Deceased US Presidents
By Khalid Siddiqui
Ohio
12.Zachary Taylor (1849-1850): He never held a public office before presidency, nor he ever voted in any elections. He was the last US President to own slaves while in office.
He was one of the eight US presidents who had died in office.* He is one of the four presidents who didn’t appoint any Supreme Court Justice.** He was a distant cousin of President James Madison and Gen. Robert E. Lee. Pres Taylor was first buried in a vault on his family property. His body was moved to a new mausoleum in 1926. The old vault still stands near the mausoleum.
He was suspected of being poisoned by arsenic. His body was exhumed on June 17, 1991, and tissues examined. No trace of excessive arsenic was found. The tissues were re-examined in 2010 as the initial tests were considered flawed. This time no definite conclusion regarding assassination was established.
His nickname was Old Rough and Ready.
* William Harrison; Taylor; Lincoln; Garfield; McKinley; Harding; Franklin Roosevelt & Kennedy
** William Harrison; Andrew Johnson; Taylor & Carter Jr.
13. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853): He was one of the four presidents who were never elected to the Presidency.* He is one of the eight vice presidents who became president upon their predecessors’ deaths in office.** He was one of the four US presidents who served the entire tenure without a vice president.
*** Fillmore, with his wife, Abigail, established the first White House library. After leaving office he traveled extensively in Europe. He had a private audience with Queen Victoria on June 12, 1855, at 3 PM. It has been written that the Queen later described Fillmore as the handsomest man she had ever seen.
In 1856, he was to meet Pope Pius IX in Rome. He nearly withdrew from the meeting when he was told that he would have to kneel and kiss the Pope's hand. To avoid that embarrassment, Pope Pius remained seated throughout the meeting.
His nickname was The American Louis Philippe.
* Tyler; Fillmore; Andrew Johnson & Ford
** Tyler; Fillmore; Andrew Johnson; Arthur; T. Roosevelt; Coolidge; Truman & Lyndon Johnson
*** Tyler; Fillmore; Andrew Johnson & Arthur
