Chapter XI: Section 1: Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the (7)

In 1828, he was elected Governor of his native State, and entered upon the duties of that office, on the first of January, 1829; but he filled the gubernatorial chair for only a few weeks. In March following, when General Jackson was elevated to the Presidency, he tendered Mr. Van Buren the post of Secretary of State, which was accepted. At the expiration of two years he resigned his seat in the Cabinet, and was immediately appointed minister to England; but when his nomination was submitted to the Senate (June 25, 1831) it was rejected by the casting vote of the Vice-President (Mr. Calhoun), and, of course, he was recalled. As his friends attributed his rejection to personal and political rancor, it only served to raise Mr. Van Buren in the estimation of his political adherents, and the result was that, in May following, he was nominated, with great unanimity, for the Vice-Presidency, by the Democratic Convention, at Baltimore. His triumphant election was regarded not merely as a high compliment to himself, but as a wholesome rebuke to his opponents.

In 1836, he was put in nomination for the chief magistracy, to which he was elected, by a large majority, over General Harrison; but, at the next Presidential election, the tables were turned, and he only received sixty votes out of two hundred and ninety-four.

After his defeat, he returned to Kinderhook, where he remained some time, and then visited Europe, with one of his sons, whose restoration to health was the principal object of his journey. Not long after his return he consented to become once more a candidate for the Presidency, and, in 1848, received the nomination of the Free-soil party, but did not secure a single electoral vote.

_Election for the Thirteenth Term, commencing March 4, 1837, and terminating March 3, 1841._

===========================+==================+====================
| | PRESIDENT. | VICE-PRESIDENT.
A | STATES. +----+---+---+--+--+------+----+----+---
| | B | C | D | E| F| G | H | J | K
---+-----------------------+----+---+---+--+--+------+----+----+---
10 | Maine | 10 | | | | | 10 | | |
7 | New Hampshire | 7 | | | | | 7 | | |
14 | Massachusetts | | | |14| | | 14 | |
4 | Rhode Island | 4 | | | | | 4 | | |
8 | Connecticut | 8 | | | | | 8 | | |
7 | Vermont | | 7| | | | | 7 | |
42 | New York | 42 | | | | | 42 | | |
8 | New Jersey | | 8| | | | | 8 | |
30 | Pennsylvania | 30 | | | | | 30 | | |
3 | Delaware | | 3| | | | | 3 | |
10 | Maryland | | 10| | | | | | 10 |
23 | Virginia | 23 | | | | | | | | 23
15 | North Carolina | 15 | | | | | 15 | | |
11 | South Carolina | | | | |11| | | 11 |
11 | Georgia | | | 11| | | | | 11 |
15 | Kentucky | | 15| | | | | 15 | |
15 | Tennessee | | | 15| | | | | 15 |
21 | Ohio | | 21| | | | | 21 | |
5 | Louisiana | 5 | | | | | 5 | | |
4 | Mississippi | 4 | | | | | 4 | | |
9 | Indiana | | 9| | | | | 9 | |
5 | Illinois | 5 | | | | | 5 | | |
7 | Alabama | 7 | | | | | 7 | | |
4 | Missouri | 4 | | | | | 4 | | |
3 | Arkansas | 3 | | | | | 3 | | |
3 | Michigan | 3 | | | | | 3 | | |
---+-----------------------+----+---+---+--+--+------+----+----+---
294 |Whole No. of Electors |170 | 73| 26|14|11|147[5]| 77 | 47 | 23
|Majority 148 | | | | | | | | |
===========================+====+===+===+==+==+======+====+====+===

COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = Martin Van Buren, of New York.
(C) = Wm. H. Harrison, of Ohio.
(D) = Hugh L. White, of Tennessee.
(E) = Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts.
(F) = Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina.
(G) = Rich’d M. Johnson, of Kentucky.
(H) = Francis Granger, of New York.
(J) = John Tyler, of Virginia.
(K) = William Smith, of Alabama.

[5] Elected by the Senate.

Martin Van Buren, elected President, took the oath of office, and entered upon his duties, March 4, 1837.

Richard M. Johnson, elected Vice-President, took the oath of office, and attended in the Senate, March 4, 1837.

Urged by the unprecedented financial embarrassments which were experienced in every branch of industry, and especially by the mercantile class, Mr. Van Buren’s first measure was to convene a special meeting of Congress early in September, ’37, which continued in session forty days, but accomplished very little. A bill authorizing the issue of $10,000,000 in treasury notes was passed; but the Independent Treasury bill (the great financial measure of the administration) was then rejected, although afterwards (in 1840) adopted.

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON,

THE NINTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born in Charles City County, Virginia, February 9, 1773, and was educated for the medical profession at Hampden Sydney College. He graduated at a time when our north-western frontier was suffering much from the neighboring Indians, and, believing that he could be of greater service in repelling the savage invaders than in pursuing his studies, he accepted an ensign’s commission from President Washington, and joined the army. He was promoted to a lieutenancy in 1792, and his skill and bravery were highly commended by General Wayne, under whose command he was engaged in several actions. After the bloody battle of Miami Rapids, he was rewarded with the rank of captain, and immediately placed in command of Fort Washington. In 1797, he resigned his commission for the purpose of accepting the office of Secretary of the North-west Territory, from which he was elected a delegate to Congress in 1799.

