was amused to read what President John Quincy Adams wrote about Mr. Harrison. “This person's thirst for lucrative office is absolutely rabid.” “The president judged the applicant 'a political adventurer' with a lively and active, but shallow mind.”

“Politically, Harrison's greatest achievement was to star in what is still celebrated as one of the most ridiculous presidential campaigns in history.” Harrison was the first candidate to campaign. Before that, candidates campaigning on their own behalf had been considered bad form.

“The story of how the Democrats sneered at Harrison as a pensioned-off nobody and how the Whigs, in response, created the Log Cabin Candidate is one of the most famous sagas in the history of ridiculous presidential campaigns...They quickly turned the log cabin and hard cider into a metaphor for Harrison's sturdy frontier virtues.”

This biography was also more difficult to read because by this point in the presidential time line the civil unrest and tensions that eventually caused the Civil War were coming into sharper focus. The issues of slavery and Indian mistreatment were discussed in more vivid detail than previous biographies, and I had a difficult time reading about these parts of life and politics in the United States. “And when it came to slavery he had been fairly consistent throughout his public life—decrying the institution while insisting that the slave owners had the right to continue the regrettable practice.”

I softened a bit when I read these sentences: “Championing America's veterans had always been, and would always be, his passion.” and “While Harrison became controversial in his various political activities, he was always personally popular in any society in which he traveled.”

The poor fellow's financial worries were made heavier by the poor choices of his adult children for whom he had to help on a nearly constant basis. When crushing debt or death overcame one of his children, he then had their children to take care of. Ugh.

I was grateful that this biography was short. I was ready to move on to President John Tyler. Spoiler Alert: Tyler is a far more interesting character. I'll be more enthusiastic about recapping his biography.

Rambling about a full week, presidents, new goals, and the 4040 list

My hair is wet. My make-up is half done. I have four sun salutations to do – all in the next 20 minutes, but I feel a need to blog, so the other stuff can wait.

I have had a busy past week: three-day migraine, follow-up appointment after a health scare last summer, Oscar party to attend, more than a dozen Girl Scout patches to sew on, the start of gymnastics for my daughter, Downton Abbey to catch up on, John Tyler (President #10) to read, a page a day to write of my ever-emerging novel-in-progress.

My head has been full lately! I cope best when I remember that life is cyclical. Some days will be hectic. Others will be blissful.

I've decided to keep reading the American President series –even for the big presidents like Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, etc. I am a slow reader and this project could happily drag on until I'm 50, but I have so many other things I want to do and experience that this seems like a good turn in my project. Then once I've read a good overview of them all, I can go back and read the David McColloughs and Doris Kearns Goodwins of the commanders-in-chief I'm interested in delving into deeper. This feels like a breakthrough.

It also means that I can likely make it through at least Lincoln this year. [Read: New Goal] Damn, me and goal-setting this year might be getting a little ridiculous! So NOW, if I read through Lincoln, THEN I can take a train trip [# 31 on the 4040 list] to Springfield, Illinois, and take in the Lincoln experience there. I love weaving this list into my daily life.

I have at least four blog entries in the queue. They are vying for my attention and time to sit down and contemplate them each. They are kind of weighty topics, so pardon my delay in getting them published. Just know that I love this writing pursuit and that there are dear people like you willing to wait and read!

It's time to head to my day job. Have a great day!

Presidents Day 2015

As I type this I am 13 pages from the end of William Henry Harrison's biography. I spent Presidents Day Eve leaving my visit with my 92-year-old grandfather prematurely and getting a head start on the drive home before an impending snowstorm threatened to strand my daughter and me in Southeast Kansas. Because of this last-minute change in plans, I still haven't finished the book.

I'll go into greater depth in a separate post about President Harrison once the 13 pages are complete and I've gathered my thoughts on his life. I'm grateful it's under 130 pages because I don't think I could read 300 plus pages about this man.

I also made a trip to the public library this evening to pick up the John Tyler biography on reserve. There's something very motivating about having the next president's biography waiting in the wings. I bet I'm one of a handful of Americans who actually THOUGHT about the presidents ON Presidents Day.

This particular post seems a must-do for a blogger who is reading her way through the presidential biographies. I spent a good amount of time considering what I would write as I drove in the blinding white glare of snow down the interstate.

