Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President

Robert J. Rayback

• Publisher: Rare Treasure Editions
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9798907971882
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

''Millard Fillmore: Biography of a President'' by Robert J. Rayback, originally published in 1959, is widely considered by historians to be the definitive, authoritative biography of the 13th President of the United States. The book is highly significant because most of Fillmore's official presidential papers were destroyed by his son, forcing Rayback to meticulously reconstruct his life and career piecemeal from over 8,500 pieces of surviving correspondence. Rayback shifts the traditional perception of Fillmore from a weak "accidental" politician into a modest, principled statesman of inner strength and tenacity. The biography details how Fillmore worked tirelessly throughout the tumultuous 1840s and 1850s to stave off national division, highlighting his role in passing the Compromise of 1850. Originally intended as an analysis of the rise and fall of the Whig party, the book provides deep context into the shifting 19th-century American political landscape. Rayback praises Fillmore's achievements—such as launching the Matthew Perry expedition to open trade with Japan—while objectively examining his major blunder of running on the nativist "Know-Nothing" ticket in 1856. The narrative traces his humble, self-educated origins in New York and his lasting civic achievements as a foundational figure in Buffalo, New York.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Chapter 1: “If thee has an ambition for distinction ...”
• Chapter 2: The Trojan Horse
• Chapter 3: Buffalonian
• Chapter 4: A New Departure
• Chapter 5: Antimason Into Whig
• Chapter 6: Nascent Rebellion
• Chapter 7: At the Altar of Mammon
• Chapter 8: Nativism and Defeat
• Chapter 9: The Comptrollership: Marking Time
• Chapter 10: The Road Back to Washington
• Chapter 11: “We could put up a cow …”
• Chapter 12: Toward the Compromise of 1850
• Chapter 13: President Fillmore Wrecks the Omnibus
• Chapter 14: Warfare: The Bolt of the “Silver Greys”
• Chapter 15: The Great Silence
• Chapter 16: The Lure of the East
• Chapter 17: Fillmore Obstructs Manifest Destiny
• Chapter 18: Self-Sacrifice: “The Hopes of Good Men”
• Chapter 19: Webster and the Baltimore Convention
• Chapter 20: Retirement to Grief
• Chapter 21: National Whigs Find a Host
• Chapter 22: Candidate of the Know-Nothings
• Chapter 23: Spectator
• Chapter 24: First Citizen of Buffalo