Facts about the President Zachary Taylor Death

Ashley | 10 - 16 - 2020
Facts about the President Zachary Taylor Death

Zachary Tailor, the 12th President of the United States died in July 1850. Many historians say that the cause of his death is cherry overdose. In this article, you can discover many interesting facts about President Zachary Taylor’s death.

Which President Died from Eating Cherries?

Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784. He is considered a national hero in the United States Army after the Mexican-American war and during the war of 1812. He served as a President from March 1849 to July 1850. After his victories in the Mexican-American war of 1845, he was recognized as America’s most popular figure. In 1848, Taylor ran for President and he won the election despite his lack of interest in politics.

On 4th of July in 1850, a hot humid day in Washington D.C, President Zachary Taylor attended the festivities at the newly dedicated grounds that would hold the Washington DC monument. During the ceremony, Taylor enjoyed a good amount of cooling snacks, cherries, and milk. Later, he went on a leisure walk near the Potomac River.

The Typhoid Vaccine Was Invented in the 1890s.
  • A. True
  • B. False

He then returned to the Whitehouse and drank several glasses of water to quench his thirst. Many sources say that he experienced diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. The very next day, when his situation became worse his physician-administered opium and mercury chloride or “calomel”. In the 20th century, it was used as a disinfectant, a medicine to treat syphilis. It was one of the major medicines that were used during the yellow fever outbreak in Philadelphia.

Zachary Taylor Cause of Death

How did Zachary Taylor die? On July 8, President Zachary Taylor declared, “I should not be surprised if this were to terminate in my death”. But the doctors kept on treating him with new therapies such as bleeding therapy and skin blistering. The diagnosis concluded that it was cholera morbus(not the modern understanding of cholera) which is known as ‘gastroenteritis’ today. Cholera morbus is a bacterial infection of the small intestine.

On July 9, President Zachary Taylor passed away at the age of 65. After his death, Millard Fillmore, his Vice President was appointed as the new President the very next day.

Some sources also suspect that the ‘President Zachary Taylor death’ was an assassination by arsenic poisoning. In the mid-1980s, a retired humanities professor at the University of Florida started to investigate more about the case. During the investigation, she found that there was no proper security for political leaders. Once Mrs. Taylor complained about strangers roaming around in her room. Rising also found that almost all of his symptoms were similar to arsenic poisoning. Arsenic is a substance that could stay in a person’s body for centuries, therefore she decided to get the hair samples of President Zachary Taylor. Out of her research, she found two hair samples, one at the Smithsonian museum and one in New Orleans. However, both the samples failed to show results. The first one found was compromised by pesticides and the second one belonged to Andrew Jackson. Therefore, the research turned out to be useless. But in 2007, Rising published “The Taylor File” and three years later, she died in her home in Florida.

Doctors say the major cause of his death is salmonella or similar types of bacteria. It might be due to the usage of contaminated water to wash the cherries or due to the unpasteurized milk, he consumed.

News of the President who died eating cherries became popular. After the death of President Zachary Taylor, the quality of the water supply was closely taken into account then they discovered that the water supply was contaminated by sewage that flowed into the marsh. This led to the formation of bacteria that could cause diseases such as typhoid. In the 20th century, there was no proper vaccine for typhoid or related diseases.

People claim that the hot and humid weather conditions and contaminated water supply were the major reasons for his death.

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