How different life was for the first nine presidents. Consider how QUIET their lives were: no radio, no television, no automobiles, no electricity. That quiet seems especially appealing as I watched my daughter play basketball tonight and fought the pain of a migraine made worse by 15 bouncing basketballs and the obnoxious noise of a little sister's electronic device bing-binging awful game noises while she waited out her sibling's practice.

The biggest lesson this project has taught me nine times over is that THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A PERIOD OF TIME that could truly be called the GOOD OLD DAYS. This has been a source of comfort to me. Given the divisive, gridlocked political environment of today, it's nice to be reminded that this is not the first time the humans in charge of government have been small-minded, petty, and short-sighted. These complaints and so many more have been repeated over and over and over again. What makes it feel new and scary and THE WORST IT'S EVER BEEN is that this is the only time period we've lived through, so we don't have the benefit of historical continuum. Unless, you choose to read historical accounts of days gone by and then you are able to see the cyclical nature of humans and the government they endeavor to run.

Consider this passage by Gail Collins, Harrison's biographer:

“The urban world of 1840 America was a violent one and the excitement of a
political campaign tended to cause endless brawls; each side accused the other of
attacks. (It's possible that women did not mobilize to demand the vote earlier
because they connected elections less with the patient march of democracy than with
drunken fistfights.)”

Some things never change. They may take another shape or form, but change, no.

Reading these biographies has reinforced that every age is bestowed with nimrods and the wise, the insane and the balanced, the self-absorbed and the civic-minded. People have always thought theirs was the generation that was going to hell in a hand basket. And looky there, we Americans are still bumbling along doing the best we can for better or worse generations later. It's comforting and comical. It's inescapable and frustrating. It's also a relief. Other bad times have been lived through. If Americans of the past can persevere and muck their way through political tomfoolery, so can we. So can we.

Happy Presidents Day.

Martin Van Buren President #8 - Recap

The Martin Van Buren biography I chose was written by an author I'd never heard of. It is part of The American Presidents series. I am such a fan of biography giants David McCollough and Jon Meacham that I had the sense that reading biographies from this series was a bit of a step down. [Snob Alert!]

I could not have been more wrong. Aside from the fact that this book by Ted Widmer was under 200 pages, I sincerely enjoyed reading his take on the eighth president. I had braced myself for what my Brad-Dad called “the boring reading” of this project, but it never happened.

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., another giant in the world of history, is the general editor of this series and I really appreciated this excerpt from his Editor's note:

“Biography offers an easy education in American history, rendering the past more human, more vivid, more intimate, more accessible, more connected to ourselves. Biography reminds us that presidents are not supermen. They are human beings too,worrying about decisions, attending to wives and children, juggling balls in the air, and putting their pants on one leg at a time. Indeed, as Emerson contended, 'There is properly no history; only biography'”

I really love that. It helps frame for me precisely why I'm reading my way through the presidents. I am not out to become a presidential scholar. I just want to understand U.S. history better and exploring it from the perspective of the men who have led it seems one way to do it. I really had no way of predicting how enjoyable this project would be. Widmer's approach to Martin Van Buren will be a highlight of the entire project.

Between pages two and 41, Widmer had this reader on speed dial with her phone's dictionary. He used GOOD words like:

Velleity – a wish or inclination not strong enough to lead to action.

Quixotic – romantic behavior or following beliefs even though they are foolish or unreachable goals (I swear I have to look up this word every time I run across it. Maybe the definition with stick with me this time.)

Rodomontade – arrogant boasting or blustering, ranting talk.

Internecine – something that is harmful or destructive to both sides involved.

Perfervid – intense and impassioned.

Jingoistic – overly patriotic or nationalistic.

Bellicosity – warlike or hostile attitude or nature.

The word Calumny (slander) happened to appear in every biography from Washington to Jackson. Van Buren is the first time I did not read it.

Martin Van Buren was the first president from the state of New York and was the first ethnic president. His family was Dutch. He overcame incredible odds (he did not come from money, he was not a descendent of the English, he was not well educated) to make his way to the highest post in the country.

When a friend texted me that Van Buren didn't do a lot, so the biography would be a quick one, I texted back, “The author would argue VB deserves more attention than he's received.”

Van Buren “was a gifted legislator” and was easy to get along with “even his enemies admitted.” He created the Democratic Party. Widmer writes, this “was the achievement of a lifetime, and too many biographers pass over these years to get to his presidency. If he had never been elected, he still would have been important for his guerilla activity in the middle of the 1820s. He defeated more than an administration; he destroyed an entire system that had ossified and installed in its place something far more modern.”

