Zachary Taylor: Soldier in the White House

by Prof. Holman Hamilton

Overview

This tome is the second volume of Holman Hamilton’s landmark biography of Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), the 12th President of the United States. It examines Taylor’s brief but important political career and traces Taylor’s life from his return to the U.S. in December of 1847 from the bloody Mexican battlefields, to his death on July 9, 1850, a mere sixteen months after assuming the office of the presidency.

As interesting as the history surrounding Zachary Taylor’s life is the man himself. Taylor was no politician. Throughout his life, he never voted in an election. He knew little of the party that nominated him. And he candidly admitted no opinion on certain political questions, and on others was reluctant to comment at all. At the end of his famous Allison letter that secured him the presidency in 1848, he stated: “I do not know that I again shall ever write upon the subject of national politics.” How and why he was elected President are just some of the questions that Hamilton answers about one of America’s most unusual presidencies.

Zachary Taylor: Soldier in the White House is the sequel to Zachary Taylor Soldier of the Republic. Together, both volumes represent what is considered by historians to be the definitive biography of the 12th President of the U.S. Lauded for his meticulous research and highly readable style, the late Holman Hamilton, a noted journalist and editor, set out to “write entertainingly and even artistically about men and events in the realm of actuality.” Both volumes of this extraordinary biography are ample proof that he accomplished his goal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781787204652
Publisher:	Papamoa Press
Publication date:	06/28/2017
Series:	Zachary Taylor , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	543
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Holman Hamilton (May 30, 1910 - June 7, 1980) was an American journalist and a Professor of History.

Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, his first career was in journalism. From 1932 to 1951, except for the period of World War II, he was a reporter and columnist with the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. After the war, he returned to his position with the newspaper, but in 1951 he decided to become an academician and entered the Graduate School of the University of Kentucky to work in history. He received his Ph.D. in 1954 and remained on the faculty here until his retirement in 1975.

He is the author of seven books, all of which were well received by the scholarly profession, and some regarded as definitive on their topics, earning him numerous honors. He was a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fulbright Scholar. He received the University of Kentucky Research Award and, on two occasions, the UK Alumni Association Great Teacher Award. He won the Hallam Professor Award of the UK History Department for outstanding achievement and was designated the Distinguished Professor of the UK College of Arts and Sciences.

For many years he served as Chairman of the Editorial Board of the University Press of Kentucky. He served as Chairman of the Publications Committee of the Lexington-Fayette County Historical Commission, was President of the Kentucky Civil War Round Table, and was a member of the Review Board of the Kentucky Heritage Commission. He was a life member of the UK National Alumni Association and a University Fellow.

He held honorary degrees from four institutions of higher learning: Franklin College, Lincoln Memorial University, Indiana University, and the University of Kentucky.

He was named to the Hall of Distinguished Alumni on April 11, 1980.

Professor Hamilton died in 1980 at the age of 70.