He was the 12th President of the United States of America and served part of one term – from 1849 until his death in 1850.

Nickname:  Old Rough and Ready

Quote: “The idea that I should become President seems to me too visionary to require a serious answer.  It has never entered my head, nor is it likely to enter the head of any sane person.”

I read the book “Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old West” by K. Jack Bauer.  Yes, Jack Bauer.

• born on November 24, 1784 on his father’s cousin’s plantation in Virginia – the plantation was named Montebello
• grew up on a 400 acre farm outside Louisville, KY
• did terrible in his first school years
• was commissioned into the army on May 3, 1808
• his older brother was killed fighting Native Americans
• he married Margaret Mackall Smith on June 21, 1810; she was from Maryland
• he worked as a part-time land surveyor
• served in the military under W.H. Harrison, but he missed the battle of Tippecanoe
• successfully led 40 men, only 16 of them healthy, to repel 450 Native American warriors from attacking Fort Harrison; the only building lost was their blockhouse
• refused a military position in New York and returned to Louisville to farm
• then rejoined the military in 1816
• was head of a regiment who built a road from Tennessee to Louisiana
• his 2 youngest daughters died in 1820 from a fever
• he owned several Louisiana plantations
• in 1828, his family moved to Fort Snelling, Minnesota
• his daughter, Sarah Knox, married Jefferson Davis without her father’s consent.  She died three months later.
• when he was the commanding officer, any man needing punishment would receive a “wooling” – grabbed by both ears and being shaken
• was given the responsibility of driving the Seminoles out of Florida, where he was given the nickname “Old Rough and Ready” because of his willingness to stay alongside his troops in the same conditions
• he came up with the “squares” program – a fighting tactic used in the Mexican War, in the Philippines and Vietnam
• was a semi-successful real estate investor
• was a big supporter of soil conservation and crop rotation
• put in command of the army asked to hold the line against a Mexican invasion across the Rio Grande
• he offered Mexican separatist forces aid in making an independent North Mexican Republic  (obviously, that didn’t work out)
• gained control of the northern bank of the Rio Grande river for the United States as the national boundary
• while in a standoff with Mexican forces, the Mexican troops would send their women to bathe naked in the river and then use sharpshooters to try and take out any American forces who tried to join the women
• the leader of the Mexican forces offered sanctuary, and a homestead of 320 acres of land to any American troops who would desert
• after taking the Mexican town of Matamoros, Taylor made a point to treat the enemy wounded and spent several hundred dollars from his own pocket to provide supplies for that purpose
• was promoted to Major General by President Polk on May 30, 1846
• left Mexico in October 1847
• when approached by the Whig party for candidacy for their Presidential nomination, he had never voted
• was staunchly supported by Abraham Lincoln
• began suffering from rheumatism in 1848
• was reluctant to take the Whig nomination because he wanted to be a President “independent of party”
• didn’t do any campaign canvassing because he didn’t care if he won or not, he was also still on active military duty
• his youngest daughter married William Bliss in 1848 – he was called “Perfect Bliss” by the Taylor family
• the 1848 election was the first election in which the entire nation went to the polls on the same day – November 7
• a cholera outbreak in New York and New Orleans began in December of 1848 and lasted through the next August; over 5,000 people died in New York
• one of the first days of national Thanksgiving and prayer was declared by Taylor for August 3, 1849
• Taylor was struck with dysentery during a tour of the country, he nearly collapsed from exhaustion
• he attended the laying the cornerstone of the Washington monument in 1850
• threatened any states who seceded from the Union with a trade embargo, and blockaded harbors
• had the editor of a major newspaper fired when he refused to print an article attacking Taylor’s nemesis, Henry Clay
• contracted some digestive infection on July 5, 1850
• predicted his own death by saying on July 7th “in two days I shall be a dead man.”
• died soon after 10:30 pm on July 9th, 1850
• Fillmore declared six months of official mourning in government offices in response to the President’s death
• Taylor was not buried until November 1st, since his wife requested his body be buried in the family cemetery outside Louisville
• one of the few early presidents to die a rich man (over $3 million when adjusted to 1980′s inflation – the time this book was written)
• his papers and personal items of value were stored at one of his plantations until it was sacked during the Civil War in 1863.  Very little has been recovered.

<— James Polk                                           Millard Fillmore –>

Post title taken from Jonathan Coulton’s Song “The Presidents”.

I’d love to see more books set in this universe. I know McKinley has stated she’s done with Sunshine and Constantine’s story, but I sincerely hope there are more stories to be offered up out of this rich world of magic, vampires, weres, and a section of the police force dedicated to the protection of humanity against Others.

Also, a recipe book? Because I really want to know what Bitter Chocolate Death and those famous cinnamon rolls taste like. The entire book had my mouth watering whenever I read a section set in Charlie’s or as Sunshine was baking.

“Sunshine” was written by Robin McKinley and published in 2004.

