Millard Fillmore
The American Presidents Series
by Paul Finkelman
Mem. Ed. $16.99
Pub. Ed. $23.00
You pay $0.25
Millard Fillmore
In the summer of 1850, America was at a terrible crossroads. Congress was in an uproar over slavery, and it was not clear if a compromise could be found. In the midst of the debate, President Zachary Taylor suddenly took ill and died. The presidency, and the crisis, now fell to the little-known vice president from upstate New York.
In this eye-opening biography, legal scholar and historian Paul Finkelman reveals how Millard Fillmore’s response to the crisis he inherited set the country on a dangerous path that led to the Civil War. He shows how Fillmore stubbornly catered to the South, alienating his fellow Northerners and creating a fatal rift in the Whig Party, which would soon disappear from American politics. Fillmore himself would go by the wayside after failing to regain the White House under the banner of the anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic “Know-Nothing” Party.
Fillmore did have an eye toward the future, dispatching Commodore Matthew Perry on the voyage that opened Japan to the West, pushing for a transcontinental railroad and maintaining a strong U.S. presence in Hawaii. But his myopic vision led to the destruction of his presidency, his party and, ultimately, the Union itself.
Hardcover : 192 pages
Publisher: Times Books ( May 10, 2011 )
Item #: 13-349734
ISBN: 9780805087154
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.48inches
Product Weight: 9.0 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
January 27, 2012
Finkleman does not like Fillmore. All he talked about was what he did not like about Fillmore and almost nothing positive. I have read all of the presidential series so far through Fillmore and this is the first one i have read that is so bias as to make the reading worthless. Finkelman should not have been allowed to write this book for the presidential series. He sems to think it is ok for a president to pick and choose the laws he will enforce and if Finkelman doe not like the law then Fillmore should not enforce it. I would not waste my time reading anything else Finlelman writes.
Randy C.
Reviewer: Worthless 2
Worthless
May 28, 2011
Finkelman clearly does not like Fillmore and allowed his bias to drive this book. The author spend at least two thirds of the book discussing events unrelated to Fillmore, repeats himself often, and using suspect reasoning to show Fillmore in a bad light. At one point Finkelman states that the two respect historians that have written highly regarded books on Fillmore both said Fillmore was right to act as he had on a specific issue, Finkelman conclude “they were both wrong.” This is the second worst book in the American Presidents Series (second only to Appleby’s Jefferson). The only reason to purchase, or even read this book, is to complete the collection of the series. I will never consider Finkelman to be a serious historian.
Reviewer: Raymond S
A hatchet job on Millard Fillmore
April 29, 2011
This book is a hatchet job on Millard Fillmore. Rather than allowing his subject to live in his own times and judging him within standards and attitudes then prevailing, the author has committed the blunder of harshly judging Fillmore by 21st century standards. Since Fillmore did not live in the 21st century, this is obviously unfair. No one, including Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt, can hold up under this method of analysis. This book gives no useful insight into Millard Fillmore.
Reviewer: Russell M
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