A very sympathetic treatment of Fillmore. Book was too long, but I certainly learned a lot. Millard was (according to this book) a very principled man who put country over personal glory. Things didn’t work out exactly the way he wanted, but that’s not extraordinary.
Fillmore was a Whig. The Whigs were sort of the Democrats of the day, believers in a government that invests, helps, and stabilizes the country. Mostly anti-slavery, but they also attracted some members from the South, which allowed them to build a strong enough coalition to prevail, at least on occasion.
Besides the Compromise of 1850, which Fillmore was instrumental in making viable, he mostly was involved in foreign policy. Lots of “stuff” happened in Hawaii, Japan, China, Nicaragua, with Britain, etc.
Fillmore tried to run again as the head of the “Know Nothing” party, but was defeated.
In the mid-1850 the U.S. experience a time very similar to today: strong anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic sentiments, and a party (the Know Nothings”) that took full advantage of it.
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By the same director/writer as my favorite movie of last year, Manchester by the Sea.