Only a few short years after the death of William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor became the second US President to die while in office. Taylor, a successful army general with distinguished service in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican-American War, died of cholera a mere sixteen months into his term. To his credit, Taylor spent his time in office focusing on how to preserve the union in the face of secessionist threats. In spite of the fact that he was from a slave-holding state--Taylor was the only president ever elected from the state of Louisiana--he increasingly sided with anti-slavery forces, and helped set the stage for California to be admitted directly as a state rather than following the route of territory, then statehood. The Gold Rush and other events played a role in bringing California's statehood to fruition, but Taylor's strong anti-secessionist position certainly helped set the stage for the Compromise of 1850, signed shortly after his death.
The timing of Taylor's death and the intense controversy over slavery and statehood led some to suggest that he was poisoned, but there has never been any evidence to support this hypothesis. Also, Taylor's predecessor died of cholera in Tennessee just over a year before Taylor succumbed to a similar fate--cholera was a major threat in the United States at this time. Pursuant to the standard set when Harrison died, Taylor was succeeded by his Vice President, Millard Fillmore, in July of 1850.
The timing of Taylor's death and the intense controversy over slavery and statehood led some to suggest that he was poisoned, but there has never been any evidence to support this hypothesis. Also, Taylor's predecessor died of cholera in Tennessee just over a year before Taylor succumbed to a similar fate--cholera was a major threat in the United States at this time. Pursuant to the standard set when Harrison died, Taylor was succeeded by his Vice President, Millard Fillmore, in July of 1850.
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