Millard Fillmore: Thirteenth President, National American Candidate for the Fifteenth President of the United States

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), rose from poor log cabin farm beginnings in upstate New York, to become a Buffalo-based attorney and politician, who was elected to state government, and later, as a United States Representative of New York. In 1848, he became the nation's twelfth Vice President; then, following the death of President Zachary Taylor in 1850, he became the thirteenth President, serving until 1853. During his term, he was involved in signing into law several contentious bills: establishing California as a free state; resolving the border between Texas and New Mexico; and, as part of the Compromise of 1850, passing the Fugitive Slave Act, yet also abolishing the slave trade in the District of Columbia. Out of public office in 1853, Fillmore was mourning the loss of his wife, and later in 1854, the death of his only daughter. In 1856, while traveling abroad, Fillmore was recruited to be a presidential candidate for the American Party, also called the "Know Nothing" Party, which ran on a nativist or anti-immigration platform without consulting Fillmore, who advocated national unity. This print, based on a photographic portrait by the noted photographer Mathew B. Brady, was made to promote Fillmore's campaign, yet he was ultimately defeated in the election.


Nathaniel Currier, whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907.