Who was Millard Fillmore? No, really?

July 28, 2007

George Pendle’s hoax biography of Millard Fillmore sells okay — but Amazon lists 365,000 books selling better (July 28, 2007). That’s small solace to people who worry, as H. L. Mencken came too late to worry, about how hoaxes may spread. Mark Twain is reputed to have said that a lie can travel around the world twice before the truth can get its boots on.

So I was interested to find that somebody actually has a biography on Fillmore that ventures beyond the usual encyclopedia article. Big Mo’s Presidents Review featured Fillmore on July 15. According to the site, Big Mo is a journalist now stuck (or happy) in the corporate world. The biography is not so long that junior high (8th grade) U.S. history students will find it incredibly onerous, nor is it so short that it merely repeats the same old material.  It’s a good report.

 

Appointment of ____ to be ambassador to France; Fillmore and Daniel Webster signatures

The Big Mo report on Fillmore is good enough that other people are copying it wholesale (with attribution).

One gap:  Big Mo leaves out discussion of Fillmore’s boyhood, which is one area that students search on frequently, according to the statistics from this blog.  I think Fillmore’s early life, his change in careers after he threatened to kill the man he was indentured to if the fellow did not allow him to learn the trade, make some interesting discussion points about Fillmore’s character.  Minor quibbles.

On the plus side, he includes just about every image available on the internet, and cartoons about Fillmore, which are deucedly difficult to find in high resolution images.

Fillmore need not be a mystery.  Check it out.

7 Comments | History, Hoaxes, Millard Fillmore, Politics, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Harsh judgment on Millard Fillmore

July 23, 2007

Missed this on Presidents’ Day:  The Forgettable Millard Fillmore (in The Los Angeles Times) .

Maybe more odd, or more damning, it’s written by George Pendle, who has written a book, The Remarkable Millard Fillmore.

Which is Fillmore, remarkable, or forgettable?

Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Books, History blogs, Hoaxes, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Quote of the moment: Fillmore on sunshine in government, clarity in laws

March 25, 2007

Statue of Fillmore at Buffalo, NY, City Hall

Statue of Millard Fillmore at the City Hall in Buffalo, New York.

From Millard Fillmore’s second State of the Union speech, December 2, 1851:

The public statutes of the United States have now been accumulating for more than sixty years, and, interspersed with private acts, are scattered through numerous volumes, and, from the cost of the whole, have become almost inaccessible to the great mass of the community. They also exhibit much of the incongruity and imperfection of hasty legislation. As it seems to be generally conceded that there is no “common law” of the United States to supply the defects of their legislation, it is most important that that legislation should be as perfect as possible, defining every power intended to be conferred, every crime intended to be made punishable, and prescribing the punishment to be inflicted. In addition to some particular cases spoken of more at length, the whole criminal code is now lamentably defective. Some offenses are imperfectly described and others are entirely omitted, so that flagrant crimes may be committed with impunity. The scale of punishment is not in all cases graduated according to the degree and nature of the offense, and is often rendered more unequal by the different modes of imprisonment or penitentiary confinement in the different States.

Many laws of a permanent character have been introduced into appropriation bills, and it is often difficult to determine whether the particular clause expires with the temporary act of which it is a part or continues in force. It has also frequently happened that enactments and provisions of law have been introduced into bills with the title or general subject of which they have little or no connection or relation. In this mode of legislation so many enactments have been heaped upon each other, and often with but little consideration, that in many instances it is difficult to search out and determine what is the law.

The Government of the United States is emphatically a government of written laws. The statutes should therefore, as far as practicable, not only be made accessible to all, but be expressed in language so plain and simple as to be understood by all and arranged in such method as to give perspicuity to every subject. Many of the States have revised their public acts with great and manifest benefit, and I recommend that provision be made by law for the appointment of a commission to revise the public statutes of the United States, arranging them in order, supplying deficiencies, correcting incongruities, simplifying their language, and reporting them to Congress for its action.

Leave a Comment » | Freedom of Information, Law, Millard Fillmore, Quotes | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Tom Peters? Izzat you?

March 8, 2007

I posted it earlier today, and this photo bugged me:

Wax head of Millard Fillmore

Why? What was it that made that thing appear so familiar?

I finally figured it out. The good news: Business change guru Tom Peters will be pleased to hear that this man above, rendered in wax, Millard Fillmore, was once called “the handsomest man I ever met,” by Queen Victoria.