When a territorial government was formed for Indiana, he was appointed the first Governor, and continued in that office till 1813. To his civil and military duties he added those of Commissioner and Superintendent of Indian Affairs; and, in the course of his administration, he concluded thirteen important treaties with the different tribes. On the 7th of November, 1811, he gained the celebrated battle of Tippecanoe, the news of which was received throughout the country with a burst of enthusiasm. During the war of 1812, he was made commander of the North-western army of the United States, and he bore a conspicuous part in the leading events in the campaign of 1812-13—the defense of Fort Meigs, and the victory of the Thames. In 1814, he was appointed, in conjunction with his companions in arms, Governor Shelby and General Cass, to treat with the Indians in the North-west, at Greenville; and, in the following year, he was placed at the head of a commission to treat with various other important tribes.

In 1816, he was elected a member of Congress from Ohio, and, in 1828, he was sent minister plenipotentiary to the republic of Colombia. On his return, he took up his residence at North Bend, on the Ohio, where he lived upon his farm, in comparative retirement, till 1836, when he became a candidate for the Presidency; and, although defeated on the first trial, four years afterward he was elected by a large majority, and inaugurated in 1841. But he did not long survive this crowning honor, as he died on the 4th of April, just one month after entering upon his duties. His funeral obsequies were performed on the 7th, and an immense concourse assembled to pay their testimony of respect. Funeral services and processions also took place in most of the principal cities throughout the country. As General Harrison was the first President who died while in office, his successor, Mr. Tyler, recommended that the 14th of May be observed as a day of fasting and prayer, and accordingly it was so observed.

_Election for the Fourteenth Term, commencing March 4, 1841, and terminating March 3, 1845._

====+===================+===========+=====================
| | PRESID’T. | VICE-PRESID’T.
A | STATES. +-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----
| | B | C | D | E | F | G
----+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----
10 | Maine | 10 | | 10 | | |
7 | New Hampshire | | 7 | | 7 | |
14 | Massachusetts | 14 | | 14 | | |
4 | Rhode Island | 4 | | 4 | | |
8 | Connecticut | 8 | | 8 | | |
7 | Vermont | 7 | | 7 | | |
42 | New York | 42 | | 42 | | |
8 | New Jersey | 8 | | 8 | | |
30 | Pennsylvania | 30 | | 30 | | |
3 | Delaware | 3 | | 3 | | |
10 | Maryland | 10 | | 10 | | |
23 | Virginia | | 23 | | 22 | | 1
15 | North Carolina | 15 | | 15 | | |
11 | South Carolina | | 11 | | | 11 |
11 | Georgia | 11 | | 11 | | |
15 | Kentucky | 15 | | 15 | | |
15 | Tennessee | 15 | | 15 | | |
21 | Ohio | 21 | | 21 | | |
5 | Louisiana | 5 | | 5 | | |
4 | Mississippi | 4 | | 4 | | |
9 | Indiana | 9 | | 9 | | |
5 | Illinois | | 5 | | 5 | |
7 | Alabama | | 7 | | 7 | |
4 | Missouri | | 4 | | 4 | |
3 | Arkansas | | 3 | | 3 | |
3 | Michigan | 3 | | 3 | | |
----+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----
294 |No. of Electors | 234 | 60 | 234 | 48 | 11 | 1
|Majority 148 | | | | | |
====+===================+=====+=====+=====+=====+====+====

COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = Wm. H. Harrison, of Ohio.
(C) = Martin Van Buren, of New York.
(D) = John Tyler, of Virginia.
(E) = Rich’d M. Johnson, of Kentucky.
(F) = L. W. Tazewell, of Virginia.
(G) = James K. Polk, of Tennessee.

William H. Harrison, elected President, took the oath of office, and entered upon his duties, March 4, 1841.

John Tyler, elected Vice-President, took the oath of office, and attended in the Senate, March 4, 1841.

Soon after his inauguration, President Harrison issued a proclamation, convening Congress for an extra session on the 31st of May, to consider “sundry weighty and important matters, chiefly growing out of the state of the revenue and finances of the country.” But he did not live to submit his remedial plans—dying, after a very brief illness, on the 4th of April, exactly one month after coming into office. He was the first President who had died during his official term, and a messenger was immediately dispatched with a letter, signed by all the members of the Cabinet, conveying the melancholy intelligence to the Vice President, then at Williamsburg, Va. By extraordinary means he reached Washington at five o’clock on the morning of the 6th, and at twelve o’clock the Heads of Departments waited upon him, to pay their official and personal respects. After signifying his deep feeling of the public calamity sustained by the death of President Harrison, and expressing his profound sensibility of the heavy responsibilities so suddenly devolved upon himself, he made known his wishes that the several Heads of Departments would continue to till the places which they then respectively occupied, and his confidence that they would afford all the aid in their power to enable him to carry on the administration of the government successfully. Mr. Tyler afterwards took and subscribed the following oath of office:

“I do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will, to
the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the
Constitution of the United States.
JOHN TYLER.
“APRIL 6, 1841.”

