Zachary Taylor initially did not want to be President, nor did he even vote. He then decided to run and won on the Whig ticket. Becoming the 12th President of the United States doing so.
Despite being a slave owner himself, Taylor told California and New Mexico to apply for statehood. He told congress that they should be admitted as states even though they were both against the slave trade.
Taylor lacked much experience in foreign policy, so a lot of the time he struggled with other countries especially in Europe with arguments over debt, new land, and some other things. There was a lot of talk about Central America, and the idea of building a canal in Nicaragua connecting the two oceans together.
The last major thing to happen, was the Compromise of 1850. It was drafted to prevent attitudes of the free and slave states from fighting against each other. It's consider that this helped prevent the upcoming Civil War, which was a good thing too because Taylor did not have a long time left in his presidency.
Though he was only elected in 1848, and gained the role in 1849; Taylor died on July 9th, 1850. The cause of his death is unknown. Apparently on a hot day at a July 4th party, Taylor grew ill from the heat, and grew sicker. Some say he was poisoned, some blamed the awful conditions of the D.C. area at the time. The end of what looked like a promising Presidency.
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