Millard Fillmore: Statesman, Betrayer, or Populist?

Millard Fillmore is often treated as an obscurity or a curiosity. His choices deserve a more serious assessment.

Our 13th president had a funny name — he was given his mother’s maiden name — which has been lampooned in our time by the comic strip Mallard Fillmore. He was never elected to the job, wasn’t even renominated by his party, and served less than two and a half years. When he was nominated for the vice presidency in 1848, he was serving as New York state comptroller.