Why would Peters be pleased?

Look:

Tom Peters

Tom Peters

Or maybe this one better makes the point:

Tom Peters

Tom Peters

Uncanny resemblance, no?

Maybe Peters’ company could buy the wax head . . .

_____________

Update, October 9, 2011 — Upon reflection, I think Tom Peters the much more handsome man.  Mind you, the story is that Queen Victoria called Fillmore the “most handsome man” she had ever seen.  That was before Sean Connery, before Brad Pitt, before Clark Gable, before Morgan Freeman . . .

1 Comment | Business, Humor, Millard Fillmore | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Millard Fillmore’s famous quotes?

March 8, 2007

Some U.S. history curricula ran into Millard Fillmore — 8th grade in Texas, a few AP courses, perhaps. This blog is getting hit by people looking for “Millard Fillmore’s famous quotes.”

Here’s a word of warning, kids: You’ll probably get bad quotes if you hit the standard sites. The quotes listed on the quote sites and Wikipedia, I would not vouch for, for accuracy.

Instead, take a look at Fillmore’s State of the Union Speeches, and whatever else you can get from the New York State Library, Cornell University Library, or the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. You’re in an area that historians have not trod, much — which quotes do you think should be Fillmore’s “famous” ones? You get to decide, kids.

Drop a line here, and tell us which ones you listed, will you? This is your chance to write some history worth the reading.

Nota bene:  If you need information about Millard Fillmore’s childhood, this source at the Cornell University Library is the best I’ve found — in Fillmore’s own words.

2 Comments | Accuracy, Bad Quotes, History, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Millard Fillmore: Still dead, still misquoted, 133 years later

March 8, 2007

Millard Fillmore wax head A wax likeness of Millard Fillmore’s head, appearing to be for sale for $950.00.

March 8, 2007, is the 133rd anniversary of Millard Fillmore’s death.

Manus reprints the text from the New York Times story a few days later:

Buffalo, N.Y., March 8 — 12 o’clock, midnight. — Ex-President Millard Fillmore died at his residence in this city at 11:10 to-night. He was conscious up to the time. At 8 o’clock, in reply to a question by his physician, he said the nourishment was palatable; these were his last words. His death was painless.

First, I wonder how the devil the writer could possibly know whether Fillmore’s death was painless?

And second, accuracy obsessed as I am, I wonder whether this is the source of the often-attributed to Fillmore quote, “The nourishment is palatable.” Several sources that one might hope would be more careful attribute the quote to Fillmore as accurate — none with any citation that I can find. Thinkexist and Brainyquote charge ahead full speed. Wikipedia lists it. Snopes.com says the quote is “alleged,” in a discussion thread.

I’ll wager no one can offer a citation for the quote. I’ll wager Fillmore didn’t say it.

Millard Fillmore: We’d protect his legacy, if only anyone could figure out what it is.

1 Comment | Accuracy, Bad Quotes, Capturing history, Famous quotes, History, Millard Fillmore, Newspapers, Presidents, Quotes | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Millard Fillmore’s gravesite

March 7, 2007

Millard Fillmore died on March 8, 1874, 133 years ago tomorrow.

Of course, he is interred in Buffalo, New York, his base of political power and home where he practiced those civic virtues that got him elected Vice President and nominated President. There are people who visit presidential gravesites, and here is an account of one fellow who is working to visit as many as he can. Notice the snow. It is Buffalo, after all.

Fillmore’s dying words were reputed to have been something about the ‘sustenance’ being ‘palatable.’ I suspect that, as with so much else about Fillmore, the attributed quote is not accurate. I find the word “palatable” in a subhead of one of the death notices in a newspaper, but no reporter was present. Heck, I’m beginning to wonder about Fillmore’s State of the Union speeches.

What were Fillmore’s dying words, really?

Also:

Millard Fillmore's grave in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Photo by Keven Petersen, via FindaGrave.com

Millard Fillmore’s grave in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Photo by Keven Petersen, via FindaGrave.com

2 Comments | Accuracy, History, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

The Gospel about Millard Fillmore

January 31, 2007

Great title for a sermon, yes?

Does the sermon live up to the title?  The Rev. John Robinson preached the sermon on September 18, 2005, at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco — at least, that’s what it looks like from the sermon archives where I stumbled on the thing. Fillmore was a Unitarian, so that sect might take a bit of pride in his accomplishments.

