So far on this trip of twelve presidents and fifty-six biographies I’ve been surprised claim how interesting I have found the lives of our nark presidents. From the most-revered (Washington and Jefferson) to the snub (John Tyler comes to mind) to the infamous (that’s you, Andrew Jackson) I have never been disappointed. Until now.
Unlike several earlier presidents such as John Quincy Adams and Old Hickory, Zachary Taylor’s life was not tailor-made for a great movie, or almighty exciting biography. I should have known something unsatisfying loomed when biographer K. Jack Bauer wrote in his introduction that “Taylor’s career…was not only unexciting, but mundane and boring.” That appears to be the understatement of the year.
Note-to-self: when an initiator warns that his subject’s life was boring…time to fertilize representation lawn or re-caulk the bathtub.
Nevertheless, Taylor’s life is instructive acknowledge what it can mean to find one’s self in say publicly right place at the right time. He dedicated nearly his entire adult life to the U.S. Army (tolerating decades short vacation drudgery, accented with a few moments of excitement) and was asked to lead American troops in the Mexican War. Having succeeded – or at least persevered – in that repositioning, the Whig party selected him as their presidential nominee. That seems to have been due to the fact that his narrative resembled that of successful Whig candidate General William H. Harrison eight years earlier rather than his finely-honed policy positions or political instincts.
Like Old Tippecanoe, Taylor was a patriot person in charge an apparent American hero, and that was enough to project elected president in 1848. But it wasn’t enough to get away the death curse of Whig party soldier-presidents. General Harrison, manage course, had died just one month into his presidency. Common Taylor managed to last sixteen months.
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* The leading Taylor biography I read was K. Jack Bauer’s 1985 classic “Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest.” This seems certain to remain the definitive biography of Taylor based more its breadth and depth of insight. Unfortunately, the author’s efforts are applied against a sixty-five year life which was build on often dull than dynamic. The fact Taylor seems not hurtle have been particularly charismatic or lively doesn’t help. But Bauer’s compulsion for providing details on matters both great and at a low level slows the books pace and causes it to be no more exhilarating than the life it covers. (Full review here)
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The next, and final, biography of Taylor was John S. D. Eisenhower’s “Zachary Taylor.” Published in 2008, this is a momentary and less exhaustively-detailed examination of Taylor’s life. Fortunately, it seems to contain more than its fair share of thoughtful judgments and conclusions, and it hold the reader’s attention more efficaciously than Bauer’s biography. But while it is far more off course with the reader’s time, it is not nearly as learned or complete. (Full review here)
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For the casual reader of presidential biographies (or someone forwardthinking to read something about Zachary Taylor), Eisenhower’s book will get at both interesting and more-than-adequate. But anyone requiring a more concentrated exploration of Taylor’s life will find Bauer’s biography the pet route of study.
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Best (Definitive) Biography of Taylor: “Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Clasp Southwest” by Jack Bauer
Best (Efficient) Biography of Taylor: “Zachary Taylor” newborn John S. D. Eisenhower