Pursuant to the proclamation of President Harrison, Congress met on the 31st of May, and continued in session until the 13th of September. On the 27th of July a bill for the establishment of “The Fiscal Bank of the United States,” passed the Senate by a vote of 26 to 23, and was concurred in by the House of Representatives on the 6th of August—128 to 91. President Tyler, however, returned the bill on the 16th, with his objections, and it was lost for lack of a constitutional majority. But the friends of a national bank were not to be deterred from their purpose by a single repulse: another bill (about the same in substance) was immediately hurried through both Houses, under the title of “The Fiscal Corporation of the United States,” but this shared the fate of its predecessor.

A Senate bill for the establishment of a uniform system of bankruptcy throughout the United States, was concurred in by the House on the 18th of August, and became a law; but, meeting with very general condemnation, it was soon after repealed.

A bill was also passed at this extra session for the distribution of the proceeds of the sales of the public lands among the several States, in proportion to population.

In 1842 an important treaty, adjusting the north-eastern boundary of the United States, was negotiated at Washington between Mr. Webster, on the part of this country, and Lord Ashburton, on the part of Great Britain.

During the last year of Mr. Tyler’s administration much excitement prevailed on the proposed annexation of Texas to the Union, which was strongly resisted at the North, on the ground that the South and southern institutions would thereby gain increased power in the national councils. A treaty of annexation, signed by the President, was rejected by the Senate, but measures were taken by which Texas was admitted the year following.

JOHN TYLER,

THE SUCCESSOR OF GENERAL HARRISON AS PRESIDENT,

Was born at Williamsburg, Virginia, March 29, 1790, and at the age of twelve years entered William and Mary’s College, where he graduated with distinguished merit five years afterward. Few have commenced life at so early a period as Mr. Tyler—he having been admitted to the bar when only nineteen, and elected to the Virginia Legislature before attaining his twenty-second year. In 1816, he was sent to Congress; in 1825, elected Governor of Virginia; and in 1827, became United States Senator; in which capacity he firmly supported the administration of General Jackson—voting against the tariff bill of 1828, and against rechartering the United States Bank. Notwithstanding this last vote, the friends of the bank, presuming upon his well-known conservatism, at the special session of Congress called by his predecessor, introduced a bill for the establishment of the “Fiscal Bank of the United States,” which passed both Houses by small majorities, and which Mr. Tyler felt bound to veto. But this did not dishearten the friends of the measure, who modified and rechristened their financial plan, which, under the name of “Fiscal Corporation of the United States,” again passed both houses of Congress, and was again vetoed by the President. Of course, a large portion of the party that elected him were greatly dissatisfied with his course, and their denunciation of his alleged faithlessness were “loud and deep.” To add to the embarrassments which were accumulating around him, all the members of his Cabinet, with the exception of Mr. Webster, resigned their places; but even this implied rebuke did not shake his integrity of purpose. An equally efficient phalanx of talent was called to his aid, and he had the satisfaction of seeing that his views were indorsed by a large number of leading statesmen. It has often been asserted that Mr. T. had pledged himself to sustain the financial schemes of the bank and its friends; but this has always been denied, and circumstances certainly warrant the conclusion that the assertion is unfounded. So gross and bitter were the assaults made upon him, that he felt called upon to defend himself from their violence; and, after declaring his determination to do his duty, regardless of party ties, he said, “I appeal from the vituperation of the present day to the pen of impartial history, in confidence that neither my motives nor my acts will bear the interpretation which, for sinister motives, has been placed upon them.” On the expiration of his official term, he retired to his estate at Williamsburg.

JAMES KNOX POLK,

THE TENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born at Mecklenberg, North Carolina, November 2, 1795, and there received the rudiments of his early education. In 1806, his father removed to Nashville, Tennessee, taking his family with him, and here it was that Mr. Polk pursued those preliminary studies which were requisite to qualify him for the legal profession. After due preparation, he entered the office of Hon. Felix Grundy, under whose able instruction he made such rapid progress, that he was admitted to practice in 1820. His duties at the bar did not prevent him from taking part in the political affairs of the day; and in this sphere his comprehensive views and zealous devotion to Democracy soon secured him a widely-extended popularity, which resulted in his election to the Legislature of Tennessee, in 1823. In 1825, while yet in his thirtieth year, he was chosen a member of Congress, in which body he remained fourteen years—being honored with the Speakership for several sessions. So well satisfied were his constituents with his congressional course, that he was elected Governor by a large majority, but some questions of local policy subsequently defeated his reëlection.

In 1844, he was unexpectedly nominated for the office of President of the United States by the Democratic Convention at Baltimore; and, having received sixty-five electoral votes more than his rival candidate, Mr. Clay, he was inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1845.

Soon after Mr. Polk assumed the reins of government, the country became involved in a war with Mexico, which was little more than a series of victories wherever the American banner was displayed, and which resulted in important territorial acquisitions. The ostensible ground for this war, on the part of Mexico, was the admission of Texas into the Union, which was one of the first acts of Mr. Polk’s administration. The Mexicans, however, paid dearly for asserting their frivolous claim to Texas as a revolted province, and the prompt and energetic course pursued by Mr.Polk was sanctioned and sustained by a large majority of the people.

But notwithstanding the advantageous issue of the war, the acquisition of Texas, and the satisfactory settlement of several vexed questions of long standing, Mr. Polk was not nominated for a second term—various extraneous matters leading to the selection of another candidate. Perhaps it was fortunate for the country and for himself that he was permitted to retire to the more congenial enjoyment of private life; for his health had become very much impaired, and he did not long survive after reaching his home in Nashville. He died June 15, 1849.

