Historical Picture of the Day- Election of 1848, "Old Rough and Ready."

        I was reminded by watching the last presidential debate this evening of the Election of 1848, and the emergence of "Old Rough and Ready," Zachary Taylor, as President of the United States. This old daguerreotype of Taylor displays the aura of his character, hence his nickname, Old Rough and Ready. Taylor was elected on the Whig platform at the last second. A soldier-statesman, a soldier in the White House. However, he would fall ill while in his tenure of office, and died before being able to imbue any real specific legislation. Millard Fillmore, Vice-President, would assume the presidency, and it was the last time the Whig party assumed control over the Executive branch of the government. Moreover, many historians agree that had Taylor lived through his term, the conflict over slavery would have come to fruition much sooner; thus, after Fillmore became commander-in-chief, the Compromise of 1850 was to be enacted, and stalled the conflagration for another decade.