President Millard Fillmore: The Most Handsome President?
American History Hit
History Hit
4.3 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 18 January 2024
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How did a president lose his entire cabinet so soon after taking office? What was his role in the Westward expansion of the United States? And where did the name Millard come from?
From teaching himself to read to becoming President of the United States, today we are being introduced to the 13th President of the United States, Millard Fillmore.
Don is joined by Michael David Cohen, Research Professor of Government and Editor of the Correspondence of Zachary Taylor & Millard Fillmore at the American University.
Produced by Freddy Chick and Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In the fall of 1826 in Canndegwa, Ontario County, New York, a man named William Morgan is released from jail. |
| 0:10.0 | It has been his second arrest in a month. |
| 0:12.0 | The first time, on August 19th, he was booked for petty theft, |
| 0:16.2 | a stolen shirt and a tie. |
| 0:18.2 | This time, it's for an outstanding debt of $2. |
| 0:22.0 | After this one night of incarceration, outstanding debt of $2. |
| 0:22.8 | After this one night of incarceration, |
| 0:25.1 | Morgan is glad to be free, if a bit confused |
| 0:28.0 | by the strangeness of his bail being paid |
| 0:30.1 | by a person he's never before set eyes upon. |
| 0:33.0 | Morgan is let away from jail, exhausted, and in need of a wash and a meal. |
| 0:37.0 | But as he and his new acquaintance, turn the corner, Morgan panics. |
| 0:42.0 | Murder! Murder! |
| 0:43.0 | Murder! |
| 0:44.0 | He cries out as he is bundled into a waiting carriage. |
| 0:48.0 | This will be the last time William Morgan, |
| 0:52.0 | a former Freemason will ever be seen alive. |
| 0:54.6 | His disappearance will stir up anti-misonic sediments across the nation. |
| 0:58.9 | So much so a new political party, the first third party in American history, will attract widespread support. |
| 1:07.5 | One person drawn to this Arde Masonic fervor will go on to become the 13th President of the United States. |
| 1:14.0 | His name, Millard Fillmore. The God no. God knows I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil for which we are not responsible. |
| 1:52.8 | We must endure it and give it such protection as is guaranteed by the Constitution |
... |
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