_Election for the Fifteenth Term, commencing March 4, 1845, and terminating March 3, 1849._

===+=======================+===========+===========
| | PRES’T. | V. PRES’T.
A | STATES. +-----+-----+-----+----
| | B | C | D | E
---+-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+----
9 | Maine | 9 | | 9 |
6 | New Hampshire | 6 | | 6 |
12 | Massachusetts | | 12 | | 12
4 | Rhode Island | | 4 | | 4
6 | Connecticut | | 6 | | 6
6 | Vermont | | 6 | | 6
36 | New York | 36 | | 36 |
7 | New Jersey | | 7 | | 7
26 | Pennsylvania | 26 | | 26 |
3 | Delaware | | 3 | | 3
8 | Maryland | | 8 | | 8
17 | Virginia | 17 | | 17 |
11 | North Carolina | | 11 | | 11
9 | South Carolina | 9 | | 9 |
10 | Georgia | 10 | | 10 |
12 | Kentucky | | 12 | | 12
13 | Tennessee | | 13 | | 13
23 | Ohio | | 23 | | 23
6 | Louisiana | 6 | | 6 |
6 | Mississippi | 6 | | 6 |
12 | Indiana | 12 | | 12 |
9 | Illinois | 9 | | 9 |
9 | Alabama | 9 | | 9 |
7 | Missouri | 7 | | 7 |
3 | Arkansas | 3 | | 3 |
5 | Michigan | 5 | | 5 |
---+-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+----
275 | Whole No. of Electors | 170 | 105 | 170 | 105
| Majority 138 | | | |
===+=======================+=====+=====+=====+====

COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = James K. Polk, of Tennessee.
(C) = Henry Clay, of Kentucky.
(D) = George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania.
(E) = T. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey.

James K. Polk took the oath of office, as President, and entered upon his duties March 4, 1845.

George M. Dallas took the oath of office, as Vice-President, and attended in the Senate, March 4, 1845.

The most important incidents of Mr. Polk’s administration were the admission of Texas and the consequent war with Mexico, the latter of which resulted in extending our territorial boundaries to the Pacific Ocean, embracing regions of incalculable value.

ZACHARY TAYLOR,

THE ELEVENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born in Orange County, Virginia, November 24, 1790, and, after receiving an indifferent education, passed a considerable portion of his boyhood amid the stirring scenes which were being enacted at that time on our western border. In 1808, he was appointed a lieutenant in the United States infantry, and subsequently was promoted to a captaincy for his efficient services against the Indians. Soon after the declaration of war, in 1812, he was placed in command of Fort Harrison, which he so gallantly defended with a handful of men against the attack of a large body of savages, as to win the brevet rank of major. So familiar did he become with the Indian character, and with the mode of warfare of that wily foe, that his services at the West and South were deemed indispensable in the subjugation and removal of several hostile tribes. While effecting these desirable objects, he was occasionally rewarded for his toils and sacrifices by gradual promotion, and in 1840 attained the rank of brigadier-general. At the commencement of the troubles with Mexico, in 1845, he was ordered to occupy a position on the American side of the Rio Grande, but not to cross that river unless attacked by the Mexicans. He was not, however, allowed to remain long in repose: the enemy, by attacking Fort Brown, which he had built on the Rio Grande, opposite Matamoras, soon afforded him an opportunity to display his skill and valor, and gloriously did he improve it. The brilliant battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, where he contended successfully against fearful odds, were precursors to a series of victories which have few parallels in military annals. The attack on Matamoras, the storming of Monterey, the sanguinary contest at Buena Vista, and the numerous skirmishes in which he was engaged, excited universal admiration; and on his return home, after so signally aiding to “conquer a peace” with Mexico, he was everywhere received with the most gratifying demonstrations of respect and affection. In 1848, General Taylor received the nomination of the Whig party for the office of President of the United States, and, being elected, was inaugurated the year following. But the cares and responsibilities of this position were greater than his constitution could endure, hardened as it had been both in Indian and civilized warfare. After the lapse of little more than a year from the time he entered upon his new career, he sunk under its complicated trials, and his noble spirit sought refuge in a more congenial sphere, July 9, 1850.

_Election for the Sixteenth Term, commencing March 4, 1849, and terminating March 3, 1851._

===+=======================+===========+===========
| | PRES’T. | V. PRES’T.
A | STATES. +-----+-----+-----+-----
| | B | C | D | E
---+-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----
9 | Maine | | 9 | | 9
6 | New Hampshire | | 6 | | 6
12 | Massachusetts | 12 | | 12 |
4 | Rhode Island | 4 | | 4 |
6 | Connecticut | 6 | | 6 |
6 | Vermont | 6 | | 6 |
36 | New York | 36 | | 36 |
7 | New Jersey | 7 | | 7 |
26 | Pennsylvania | 26 | | 26 |
3 | Delaware | 3 | | 3 |
8 | Maryland | 8 | | 8 |
17 | Virginia | | 17 | | 17
11 | North Carolina | 11 | | 11 |
9 | South Carolina | | 9 | | 9
10 | Georgia | 10 | | 10 |
12 | Kentucky | 12 | | 12 |
13 | Tennessee | 13 | | 13 |
23 | Ohio | | 23 | | 23
6 | Louisiana | 6 | | 6 |
6 | Mississippi | | 6 | | 6
12 | Indiana | | 12 | | 12
9 | Illinois | | 9 | | 9
9 | Alabama | | 9 | | 9
7 | Missouri | | 7 | | 7
3 | Arkansas | | 3 | | 3
5 | Michigan | | 5 | | 5
3 | Florida | 3 | | 3 |
4 | Texas | | 4 | | 4
4 | Iowa | | 4 | | 4
4 | Wisconsin | | 4 | | 4
---+-----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----
290 | Whole No. of Electors | 163 | 127 | 163 | 127
| Majority 146 | | | |
===+=======================+=====+=====+=====+=====

COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana.
(C) = Lewis Cass, of Michigan.
(D) = Millard Fillmore, of New York.
(E) = William O. Butler, of Kentucky.

Zachary Taylor took the oath of office, as President, and entered upon his duties March 4, 1849. He did not, however, long enjoy his honors—death suddenly closing his earthly career, July 9, 1850.

Millard Fillmore took the oath of office, as Vice-President, and entered upon his duties March 4, 1849. Congress being in session at the time President Taylor died, the Vice-President sent a message to both houses on the 10th of July, in which he feelingly announced the melancholy event. On the same day he took the requisite oath, and entered on the execution of the office of President.

Willie P. Mangum, of N. C., President _pro tem_ of the Senate, acted as Vice-President, _ex officio_, the remainder of the term.

MILLARD FILLMORE,

THE SUCCESSOR OF GENERAL TAYLOR AS PRESIDENT,

Was born at Summer Hill, Cayuga County, New York, January 7, 1800, and did not enjoy the advantages of any other education than what he derived from the then inefficient common schools of the county. At an early age he was sent into the wilds of Livingston County to learn a trade, and here he soon attracted the attention of a friend, who placed him in a lawyer’s office—thus opening a new, and what was destined to be a most honorable and distinguished career. In 1827, he was admitted as an attorney, and two years afterward as counselor in the Supreme Court. Soon attracting attention, he established himself at Buffalo, where his talents and business habits secured him an extended practice.

His first entrance into public life was in January, 1829, when he took his seat as a member of the Assembly from Erie County. At this time he distinguished himself for his untiring opposition to imprisonment for debt, and to this are the people indebted in a great degree for the expunging of this relic of barbarism from the statute book. Having gained a high reputation for legislative capacity, in 1833, he was elected a member of the National House of Representatives; and on the assembling of the Twenty-seventh Congress, to which he was reëlected by a larger majority than was ever given to any person in his district, he was placed in the arduous position of Chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means. The measures which he brought forward and sustained with matchless ability, speedily relieved the government from its existing pecuniary embarrassments. In 1847, he was elected Comptroller of the State of New York by a larger majority than had ever been given to any State officer for many years. In 1848, he was selected as a candidate for Vice-President, General Taylor heading the ticket. On his election to that high office, he resigned his position as Comptroller, and entered upon his duties as President of the United States Senate. The courtesy, ability, and dignity exhibited by him, while presiding over the deliberations of that body, received general commendation. Upon the sudden death of Gen. Taylor, he became President, and promptly selected a cabinet, distinguished for its ability, patriotism, and devotion to the Union, and possessing, in an eminent degree, the confidence of the country.

After serving out the constitutional term, Mr. Fillmore returned to Buffalo, and again resumed those pursuits which had prepared the way to the elevated position from which he had just retired. He was welcomed home by troops of friends, with whom he still continues to enjoy an unabated popularity.

It should be borne in mind by every aspiring young man, that Mr. Fillmore is entirely indebted to his own exertions for his success in life. From a very humble origin, he attained the highest office in the world, climbing the rugged steep of fame step by step, with indefatigable industry and untiring perseverance, until he at length gained the summit, where he is long likely to enjoy his well-earned position.

FRANKLIN PIERCE,

THE TWELFTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born at Hillsborough, N. H., November 23, 1804, and early received the advantage of a liberal education. After going through a regular collegiate course at Bowdoin College, which he entered at the age of sixteen, he became a law student in the office of Judge Woodbury, at Portsmouth, whence he was transferred to the law school at Northampton, where he remained two years, and then finished his studies with Judge Parker, at Amherst. Although his rise at the bar was not rapid, by degrees he attained the highest rank as a lawyer and advocate.

In 1829, he was elected to represent his native town in the State Legislature, where he served four years, during the two last of which he held the speakership, and discharged the duties of the office with universal satisfaction.

From 1833 to 1837, he represented his State in Congress, and was then elected to the United States Senate, having barely reached the requisite age to qualify him for a seat in that body.

In 1834, he married Miss Jane Means, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Appleton, formerly President of Bowdoin College, soon after which he removed to Concord, where he still holds a residence. He was reëlected at the expiration of his senatorial term, but resigned his seat the year following, for the purpose of devoting himself exclusively to his legal business, which had become so extensive as to require all his attention.

In 1846, he declined the office of Attorney-General, tendered him by President Polk; but when the war with Mexico broke out, he was active in raising the New England regiments of volunteers; and afterward accepted the commission of Brigadier-General, with which he at once repaired to the field of operations, where he distinguished himself in several hard-fought battles. At Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec he displayed an ardor in his country’s cause which extorted praise from his most inveterate political opponents; and on his return home he was everywhere received with gratifying evidences that his services were held in grateful remembrance by the people.

