Millard Fillmore

Born: Jan. 7, 1800 in Cayuga County, N.Y.

Term as president: July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853

Party: Whig

Millard Fillmore would be the last Whig president and the first president to have been born after the death of George Washington. Fillmore’s presidency was dominated by dissention in the Whig Party and by the growing division over the question of the extension of slavery into new states. In what came to be known as the Compromise of 1850, California was admitted to the Union as a free state, the New Mexico Territory was established, and the Fugitive Slave Law was enforced in the Northern states, enraging some Northern members of the Whig Party.

As the dissention over the slavery issue caused the disintegration of the Whig Party, Fillmore joined the Know-Nothing Party, an anti-Catholic, anti-immigrant party that believed America was being overrun by immigration. Like the Whigs, the Know-Nothing Party soon disintegrated and Fillmore’s political career ended.

Franklin Pierce 14

Born: Nov. 23, 1804 in Hillsborough, N.H.

Term as president: March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857

Party: Democratic

Franklin Pierce was more than just a career politician, he was both a successful lawyer and brigadier general in the United States Army during the Mexican American war. During his presidency, Franklin Pierce embraced westward expansion and supported popular sovereignty in Kansas, which allowed the citizens of Kansas to decide whether to allow slavery there. Pierce’s stance angered many abolitionists, who referred to him as a “doughface,” a Northern politician who sympathized with the South. During his presidency, Pierce also approved the Gadsden Purchase, which added parts of modern-day Arizona and New Mexico to the United States.

James Buchanan

Born: April 23, 1791 near Mercersburg, Pa.

Term as president: March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861 Party: Democratic

Immediately, James Buchanan’s presidency got off to a controversial start as Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney delivered the Dred Scott decision, which asserted the Constitution did not authorize the right to prohibit slavery in the new territories. Buchanan, who was sympathetic to the Southern cause, was decried by abolitionists after he lobbied for the cause of slaveholders. Buchanan’s pro-slavery position infuriated Northerners and weakened the power of the Democratic Party by alienating some of its members. By 1860, the Democratic Party had split into a Northern and Southern contingency, each nominating its own candidate for the presidential election of 1860.

Abraham Lincoln 16

Born: Feb. 12, 1809 in LaRue County, Ky.

Term as president: March 4, 1861 – April 14, 1865

Party: Republican

By 1860, the United States was in the midst of serious political turmoil. The issue of slavery threatened to rip the nation apart. The Democratic Party had been split into two factions, the Northern Democrats and the Southern Democrats. The newly formed anti-slavery Republican Party nominated Abraham Lincoln and on Nov. 6, 1860 he was officially elected as president, despite the fact that he wasn’t even listed on the ballot in nine Southern states.

On Dec. 20, 1860 South Carolina issued a Declaration of Secession from the United States. Ten other states would follow its lead within a few months. The new president had a mighty task of preserving a fractured Union. As war approached, President Lincoln sent provisions to American forts that were now in Confederate territory, including Fort Sumter, near Charleston Harbor, S.C. Secessionists in South Carolina considered this an act of war and began bombarding the fort on April 12, 1861. Union forces at Fort Sumter surrendered and thus, the American Civil War began. On April 15, Lincoln requested the mobilization of 75,000 troops from the states for the purposes of “preserving the Union.” In the following days, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Virginia seceded from the Union, refusing to mobilize against their Southern neighbors. The secession of Virginia, one of the most populous states in the country, was a major prize for the Confederacy. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862 to be effective on Jan. 1, 1863. On April 9, 1865 the Confederate States of America surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse, Va. The Civil War was over and the Union would be preserved. Just five days after the end of the war, Southern sympathizer and actor John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln while he was watching a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. Lincoln died the next morning at the Peterson House across the street from the theater. Upon his death, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton uttered the timeless words “Now, he belongs to the ages.”

Andrew Johnson

Born: Feb. 12, 1809 in Raleigh, N.C.

Term as president: April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869

Party: Republican

During his term in office, Andrew Johnson presided over Reconstruction, the period after the Civil War in which the Southern states were reintegrated into the Union. Johnson and Congress argued over the specifics of Reconstruction. Johnson favored a quick restoration of rights and privileges, whereas Congress favored a more gradual approach. Tensions grew when Johnson replaced Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. Republicans claimed Johnson violated the newly passed Tenure of Office Act. The House of Representatives passed a resolution to impeach Johnson. Although he was acquitted (19 votes to 18), he was the first president to be impeached.

Ulysses S. Grant

Born: April 26, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio

Term as president: March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877

Party: Republican

In 1864, President Lincoln named Ulysses S. Grant general in chief of the Union army. In 1869, Grant was elected president of the United States. Unlike his military campaigns, his presidency was less than successful and plagued by corruption. Although he presided over Reconstruction in the South, Grant was seen associating with prospectors who tried to corner the market in gold. When he realized their plan, he authorized the Treasury to sell enough gold to ruin the plan, but the damage had already been done to business. After the presidency, Grant joined a financial firm that ultimately went bankrupt. In 1885, he died of throat cancer shortly after writing his personal memoirs.

Rutherford B. Hayes 19

Born: October 4, 1822 in Delaware, Ohio

Term as president: March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881

Party: Republican

Rutherford B. Hayes was the first to take the presidential oath in the White House. During his presidency, workers from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company went on strike. The strike spread and railroad workers throughout the country refused to work. The labor disputes exploded into riots in several cities, and Rutherford made the controversial decision to send federal troops to control the riots. These troops would eventually fire into some of the crowds of rioters, killing 70 people. Although peace was restored, many were unhappy with Rutherford’s response to the matter. During his presidency, Hayes also signed bills that allowed for the development of lands in the desert Southwest and other lands in the West. Rutherford did not run for a second term as president and died of a heart attack Jan. 17, 1893.

James A. Garfield 20

Born: Nov. 19, 1831 in Orange Township, Ohio

Term as president: March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881

Party: Republican

Unfortunately, James Garfield had little time to accomplish anything as president. On July 2, 1881, just under four months into his presidency, he was shot in Washington, D.C., by Charles J. Guiteau, an attorney who was angry because he was denied a federal job. Guiteau was later convicted and executed for assassination. Although Garfield was not killed immediately, he slowly deteriorated over a period of several months. He died Sept. 19, 1881 of complications from his wounds. Some historians believe he would have survived if his medical team would have been more capable. Many believe the infections that ultimately caused his death were inadvertently introduced to his body by his own doctors. He was only 49 years old.