Customer Rating:  
Summary: A Good Biography, but Flawed.
Comment: John S. D. Eisenhower's biography of Zachary Taylor is the latest in Arthur Schlesinger's "The American Presidents Series." With some good research, Eisenhower presents us with a solid biography of America's twelfth president. As Taylor served only 16 months, he is often ignored when discussing the pantheon of American Presidents. Nonetheless, Eisenhower states that Taylor's presidency was a successful one (i.e. during his term, the Compromise of 1850 was brokered). Had Taylor lived, Eisenhower claims, the Civil War might have been averted. While I disagree with many of his premises (the Compromise of 1850 was brokered primarily by an ancient Henry Clay, and the Civil War, by 1850, was something of an inevitability), the short biography makes a good read.
But while Eisenhower's portrayal of Taylor is solid, his description of Polk leaves something to be desired. As a military man (John S. D. Eisenhower is the son of the famous World War II general, and attained the rank of brigadier general himself), one would naturally expect Eisenhower to have some animosity towards politicians. However, he takes it above and beyond in his characterization of President Polk. As Polk was a career politician, Eisenhower dismisses out of hand the idea that Polk would have any idea of how to manage or handle the war with Mexico. While certainly Polk was not a tactical genius, to simply dismiss him out of hand is beneath Eisenhower's profession as a historian. In addition, he makes absurd and absolutist claims regarding Polk's position on issues of the day. For example, on page 61, Eisenhower states that Taylor's victory at Monterrey "would induce the Mexican government to settle for a negotiated peace, conceding all the Mexican territory that Polk coveted." Eisenhower should know Polk did not covet all the Mexican territory. While certainly some men in the president's party did want all of Mexico, President Polk did not. This is just one small example of numerous other denigrations of Polk. All in all, such impugnments are below Eisenhower.
For a truly excellent biography of the 11th American President, I recommend Walter R. Borneman's Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America.
In the end, if you are looking for a quick biography of Taylor or to brush up on your history, you can't go wrong with this book. However, if you want a more detailed and fairer description of Zachary Taylor and the era, there are plenty of other excellent biographies out there.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Presidential Series
Comment: Another great addition to the Presidential Series. A slim volume and easy to read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A nice little book on a little known President.
Comment: John Eisenhower is a favorite author of mine. This is my forth book I have read by him. In this book, Eisenhower details the little known story of our 12th President, old Rough and Ready. Taylor may have been able to placate the South if he had lived longer. However the war and the stresses of office may have caused his health to worsen, and he died after 16 months in office. The miserable Millard Fillmore took his place, and then a succession of bad Democrats (Pierce and Buchanan). Eisenhower details the rise of this humble man who was both a soldier and farmer. His rather humble personality masked a shrewd man in both military and civilian politics. He assumed the office because people generally loved him.
This is a nice short read on our 12th President by a great author. I learned a great deal about Taylor and his place in the American Presidency.
Customer Rating:
Summary: President Taylor and his Virtues
Comment: To bring perspective to this year's eventful presidential campaign, I have been reading several volumes of the American Presidents Series edited by the late Arthur Schlesinger Jr., and Sean Willentz. Each volume consists of a short biography of one of our presidents, prepared by a scholar with a particular interest in him, together with an assessment of his achievements. There is much to be learned in these short books about American history and about the nature of leadership.
The series covers the great and important presidents, such as Washington, Lincoln. Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, together with the lesser-known and less successful presidents. This recent volume in the series by John Eisenhower explores one of the shorter and more obscure presidencies, that of Zachary Taylor. Taylor (1784 -- 1850) was the twelfth president of the United States. He served only 16 months (1849 -- 1850) before dying in office. Even though Taylor's time in office was short and uneventful, Eisenhower's book suggests that he has something to teach in our difficult days.
Taylor was born in Virginia but lived from his early years in Kentucky. Although not highly educated, Taylor became wealthy, owned several plantations, and was a slaveholder. Through mid-life, his life oscillated between military service and his plantation, including the desire for time with his family. Taylor earned a reputation in the War of 1812 and in several Indian wars. But his early military career had many long idle stretches. Taylor's life shows a certain restlessness.
Taylor's fame catapaulted with his success in the Mexican War, as he won impressive victories at Palo Alto, Monterrey, and Bueno Vista. He became a national hero even while quarreling with General Winfield Scott and with President Polk.
Taylor had not been politically active, but as a military hero, he let it be known he was interested in the presidency. But he distrusted political parties. Nominally a Whig, he would not commit to the party until forced to do so by a group of party leaders as a condition to the presidential nomination. When he identified himself as a Whig in a lengthy letter, Taylor was careful to note that he would consider himself a president of the people and would not mindlessly follow a party line. Taylor became president when he defeated the Democratic candidate, Lewis Cass.
The Washington insiders of the day probably believed that with his military backgound and political inexperience, Taylor would be malleable. And Southerners assumed that Taylor would be faithful to their cause. Taylor was himself a Southerner and a slaveholder.
Both the insiders and the Southerners underestimated Taylor. The new president did not support the extension of slavery although he had no intention of abolishing it in the states where it already existed. Taylor fought for the admission of California and New Mexico -- the prizes of the Mexican War -- as free states. With the impending admission of California as a free state, Congress, led by Taylor's fellow-Whig Henry Clay proposed a series of compromises to placate the South, including a strong Fugitive Slave Law. These compromises were enacted only after Taylor's death.
As with some other military leaders who achieved the presidency, Taylor made some poor choices for his cabinet which led to scandals at the time of his death. Taylor's administration had one solid achievement in foreign policy, the Bulwer-Lytton treaty with Britain which contemplated joint American-British control of a canal to be built through Central American. This joint project was never realized, but the treaty possibly averted a war.
As Eisenhower points out, Taylor's achivement lies in his stubborn independence. As did John Quincy Adams before him, Taylor took seriously his goal to be a president for an entire nation and not for a political interest group. Against expectations, he courageously tried to limit the spread of slavery while allowing it to remain in the states which already had it. Eisenhower points out that Taylor, had he lived, might have been the last president with the opportunity to avoid the Civil War.
With his short term, Taylor is remembered more for his military exploits as "Old Rough and Ready" than for his presidency. Eisenhower believes he is underrated as a president. But, Eisenhower concludes, "such judgments [as to the rating of a president] are relatively unimportant. For Taylor deserves to be remembered for something more important: he was a man of the Union, one who placed the interests of the Union as a whole above that of his own section of the country." (p.140)
In his independence and stubborness, Zachary Taylor's presidency showed the virtues of purpose,nationalism and unity. Thus, regardless of the outcome of our impending election, it would be valuable for our new president and for Americans to work towards instilling a spirit of patriotism, unity, and common purpose, regardless of political ideology, in meeting the difficult problems we face. This is the significance of Taylor's presidency as explained in Eisenhower's fine study.
Robin Friedman
Customer Rating:
Summary: Just the right size
Comment: If you have don't have too much time to devote to President Taylor. This is the book for you. Only here and there the author wrote more than I wanted to know.
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