Zachary Taylor
(November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850)
12th President of the United States
(1849–1850)

was an American military leader and the twelfth President of the United States. Taylor had a 40-year military career in the U.S. Army, serving in the War of 1812, Black Hawk War, and Second Seminole War before achieving fame while leading U.S. troops to victory at several critical battles of the Mexican-American War. A Southern slaveholder who opposed the spread of slavery to the territories, he was uninterested in politics but was recruited by the Whig Party as their nominee in the 1848 presidential election. In the election Taylor defeated the Democratic nominee, Lewis Cass, and became the first U.S. president never to hold any prior office. Known as "Old Rough and Ready," Taylor died of acute gastroenteritis just 16 months into his term. Vice President Millard Fillmore became President.