My biggest problem with this book was the ending. Stackpole led us into this fantastic geographical area, set up the bones for an amazing plot, and then had the main character lose consciousness. Then, the author gilded over what could have been a chance for great character and plot development and simply ended the book. Maybe this was because this book is meant to be a prequel to another series, but it was completely frustrating to myself as a reader and soured my desire to read the next book in the series.

“The Dark Glory War” is a prequel to the DragonCrown War Cycle and was written by Michael Stackpole.  It was published in 2000.

“The boy had been crouched so long that his legs had fallen asleep beneath him – but he dared not move now.  For here, in a small clearing in the frostbitten forest, were the creatures he had waited so long to see.  The creatures he’d been sent to kill.  He bit down on his lip to keep his teeth from chattering, and aimed his father’s flintlock rifle exactly as he’d been taught.

This is the newest (or at least when I read it, it was) in the popular strain of horror mashups that have been coming out the last few years.  This isn’t so much a mash-up as it is a fictional retelling of the story of President Abraham Lincoln.  The general flow of his life (leaving his father on terrible terms, being handy with an axe, working on a riverboat up and down the Mississippi) is the same, but with the introduction of vampires.  His mother was killed by one and since his early childhood, Lincoln has sworn to hunt and kill vampires wherever he finds them.  He’s aided in his mission by a friendly but unorthodox vampire who will send him names of blood drinkers that need to be slain for the good of the country.  Along the road to the Presidency, Lincoln comes to have a personal interest in eradicating slavery from the land of the United States – vampires are using it to gain power in the political machine of the US government.

This book is fantastic.  Not only is it written by the same author as “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” so it has a quirky sense of humor, but he weaves the story of President Lincoln into a story including himself as the author.  It helps you to keep in mind that this story is a fiction – which may be hard to do because it is so well written.  It follows the journals of Lincoln as they have been kept by a society for the preservation of the truth about what really happened in the Civil War and the years preceding it as it pertained to vampires.  Also, Grahame-Smith has included helpful “historically accurate” photographs of points during Lincoln’s life which prove the existence of vampires.

While not necessarily a good biography on Lincoln to read for a school project, it most certainly is interesting and entertaining.  I’m not going to count this as my presidential bio for Lincoln, but I wouldn’t mind owning this book just for the sake of owning a great book.  If you like vampire books (without the glitter and the romance) and you enjoy historical fiction, I highly recommend this book as a good read.  And I’m anticipating reading whatever Grahame-Smith puts on the shelves next.

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” was written by Seth Grahame-Smith and published in 2010.

“Dear Cousin Tassie,

Thank you for the lovely postcards.  I trust that you and Aunt Mittie had a pleasant trip, and that all your stateside friends and paternal relations are healthy and happy.  Much has happened during your one-month sojourn off-island.  Perhaps your Village neighbors have apprised you. Or you may have glanced at one of the editions of The Island Tribune that have, no doubt, accumulated on your doorstep.  However, I will make the safest assumption that you have yet to be offered the full account of certain crucial events of the last few days (tucked away as you and your mother are in your quiet and rustic little corner of our island paradise), and inform you of the most critical facts pertaining to such events.  You’ll find it all, if nothing else, quite interesting.”

In a series of letters back and forth between two cousins – Ella and Tassie – we are introduced to a most confusing and interesting situation unfolding on the island of Nollop.  This small island was named after the man who came up with that icon of a sentence: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”  In the center of the sovereign nation of a tiny island stands a monument with the phrase mounted upon it, and the residents are dismayed as one by one the letters begin to fall off the plaque they are placed on.  As each letter drops, the ruling council is of the opinion that the will of Nollop is deciding to strike the letter from existence.  Therefore, the residents are steadily deprived of the use of each consonant and vowel as it tumbles and shatters.  If they use the forbidden letters, the consequences grow ever more grave, culminating in banishment or death.  Tassie and Ella, along with a small underground group of rebels have come up with a plan to save the letters of their small town and country, if they can manage it in time.

The supremely creative aspect of this book is the correspondence itself.  Each letter taken away is banned on the island, therefore the writers of these (very) public and censored missives can no longer use them, so the author has placed the same restrictions on himself.  Therefore, when the letter Z is forbidden, the letter Z no longer appears in any of the ladies’ correspondence.  Which may seem quite simple until you lose letters such as I, S, H, and D.  And especially when one’s name includes some of the forbidden letters.

The story itself is quite simple and the characters only alive through their written letters, but the concept itself is engaging enough to warrant a read.  Also, it stretches your brain to consider the possibilities of not having each and every one of our 26 letters at your disposal.  As each letter is dropped from their usage, the writers must find other words to substitute or simplify and still communicate what they wish.  Utter creativity is required from both the author and the reader, challenging both simultaneously.  Any book lover or writer should definitely dive into this book.

“Ella Minnow Pea” was written by Mark Dunn and published in 2001.