Van Buren's presidency was the low light of his career. Soon after he took office, a great depression hit. “The Panic of 1837 was simply the worst financial catastrophe in American history until the crash of 1929.”

Of slavery, another difficulty Van Buren's presidency couldn't overcome, Widmer writes, “It was the most glaringly undemocratic idea in our history, so powerful that we are still wrestling with its legacy in the 21st century. But until Van Buren's administration, it was largely invisible as a matter of public discourse.”

The experience of reading Van Buren's biography was so enjoyable because of Widmer's ability to connect historical dots and highlight contrasts and comparisons with other presidents through U.S history. This is one of my favorite passages of the entire book: “It goes without saying we need our Lincolns and Washingtons – the United States would not exist without them. But we need our Van Burens, too – the schemers and sharps working to defend people from all backgrounds against their natural predators. For democracy to stay realistic, we need to remain realistic about our leaders and what they can and cannot do.”

What I learned about Andrew Jackson and American History

Mercifully, I was able to finish American Lion Jon Meacham's beautiful biography of Andrew Jackson in two months' time. It really is a great biography. Very well researched and tells a story rather than dryly laying out a bunch of dates and facts. But it was dense reading and so it felt like I'd read 40 pages in the span of the four I'd actually read. That is slow going.

My favorite and most-unexpected feature of this vast project is the way I get to see each of these commanders-in-chief from various perspectives and viewpoints. I felt like I was visiting an old friend each time John Q A appeared in Jackson's bio. And now that I've started Martin Van Buren's, I'll get to see Andy from a different vantage point. This is particularly fascinating and helpful when complicated or involved historical events take place. If I don't quite get the significance or the meaning of something I know that in the next biography (or two or three) the topic will be explained from a different writer's perspective, and I'll understand it better down the road.

That was the case with the Bank issue in Jackson's presidency. He was so afraid that the Bank and the men that controlled it would overstep their bounds and cause problems for the common man, so he eventually dismantled the bank and had all the money deposited in state-run banks. This was MAJOR political drama for the time and the Senate even voted to censure Jackson. I know I am oversimplifying the issue as I write, so I'll pay close attention to how the issue is positioned in the next biography.

Here are some other things I learned about Jackson and American History (in bullet form):

*Jackson was absolutely devoted to his family and he considered the country his family too.
*He was a man of contradictions, which is why people could consider him barbaric and others consider him loyal and endearing. He was all of those things and much more.
*The build up to the Civil War was DECADES in the making.
*Jackson was pro-slavery and actually thought the abolitionists were a threat to the “peace and harmony” of the country. Editorial comment #1: Whoa.
*South Carolina wanted to pick and choose which federal laws the state would abide by. Nullification became another huge issue for Jackson during his presidency. He was able to preserve unity in the country – for his time. This threw the United States into the brink of Civil War long years before it broke out in 1861. Editorial comment #2: South Carolina's take on things seems like bizarro-world to read. I'm now going to keep an eye out for how all of this spirals into civil war in the following biographies. My interest has definitely been piqued.

The author spent the final chapter discussing how Jackson and his presidency had inspired and influenced presidents that came after him. This quote from Theodore Roosevelt beautifully and fairly defines Jackson and his role in American history:

“Jackson had many faults, but he was devotedly attached to the Union, and he had no thought of fear when it came to defending his country...With the exception of Washington and Lincoln, no man has left a deeper mark on American history; and though there is much in his career to condemn, yet all true lovers of American can unite in paying hearty respect to the memory of a man who was emphatically a true American, who served his country valiantly on the field of battle against a foreign foe, and who upheld with the most staunch devotion the cause of the great Federal Union.”

Word Nerd's Word of the Day

I am a word nerd. There is no getting around it. I read my thesaurus FOR FUN.

So today I was reading a long passage, trying to make sense of a bunch of political stuff in American Lion, Jon Meacham's biography of Andrew Jackson, and came across the word solecism. It's kind of a great word meaning: 1. a mistake of grammar or idiom; a blunder in speaking or writing.

I've decided that since there are so many good, rich words that these presidential biographers use that us common folk are generally unfamiliar with, I'm going to start sharing the words I have to look up with my 300 rejection readers.

Please comment if/when you know the word of the day...or when you happen to be able to use the word of the day in regular conversation. This is what word nerds do for fun. Join in!