At the Democratic Convention, held in Baltimore in 1852, after trying in vain to concentrate their votes on a more prominent candidate, that body unexpectedly nominated General Pierce for the office of President of the United States, to which he was elected by an unprecedented majority over his rival, General Scott—receiving 254 votes out of 296. He was duly inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1853, and his administration was more remarkable for its futile attempts to reconcile conflicting interests, than for the achievement of any particular measure of great public utility. However, it will better become his future than his present biographer to “speak of him as he is; nor aught extenuate, nor aught set down in malice.”

_Election for the Seventeenth Term, commencing March 4, 1853, and terminating March 3, 1857._

====+=========================+===========+===========
| | PRES’T. | V. PRES’T.
A | STATES. +-----+-----+-----+-----
| | B | C | D | E
----+-------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----
8 | Maine | 8 | | 8 |
5 | New Hampshire | 5 | | 5 |
13 | Massachusetts | | 13 | | 13
4 | Rhode Island | 4 | | 4 |
6 | Connecticut | 6 | | 6 |
5 | Vermont | | 5 | | 5
35 | New York | 35 | | 35 |
7 | New Jersey | 7 | | 7 |
27 | Pennsylvania | 27 | | 27 |
3 | Delaware | 3 | | 3 |
8 | Maryland | 8 | | 8 |
15 | Virginia | 15 | | 15 |
10 | North Carolina | 10 | | 10 |
8 | South Carolina | 8 | | 8 |
10 | Georgia | 10 | | 10 |
12 | Kentucky | | 12 | | 12
12 | Tennessee | | 12 | | 12
23 | Ohio | 23 | | 23 |
6 | Louisiana | 6 | | 6 |
7 | Mississippi | 7 | | 7 |
13 | Indiana | 13 | | 13 |
11 | Illinois | 11 | | 11 |
9 | Alabama | 9 | | 9 |
9 | Missouri | 9 | | 9 |
4 | Arkansas | 4 | | 4 |
6 | Michigan | 6 | | 6 |
3 | Florida | 3 | | 3 |
4 | Texas | 4 | | 4 |
4 | Iowa | 4 | | 4 |
5 | Wisconsin | 5 | | 5 |
4 | California | 4 | | 4 |
----+-------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----
296 | Whole No. of Electors | 254 | 42 | 254 | 42
| Majority 149 | | | |
====+=========================+=====+=====+=====+=====

COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire.
(C) = Winfield Scott, of New Jersey.
(D) = William R. King, of Alabama.
(E) = Wm. A. Graham, of North Carolina.

Franklin Pierce took the oath of office, as President, and entered upon his duties March 4, 1853.

The oath of office was administered to William R. King by a commission while he was on a visit to Cuba for the benefit of his health; but he died soon after his return home, and Jesse D. Bright, of Indiana, then President of the Senate, acted as Vice-President, _ex officio_, during the remainder of the term.

John P. Hale, of N. H., and George W. Julian, of Ind., were nominated by the “Free Democracy” for President and Vice-President, but they did not receive a single electoral vote.

JAMES BUCHANAN,

THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

For the high position he so long maintained in the political affairs of this country, Mr. Buchanan is not alone indebted to his early and thorough education, but his entire devotion to whatever he undertook, and his perseverance in surmounting obstacles which would have intimidated less determined minds, had a large share in promoting his advancement. He is of Irish parentage, and was born at Stony Batter, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791. At the age of seven years, he removed with his father’s family to Mercersburg, and there received an education that fitted him for entering Dickinson College, in 1805, where he graduated two years afterward with the highest honors. He then studied law with James Hopkins, of Lancaster, and in 1812 was admitted to the bar, at which he attained a high rank and commanded an extensive practice.

In 1814, he commenced political life as a member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature, and in 1820 was sent as a Representative to Congress, where he remained for ten years—at the expiration of which he declined a re-nomination.

In 1831, he was appointed minister to Russia by President Jackson, of whom he was always the consistent friend and supporter, and he negotiated a commercial treaty which proved of great advantage to American commerce.

In December, 1834, having been elected to the United States Senate, he took his seat in that body, and continued one of its most efficient members until 1845, when he accepted the office of Secretary of State, under Mr. Polk. He held this responsible place until the expiration of Mr. Polk’s term of service, when he returned home to repose awhile. But he did not, by any means, become an idle spectator in passing events; his letters and speeches show that he was no less vigilant as a private citizen, than as a counselor in the Cabinet, or a Representative and Senator in Congress.

On the accession of Mr. Pierce to the Presidency, in 1853, Mr. Buchanan was appointed minister to England, with which country questions were then pending that required great prudence and discrimination for their satisfactory adjustment. In his intercourse with the British diplomatists he was not only discreet, but displayed sound sense, courtly forbearance, a just assertion of our rights, and the true dignity of the American character. So entirely unexceptionable was his whole course while abroad, that, on his return to this country, in April, 1856—he landed in New York on the sixty-fifth anniversary of his birthday—he was received with an enthusiasm seldom accorded to political men.

In June, 1856, Mr. Buchanan was nominated by the Democratic Convention at Cincinnati, as a candidate for the Presidency; and although there were powerful political elements arrayed against him in the succeeding campaign, he was triumphantly elected to that responsible and honorable office.

