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Title: Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest by K. Jack Bauer, Katherine E. Speirs ISBN: 0-945707-08-8 Publisher: American Political Biography Press Pub. Date: June, 1994 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $32.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Not much you could do with the subject...
Comment: Of all the presidents I have studied so far, Taylor could very well be the least deserving of the presidency. I think Mr. Bauer is a very good writer and historian, but Taylor is neither a very exciting subject or a very well-documented one (apparently many of his private papers were lost during a sacking of his plantation home during the Civil War).
He was essentially a very average intellect and not very creative either in his politics or his military acumen. Compared to other generals who have risen to the presidency (Washington, Jackson, Eisenhower, Grant), his military capabilities were very dim. His successes in the Mexican War, I think, were due more to capable, think-on-your-feet lieutenants than strategy-making onhis part.
This book confirmed the impression of Taylor that I had formed from reading other works about the era: that he was petty, defensive, couldn't control his temper a lot of the time and was politically naive (not necessarily a bad thing...).
I don't believe a man like him would have been elected today. He benefited from remoteness, little interaction with the press and letting other, more powerful politicians essentially run for him.
Like other presidents between 1845-1860, he also had the misfortune of being president during one of our most challenging periods and when the country was probably really run more by Clay, Calhoun and Webster. You couldn't do much in those days without their support and Taylor seems to have been too naive to either (a) recognize that or (b) go along with it. As a result he accomplished very little during his short tenure. I don't think he would have accomplished much more had he lived longer.
The book itself is well-written but not interesting. Again, I think that has to do more with the subject than the author and I wouldn't mind reading something else by Bauer. Still, if you need to read about Taylor, this is probably your best choice.
Rating: 4
Summary: Zachary Taylor - An Unlikely President
Comment: Zachary Taylor was one of the most unlikely men to ever serve as president of the United States. Self-educated, an average and conservative military leader and definitely not an intellectual, he was thrust into the limelight because of his success in the Mexican War. Although a southerner, Taylor opposed the extension of slavery and threatened dire consequences to secessionists. He died unexpectedly after serving only sixteen months as president. His death occurred just as he was reorganizing his administration and attempting a recasting of the Whig party. Mr. Bauer does a good job of describing the effect Zachary Taylor had on the nation as well as who he was as an individual.
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Title: James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse (2nd Edition) by Sam W. Haynes ISBN: 0321087984 Publisher: Pearson Longman Pub. Date: 26 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.67 |
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Title: Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President by Robert J. Raybach, Robert J. Rayback, Katherine E. Speirs ISBN: 0945707045 Publisher: American Political Biography Press Pub. Date: April, 1992 List Price(USD): $32.50 |
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Title: Franklin Pierce: Young Hickory of the Granite Hills by Roy F. Nichols, Katherine E. Speirs ISBN: 0945707061 Publisher: American Political Biography Press Pub. Date: August, 1993 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: John Tyler: Champion of the Old South by Oliver P. Chitwood, Katherine E. Speirs ISBN: 0945707029 Publisher: American Political Biography Press Pub. Date: December, 1990 List Price(USD): $32.50 |
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Title: Old Tippecanoe: William Henry Harrison and His Time by Freeman Cleaves, Katherine E. Speirs ISBN: 0945707010 Publisher: American Political Biography Press Pub. Date: June, 1990 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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