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Millard Fillmore (1800)close

Millard Fillmore was born in Cayuga County on the New York frontier. A member of the Whig Party, Fillmore was elected to the New York state assembly in 1829, served as a congressman in the House of Representatives from 1833-1835, and was elected vice president of the United States in 1849.

When President Zachary Taylor died on July 9, 1850, Fillmore became the thirteenth president of the United States (1850-1853). He supported the constitutional argument that slavery should be free to spread wherever it would. His endorsement of the Missouri Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Law marked the beginning of the end of his political career. He was not re-nominated for president in 1852.

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