Zachary Taylor

About Zachary Taylor

The twelfth President and second to die in office. Taylor was a military hero from the Mexican American War. He owned slaves but opposed the extension of slavery into new territories, putting him at odds with southern leaders. Taylor died suddenly in 1850 after serving only 16 months. His death may have altered the course of the slavery debate, as his successor Millard Fillmore supported the Compromise of 1850 that Taylor had opposed. Taylors sudden death led to theories of assassination, and his body was exhumed in 1991 to test for arsenic poisoning. Results were negative.