One historian said of Fillmore: “He came to the Presidency by the only road available to a man of limited ability, the death of his predecessor.” He was accused of being both pro-slavery and abolitionist. It was said he did “not have courage” “but was just inflexible.” They accused him of having “no position except equivocation,” that he was “without personal earnest conviction, personal force, or capacity for strong personal leadership.” His general rating as a president has been, until recently, below average, way below. He is judged bad or poor in his religiousness by those who judge such things. He was rejected by the religious community of which he was a member. He was a Unitarian.

There are three reasons to tell the story of Millard Fillmore: First, he illustrates the on-going tension in our free religious community, between the prophetic and the practical – the privilege of moral purity and the necessity to make real world decisions. Second, he illustrates well how difficult it is to judge our contemporaries. And third, to help restore Millard Fillmore to his rightful place in history.

I wish the good Rev. Robinson had included footnotes with the sermon.

7 Comments | Accuracy, History, Millard Fillmore, Politics, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Fillmore’s writings on line

January 9, 2007

Manchester Union Democrat, Dec 8, 1852, with news of Fillmore's SOTU address

Manchester, New Hampshire, Union Democrat,
December 8, 1852 (?); with news of Fillmore’s State of the Union Address

Millard Fillmore was a grade school drop out. He took the path to a career that many in his day did — he apprenticed, and worked his way up. Legal education in his day (circa 1815 to 1825) required that one apprentice in a law office, to “read for the law.” In that way, Fillmore, who didn’t graduate elementary school, became a lawyer.

Lawyering requires words, of course, but Fillmore was no great writer than we know, especially compared to Teddy Roosevelt, who was a newspaper reporter, or John Kennedy, in whose name a Pulitzer Prize-winning book was published (controversy for another time; Profiles in Courage, (Perennial Classics Books, 2000). We might hope that some institution will undertake a collection of Fillmore’s legal arguments as they may be spread across New York court archives, much as the Lincoln Library has scoured Illinois for Lincoln’s writings and oral arguments.

We may assume that Fillmore participated heavily in the writing of his state of the union addresses, in a day when ghost writers were not listed in the staff books of the White House. So they would contain genuine Fillmore ideas and phrases. Fillmore’s three state of the union speeches are available at the Gutenberg Project.

I’ll be mining them for accurate quotes, you may rest assured. (Does he mention bathtubs in any of the speeches? No.) Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Abraham Lincoln, Accuracy, Good Quotes, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Happy birthday, Millard Fillmore!

January 7, 2007

Millard Fillmore was born on January 7, 1800.

Fillmore was:

  • The 13th President of the United States
  • The first Chancellor of the university at Buffalo now known as the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York
  • The “handsomest man I ever met” according to Queen Victoria
  • Namesake of one of the earliest capitals of Utah, Fillmore, in Millard County
  • Almost definitely NOT the person responsible for putting plumbing in the White House, especially for the first plumbed bathtub.

Happy birthday, Mr. Fillmore! We hardly know ye, still!

(Prof. Parker at Another History Blog worked to dog down the quote attributed to Fillmore that I mentioned Friday:  “May God save the country, for it is evident that the people will not.”  He could not confirm the quote, but at least as good and probably better, he offers a free history database.  Go see.)

5 Comments | Accuracy, History, History blogs, Hoaxes, Millard Fillmore | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Ordered the cake yet? Millard Fillmore’s 207th birthday coming up

January 5, 2007

Just a reminder that Millard Fillmore’s 207th birthday anniversary is Sunday, January 7, 2007.

How do you plan to celebrate?

Image from NY State Library

Did he really say that? “May God save the country, for it is evident that the people will not.” (attributed to Fillmore)

Update, January 6, 2007: Elektratig tried to source the quote, but cannot — posts that the line does not sound like Fillmore. At the end of the day, January 5, neither the New York State Library nor the good people at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society could confirm the quote. We may have to add this line to the list of Bathtub debunkings; but there are many sources yet to check.

Image: State Library of New York

13 Comments | Good Quotes, History, Millard Fillmore, Public education | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Accidental humor — Fillmore and Bush

December 26, 2006

Whitehouse.gov features biographical and other information on every president. As a baseline source of data, it works very well.

So, preparing for the anniversary of Millard Fillmore’s birth (January 7, 1800), I was checking details at the site, and I noted that it carried a “related links” box.

