Zachary Taylor, the 12th President of the United States, was born on November 24, 1784. Taylor was born in Barboursville, Virginia to a wealthy family of planters.

Old Rough and Ready

In 1808, Zachary Taylor joined the army as a first lieutenant of the Seventh Infantry Regiment. By 1809, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army. Soon after his commission as an officer, he was made a captain in 1810. One year later in 1811, Taylor was sent to Fort Knox where he took command and received honors for his successful restoration of order among the men serving at Fort Knox. Taylor continued to prove himself a solid leader for the United States eventually rising to the rank of Major General. His victories during the Second Seminole War resulted in his nickname "Old Rough and Ready" and his victories in the Mexican-American War at Palo Alto and Monterrey made him an American hero and household name ready for the presidency.

California Enters the Union

During his short presidency, Taylor was instrumental in admitting California as an official state of the Union. Taylor also helped to settle state border disputes between Texas and New Mexico that would bring the western territories of the United States together. Taylor served as President of the United States from March of 1849 until his death in July 1850.

Death from Cholera

In July of 1850, Zachary Taylor was diagnosed with cholera morgues. Cholera was a common digestive illness of the time. Taylor was first buried in Washington D.C. at the Congressional Cemetery. However, his body was later removed and buried at the Taylor family plantation in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1883, a fifty foot tall monument was placed near his grave by the Commonwealth of Kentucky to memorialize his life and presidency.

United States Presidents
1. George Washington	16. Abraham Lincoln	32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. John Adams	17. Andrew Johnson	33. Harry S. Truman
3. Thomas Jefferson	18. Ulysses S. Grant	34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
4. James Madison	19. Rutherford B. Hayes	35. John F. Kennedy
5. James Monroe	20. James A. Garfield	36. Lyndon B. Johnson
6. John Quincy Adams	21. Chester A. Arthur	37. Richard Nixon
7. Andrew Jackson	22/24. Grover Cleveland	38. Gerald R. Ford
8. Martin Van Buren	23. Benjamin Harrison	39. Jimmy Carter
9. William Henry Harrison	25. William McKinley	40. Ronald Reagan
10. John Tyler	26. Theodore Roosevelt	41. George H.W. Bush
11. James K. Polk	27. William Howard Taft	42. Bill Clinton
12. Zachary Taylor	28. Woodrow Wilson	43. George W. Bush
13. Millard Fillmore	29. Warren G. Harding	44. Barack Obama
14. Franklin Pierce	30. Calvin Coolidge	45. Donald J. Trump
15. James Buchanan	31. Herbert Hoover