His administration was attended with unusual difficulties—difficulties which it would seem he was not fully able to meet. The troubles in Kansas, arising from the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and the opposition made to his views touching the admission of Kansas with the Lecompton Constitution, by the Douglas wing of the Democratic party, were matters of sore vexation to him, and tended greatly to unpopularize the latter part of his public life. But these were considerations of small moment as compared to the embarrassment which the Government suffered in consequence of the treacherous intrigues of some of the members of his Cabinet. His Secretary of War and Secretary of the Treasury, afterward so conspicuous in the great Rebellion, were particularly instrumental in crippling the pecuniary and military resources of the country, and turning them to the benefit of the South. When treason began to assume a threatening attitude, Buchanan declared against the right of secession, but at the same time denied the right of coercion by the Government. This, perhaps, is the most inconsistent, inexplicable position ever taken by any of the nation’s chief rulers. On the 4th of March, 1861, Mr. Buchanan retired from the Presidency, leaving to his successor the highly perplexing task of setting to right the machinery of a government crippled and weakened in all its parts, and fully ripe for the most gigantic civil war known to history.

It was, at one time, presumed by many that Mr. Buchanan was not only encouraging the rebellion by his weak, indecisive policy toward armed traitors, and by winking at the thieving proceedings of some of his Cabinet officers, but that he was himself leagued with the leaders of the secession movement, and secretly acted in unison with them.

While it is true that the unhindered appropriation of millions of treasure to the furtherance of rebellious schemes, and the large deposit of choice arms made in Southern arsenals, would indicate an affiliation of the President with the chief rebels of the South, yet there has never been adduced any direct proof of such affiliation; and nothing said or done by Mr. Buchanan since his retirement shows active sympathy with the Rebellion. There is, however, evidence on every hand of weakness—an element of character he never manifested prior to his executive career—of that negative disposition which will, under circumstances such as surrounded him during the latter part of his administration, wholly unfit a man for the performance of his duties.

The subject of the present sketch would, doubtless, have been a very good executive at a period when the country was undisturbed by sectional agitation; at a time when there were no conflicting local interests to stir up and embitter South against North. But the exigencies of the period during which he sat at the helm of state demanded a man who could take hold with a strong hand; a man of Jacksonian character, who, with the loftiest political integrity and most devoted loyalty, combined a Napoleonic will; a man who, foreseeing the certain results of the pursuits of a conciliatory course with rebellion, would have given it a decisive blow in its very infancy.

But it seems that Mr. Buchanan proposed to deal with secessionists as an over-fond, weak-minded mother deals with a spoiled child—scolding and coaxing alternately, satisfied to exhibit her authority by the former, and confident that she can reform her fondling by the latter. Perhaps he may be partially excused by some in consideration of the debt of gratitude he felt he owed to the Southern States, for the valuable services they had rendered him in his election. But a truly great executive never allows his feelings to interfere with the performance of duty. The life of the nation was in jeopardy; that grand superstructure, the American Government, whose foundation stones had been cemented by the sacred blood of the Revolutionary sires, whose columns had been reared by the wisest, purest statesmen the world ever saw, and about whose lofty dome the brightest seraphs of Heaven chanted their sweetest lays—that great temple around which clustered the hopes of the liberty-loving world, was threatened with destruction, and there can hardly be any excuse for him who, having the power to save, refused to adopt such decisive measures as were essential to salvation.

It is true that the Southern people had acted a very important part in the election of Mr. Buchanan, but it is very far from being true that a majority of these people were in favor of secession. The great Democratic party was not a party of traitors, either North or South. The masses of the people of the Southern States were by no means desirous of severing their connection with the Government of the United States, as was amply testified in the overwhelming Union majorities given in North Carolina, Tennessee, and other Southern States, even after South Carolina had sloughed off, and all the preliminary steps had been taken by the leading secessionists toward the formation of a Southern Confederacy. And there is no doubt that had Mr. Buchanan taken hold of the rebellion, while it was in the larva, with that determination to crush it which the great Jackson exhibited when South Carolina proposed her scheme of nullification, it had never seen its winged existence.

Buchanan’s administration, in one respect, may possibly yet be productive of good, in that it may serve to impress the people with the importance of selecting a man for the chief magistracy who loves the right and dares to do it.

He only survived the close of the war about three years, as he died on the 1st of June, 1868, in the 77th year of his age.

_Election for the Eighteenth Term, commencing March 4, 1857, and terminating March 3, 1861._

