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—Richard Norton Smith

For many men, retirement provides a whole new lease on life. In Polk’s case, it was a very short lease indeed. Never blessed with robust health, in the spring of 1849, the former president came down with a debilitating illness. “My bowels were affected and the shaking of the Boat had become inconvenient to me,” he acknowledged outside Memphis, where one doctor ruled out cholera. In fact, some believe Polk was afflicted with chronic diarrhea, a frequent complaint in the unsanitary nineteenth century. On his deathbed, Polk sought baptism into the Methodist Church—thus defying his mother, who had arrived, minister in tow, in hope of making her dying son a Presbyterian.

A personal note: As it happens, my Harvard roommate is a Polk descendant. I won’t lower the intellectual or other standards of the present volume by quoting our ribald exchanges concerning the final hours of his distinguished ancestor; suffice it to say I learned as a sophomore where sophomoric humor gets its name.

—RNS

Polk’s grave on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol

Zachary Taylor

Buried: Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky

Twelfth President - 1849-1850

Born: November 24, 1784, in Orange County, Virginia

Died: 10:35 p.m. on July 9, 1850, in Washington, D.C.

Age at death: 65

Cause of death: Cholera

Final words: “I am sorry that I am about to leave my

friends.”

Admission to Zachary Taylor National

Cemetery: Free

The hero of the Mexican War known as “Old Rough and Ready,” Zachary Taylor was the first president to die in office while Congress was in session. He had served a little over a year, much of it consumed by sectional issues. Though a slaveholder himself, Taylor opposed secession and the extension of slavery into new territories. He did not live to see the conflict resolved. On the Fourth of July, 1850, Taylor attended groundbreaking ceremonies for the Washington Monument in sweltering heat. Upon returning to the White House, he devoured a large bowl of fruit and some cold milk. He became severely ill later that day. A doctor diagnosed cholera, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, the result of having eaten food that had not been properly refrigerated. The president was given drugs and improved slightly. By July 8, however, his condition worsened. Doctors blistered his skin and bled his veins in the hope of freeing his body from infection. Taylor himself sensed their efforts were futile. That evening he reportedly said, “I am about to die. I expect the summons very soon. I have tried to discharge my duties faithfully. I regret nothing, but I am sorry that I am about to leave my friends.” He died at 10:35 p.m. in his bed at the White House. His wife Peggy became hysterical and forbid the embalming of his body. She also prevented the molding of a death mask, but finally permitted an artist to draw the president in death.

Gary Peak, former director of the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, points to list of Mexican War battles in which “Old Rough and Ready” fought. This final granite marker to Taylor has a misspelling. The last entry should read Buena Vista.

The ceremonies honoring the president were extensive. Taylor’s body lay in state for public viewing in the East Room of the White House until funeral services were held there on July 13. More than one hundred carriages joined the funeral procession as his body was taken to Congressional Cemetery in Washington. His favorite horse, “Old Whitey,” accompanied the cortege. Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were among the pallbearers. In October of that year, his remains were moved to a family cemetery, now the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.

Touring the Tomb at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery

Zachary Taylor National Cemetery is located in Louisville, Kentucky. The cemetery office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., but the gates to the cemetery are open sunrise to sunset. Admission is free.

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