Millard Fillmore coloring book, done by a kid, from White House

Millard Fillmore is widely considered to be one of the worst, or most inactive, presidents in U.S. history. He was an accidental president, taking office on the death of Zachary Taylor. Trying to avoid controversy and confrontation he let fester many of the problems that would lead to the Civil War. He was a one-term president — his own party refused to nominate him for election on his own, in 1852. After the Whig Party crashed and burned, Fillmore accepted the nomination of the American Party, more commonly known as the Know-Nothing Party, in 1856. “Millard Fillmore” is shorthand for “failed presidency” in most lexicons.

So, what should we make of the box on the page, “Related Links,” which points to President George W. Bush? Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Accuracy, Millard Fillmore, Technology in the classroom | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Millard Fillmore hospital to close, perhaps

December 3, 2006

Millard Fillmore

Being named after the last Whig president this nation ever had doesn’t carry much water with a government cost-cutting commission in New York. The commission recommendd that Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo be closed, according to the Buffalo News.

Millard Fillmore counted Buffalo as his base of operations. The hospital was named after Fillmore in 1923, though the hospital dates back to facilities that first opened in 1872. Declining population in Buffalo has made traffic easier, the newspapers note, but also made it necessary to consolidate some public facilities.

Population declines in some places are temporary, like  recent now-reversed declines in Dallas and Houston. Other declines may be permanent, like some of those in west Texas. Into which category does Buffalo’s decline fall?

While one namesake of Fillmore closes, at the other end of New York, Moravia’s Cayuga-Owasco Lakes Historical Society has a gift from Nucor Steel which will allow the Society to construct a 25-by-40-foot building to house Fillmore memorabilia, according to the Auburn (New York) Citizen. Buffalo was the haunt of the adult Fillmore, but the nation’s 13th president was born in Moravia in 1800.

If I am not careful, this blog could become for Millard Fillmore what the old Salt Flat News was for that part of Utah and Nevada that includes the famous Bonneville Salt Flats. The area’s largest city is Wendover, a city that straddles the Utah-Nevada border. It is famous for long, lonely drives. And the slogan for the Salt Flat News which flourished in Salt Lake City during the 1970s was, “The only newspaper in the world that gives a damn what happens on the Salt Flats.”

Leave a Comment » | History, Millard Fillmore | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Fillmore’s bathtub — metaphor?

September 19, 2006

One of my searches turned up what appears to be a well-informed essay from 1999 by Wendy McLemore, “The Bathtub, Mencken, and War.” According to her curriculum vitae, the article originally appeared in a publication called Ideas on Liberty, “The Bathtub, Mencken, and War,” Vol. 49, No. 9 (September 1999).

While the article is available on the author’s website, I have not found a link from her blog to the article. So let me urge that you make a second foray, and check out her blog, too. A word of warning — while I haven’t found anything at the blog that is not suitable for viewing at work (NSVW), this is the subtitle the blog: “A site for individualist feminism and individualist anarchism.”

McLemore argues that Mencken was not merely fighting deadline, but was writing a close satire of the difficulties he had getting stories published during World War I that did not condemn Germans willy-nilly. She writes that Mencken was a great appreciator of German culture, and did not go along with propaganda that merely demonized Germany and Germans.

She also wrote that it was Andrew Jackson who introduced the bathtub to the White House, in 1834. This contrasts with the White House story I noted earlier, attributing the introduction of the tub to Fillmore’s wife in 1853. (Before my hard-drive crash, I wrote to the White House historian asking for a check of the veracity of that story. I’ve got nothing in response.) What is McLemore’s source for the Andrew Jackson tub?

We continue the search for the Truth about White House bathtubs. Go read McLemore’s essay.

Post script: Go see what Cecil says about Millard Fillmore, at the column archives for Straight Dope.

1 Comment | Accuracy, Bogus history, Fillmore's bathtub, Hoaxes, Millard Fillmore, World War I | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Portraits of the presidents

August 21, 2006

Small, painted, plastic figurines.

*

You need to see it to appreciate it — it has interesting historical data on each president. At January River.

(A tip of the backscrub brush to Inkbluesky)

* Yes, that’s our 13th president, Millard Fillmore. The January River site says it was Fillmore’s wife who installed the bathtub. . .

Leave a Comment » | Millard Fillmore | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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