====+===================+==============+===================
| | PRESIDENT. | VICE-PRES’T.
A | STATES. +-----+-----+--+--+-----+----+-----
| | B | C | D | E | F | G
----+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
8 | Maine | | 8 | | | 8 |
5 | New Hampshire | | 5 | | | 5 |
13 | Massachusetts | | 13 | | | 13 |
4 | Rhode Island | | 4 | | | 4 |
6 | Connecticut | | 6 | | | 6 |
5 | Vermont | | 5 | | | 5 |
35 | New York | | 35 | | | 35 |
7 | New Jersey | 7 | | | 7 | |
27 | Pennsylvania | 27 | | | 27 | |
3 | Delaware | 3 | | | 3 | |
8 | Maryland | | | 8 | | | 8
15 | Virginia | 15 | | | 15 | |
10 | North Carolina | 10 | | | 10 | |
8 | South Carolina | 8 | | | 8 | |
10 | Georgia | 10 | | | 10 | |
12 | Kentucky | 12 | | | 12 | |
12 | Tennessee | 12 | | | 12 | |
23 | Ohio | | 23 | | | 23 |
6 | Louisiana | 6 | | | 6 | |
7 | Mississippi | 7 | | | 7 | |
13 | Indiana | 13 | | | 13 | |
11 | Illinois | 11 | | | 11 | |
9 | Alabama | 9 | | | 9 | |
9 | Missouri | 9 | | | 9 | |
4 | Arkansas | 4 | | | 4 | |
6 | Michigan | | 6 | | | 6 |
3 | Florida | 3 | | | 3 | |
4 | Texas | 4 | | | 4 | |
4 | Iowa | | 4 | | | 4 |
5 | Wisconsin[6] | | 5 | | | 5 |
4 | California | 4 | | | 4 | |
----+-------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----
296 |No. of Electors | 174 | 114 | 8 | 174 | 114 | 8
|Majority 149 | | | | | |
====+===================+====+====+====+====+====+====+====

COLUMN HEADINGS:
(A) = No. of Electors from each State.
(B) = James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania.
(C) = John C. Fremont, of New York.
(D) = Millard Fillmore, of New York.
(E) = John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky.
(F) = William L. Dayton, of New Jersey.
(G) = Andrew J. Donelson, of Tennessee.

[6] When the Electoral votes were being counted, in Joint Convention of the Senate and House of Representatives, objections were made to including the votes of Wisconsin, because the electors did not meet until the day after that prescribed by law. The President of the Convention stated that he merely announced that James Buchanan had been elected President of the United States, without any reference to the contested votes, and declined expressing an opinion on the subject.

James Buchanan took the oath of office, as President, and entered upon his duties, March 4, 1857.

John C. Breckenridge took the oath of office, as Vice-President, and entered upon his duties, March 4, 1857.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN,

THE FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, February 12th, 1809. The record of his boyhood and youth, so far as we have been able to trace it, is not distinguished by any thing more remarkable than the usual experience of children of pioneers in a new country. In 1816, he removed with his parents to what is now Spencer County, Indiana. Here he enjoyed the advantages of a little schooling—less than a year, however, in all. Whatever else he afterward learned from books was without the aid of the school-master—the result of his own energy and indomitable perseverance.

In 1832, he served in the Black Hawk war, and, on his return from that service, was nominated for the Illinois Legislature from the county of Macon. In 1834, he was elected to the Legislature, and reëlected in 1836, 1838, and 1840. While in the Legislature, he placed himself on record against slavery; and it is but just to say that the principles which actuated him then are the moving principles of the great party he to-day represents as the executive of the nation.

For many years Mr. Lincoln was a prominent leader of the Whig party in Illinois, and was on the electoral ticket in several Presidential campaigns. In 1844, he canvassed the entire State for Henry Clay, of whom he was a sincere and enthusiastic friend, and exerted himself powerfully for the favorite of his party. In 1846, he was elected to Congress, and took his seat on the first Monday in December, 1847, the only Whig Representative from his State.

In November, 1860, he was elected President of the United States by the party known as Republicans.

On the 11th of February, 1861, he left his home in Springfield, Illinois, and proceeded to Washington, passing _en route_ the cities of Toledo, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Steubenville, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, Poughkeepsie, New York, Trenton, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Baltimore—at all of which places, except the last, he was received with great cordiality, and addressed the people. At Baltimore a plot had been formed to assassinate him; and, in this affair, it seems that some of the most prominent citizens of that place were implicated. But Mr. Lincoln, by prompt, shrewd management, reached Washington uninjured, and on the 4th of March, 1861, was duly inaugurated, and proceeded upon the duties of his office, notwithstanding the threats of Baltimoreans that he never should be installed. In his inaugural address, in view of the threatening attitude assumed by some of the Southern States, in consequence of the accession of a Republican administration, after declaring that there never had been any just cause for the apprehension that such an administration would encroach upon the constitutional rights of any State, he said that he had “no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it existed; that he, as well as every Member of Congress, was sworn to support the whole Constitution, one of the provisions of which is, that ‘no person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another State, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due;’ that he took his oath to support the Constitution, without any mental reservation; that while he did not then choose to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, he did suggest that it would be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them, trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional; that he held that, in the contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution, the union of the States is perpetual; that no State could, upon its own mere motion, get out of the Union; that acts of violence within any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, and that he should, as the Constitution expressly enjoined upon him, take care that the laws of the Union should be executed in all the States; that while he should perform this duty perfectly, so far as practicable, unless restrained by his rightful masters, the American people, he trusted the declaration so to do would not be regarded as a menace, but only as the express purpose of the Union to maintain itself.”

The inaugural address, while considered as clear and explicit by many, was regarded as very obscure and unsatisfactory by others (the people of the South), and, on the 13th of April, 1861, Messrs. Preston, Stuart, and Randolph, appointed by the Virginia Convention, were formally received by the President, and presented resolutions requesting that, inasmuch as “great uncertainty prevailed in the public mind as to the policy” to be pursued by the Federal Executive, he should communicate to the Convention the course he intended to take in regard to the “Confederate States.”