History UsefulNotes / MillardFillmore

* Yorick (yes, ''[[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} that]]'' Yorick) mentions "a brilliant Millard Fillmore joke" in ''Literature/TheSkullOfTruth'', a novel by Creator/BruceCoville. People's unfamiliarity with him is even lampshaded, as Yorick comments on how few people would get it today, and protagonist Charlie Eggleston's response of "Who's Millard Fillmore?" earns a reply of "You make my point perfectly."

After that, the only really notable thing about Fillmore was that he was the one who sent Matthew Perry ([[Creator/MatthewPerry not that one]]) ([[Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei yes, that one]]) to open Japan to trade with threats of violence, though Perry didn't actually arrive there until after Fillmore was out of office. So you have Millard to thank for the entirety of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' and that one episode of ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' and ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' if nothing else. Other than that, he basically kept the seat warm in the White House while the country shuddered closer to [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar civil war]]. While getting the Compromise of 1850 passed ''at all'' in the face of such a hostile political environment was arguably the biggest single achievement of any Whig President (the lion's share of the credit is usually given to Senators UsefulNotes/HenryClay and Stephen A. Douglas for pushing the compromise through, albeit Fillmore vetoed an earlier version that gave even ''more'' concessions to the slave states), Fillmore is generally regarded as a worse President than Taylor, since today Fillmore's compromise is largely seen as an act of appeasement to the South while Taylor wanted to prevent slavery from expanding. He ultimately proved to be the last President from his party, and is (arguably) considered to be the worst of them. In all, he suffers much the same problem as UsefulNotes/NevilleChamberlain, as historians are divided over whether he failed to nip a solvable problem in the bud, or took the only viable course of action when dealing with an impossible situation.

* He's [[CreditsGag credited]] at the end ''Film/{{Airplane}}'' as "Thirteenth President of the United States".

* The 1980s sitcom ''Head of the Class'' took place at the fictional "Millard Fillmore High School".

Prior to becoming President, Fillmore was nearly as obscure to contemporaries as he is today. A native of Buffalo, New York, he was elected to Congress as an anti-Mason in 1832 and joined the Whigs after that party collapsed. His time in Congress was largely uneventful, and he left office in 1842 with few accomplishments aside from promoting economic tariffs. In 1844 Fillmore ran for Governor of New York and lost, but managed to remain popular with New York Whigs and won election as State Comptroller in 1847. Fillmore probably achieved the height of his political career during his brief time in the post, pushing for expansion of New York roads and canals while implementing financial reforms that stabilized state banks. Fillmore used his friendship with Whig Party boss Thurlow Weed to win a spot as Zachary Taylor's running mate in 1848.

Two years later, Fillmore ascended from the vice presidency to the presidency upon the death of President Taylor, making him the fourth president from the Whig Party (third if you exclude UsefulNotes/JohnTyler, who was expelled from the party while in office). A few months into his term, he helped create the "Compromise of 1850," an agreement that was widely considered to have staved off Civil War at the time. In the agreement, California was added as a free state, the slave trade was banned in the District of Columbia (which, not being a state, could still legally trade slaves), and the federal government became required to find and return escaped slaves to their owners (that part was very controversial). Ultimately, though, it may have done more harm than good, as many felt that it legitimized the slave states and allowed them time to build up their militaries. It should be noted that the northern states ''also'' gained more army-building time from the compromise, along with a more robust industrial base that made them better-equipped to fight a sustained war, but then again that could just mean it guaranteed the Civil War would be bigger and bloodier for both sides. That being said, Fillmore (along with many other contemporary politicians) had hoped that the compromise would buy enough time for the slavery issue to burn itself out naturally, and though in retrospect this may have been extremely naive, he couldn't feasibly have predicted that this plan would be undermined by the Kansas-Nebraska Act during Pierce's presidency, before being fatally short-circuited by the ''Dred Scott'' decision (the end result of which was that slavery advocates switched from merely defending it to actively trying to force its legalization nationwide) at the start of UsefulNotes/JamesBuchanan's presidency.

* "Mallard Fillmore" is [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidents the President of the United Species of America]] in the short-lived but fondly-remembered '80s [[AnimalSuperheroes animal superhero]] series ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' from Creator/DCComics. When the Zoo Crew got a revival in 2007, DC apparently didn't want to do the legal tango with the above comic strip, so Mallard was replaced by an {{Expy}}: Beneduck Arnold.

-->--''How Tto Fight Presidents''

President Fillmore was not elected: He ascended from the vice presidency to the presidency upon the death of President Zachary Taylor, making him the fourth president from the Whig Party (third if you exclude UsefulNotes/JohnTyler, who was expelled from the party while in office). A few months into his term, he helped create the "Compromise of 1850," an agreement that was widely considered to have staved off Civil War at the time. In the agreement, California was added as a free state, the slave trade was banned in the District of Columbia (which, not being a state, could still legally trade slaves), and the federal government became required to find and return escaped slaves to their owners (that part was very controversial). Ultimately, though, it may have done more harm than good, as many felt that it legitimized the slave states and allowed them time to build up their militaries. It should be noted that the northern states ''also'' gained more army-building time from the compromise, along with a more robust industrial base that made them better-equipped to fight a sustained war, but then again that could just mean it guaranteed the Civil War would be bigger and bloodier for both sides. That being said, Fillmore (along with many other contemporary politicians) had hoped that the compromise would buy enough time for the slavery issue to burn itself out naturally, and though in retrospect this may have been extremely naive, he couldn't feasibly have predicted that this plan would be undermined by the Kansas-Nebraska Act during Pierce's presidency, before being fatally short-circuited by the ''Dred Scott'' decision (the end result of which was that slavery advocates switched from merely defending it to actively trying to force its legalization nationwide) at the start of UsefulNotes/JamesBuchanan's presidency.

After leaving office, Fillmore tried again for the Presidency in his own right in 1856 as part of the [[AtrociousAlias "Know Nothing" party]]. While he did put in one of the best ever performances for a third-party presidential candidate (second only to UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt in 1912, in fact), he split the vote and helped ensure the election of UsefulNotes/JamesBuchanan, under whose watch the country fractured and Civil War became inevitable. Also, his wife died mere weeks after he left office in 1853. Fillmore remarried five years later.

->''"[[UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor Taylor]]'s death led to the presidency of a man whose name has since become synonymous, in American history, with the term "Millard Fillmore": [[ShapedLikeItself Millard Fillmore]]."''
-->--''Literature/DaveBarrySleptHere''

->''"Our [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative most]] [[ShapedLikeItself Millard-Fillmore-esque president]]!"''
-->--''How To Fight Presidents''

Not many Americans know much about Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) except that he was [[ThirteenIsUnlucky the 13th]] President of the United States ([[TheWildWest 1850-1853]]), came after UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor and before UsefulNotes/FranklinPierce, and that he had a [[InherentlyFunnyWords ridiculous name]]. Lots of jokes have been made about this.

Not many Americans know much about '''Millard Fillmore''' (January 7, 1800 -- March 8, 1874) except that he was [[ThirteenIsUnlucky the 13th]] President of the United States ([[TheWildWest 1850-1853]]), came after UsefulNotes/ZacharyTaylor and before UsefulNotes/FranklinPierce, and that he had a [[InherentlyFunnyWords ridiculous name]]. Lots of jokes have been made about this.

[[quoteright:175:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/13-millard-fillmore.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:175:The most interesting thing about this president is that his name is Millard Fillmore.]]