The forgettable Millard Fillmore

The forgettable Millard Fillmore - Los Angeles Times:

"A NATION did not mourn him. History has not restored him. His picture will never adorn an ad for a President's Day sale. When death claimed Millard Fillmore, the unlucky 13th president of the United States, on a bitterly cold March day in 1874, few but his family cared about his passing.

Newspapers attempted to eulogize Fillmore, but aside from pursuing the blandest of political careers, what had he accomplished? He had been president for three years, from 1850 to 1853, but he seemed little more than a cipher. 'Could it be possible,' asked one newspaper in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y., 'that living thus near to him, we failed to adequately appreciate his greatness?'

The answer is a resounding 'no.' Fillmore reminds us that the platitude that 'anyone can be president' is as much a threat as a promise.

Few figures in American history have aroused such overwhelming indifference as Millard Fillmore. Ascending to the presidency following the death of Zachary Taylor, Fillmore was dubbed an 'accidental' president. But before long he would gain more colorful tags, such as 'inept,' 'vacuous' and 'doughface.' Indeed, no sooner had he clambered into his new position as head of state than he seemed to let drop the reins of power. 'He was content to let chance and other persons direct his course,' sniffed one of his contemporaries"