FILLMORE, 13th, 1850-53

Millard Fillmore was the second President born in a log cabin.

An impressive figure, Fillmore stood six feet tall and handsome. He enjoyed dressing in the latest fashions, displaying impeccable good taste that masked his humble origins. His voice was deep and masculine, but he spoke softly and carefully.

He was seventeen before he saw a dictionary. He was illiterate until adulthood.

In 1826, he married Abigail Powers, a schoolteacher, who helped him with his education. In the years of their marriage, they collected over 4,000 books. It was to the credit of Abigail that a library and, disputably, a bathtub were installed in the White House.

Fillmore suffered from an eye disorder that limited his ability to read by candlelight.

He is the only President to have had his first military experience after his Presidency. He helped organize the "Union Continentals," a militia unit composed of older men, in which he eventually rose to major.

He did not smoke or drink, and was fastidious about his health.

His last words, upon being fed some soup, "the nourishment is palatable."

d. March 8, 1874 (Buffalo, New York) at 74 of a stroke.