Zachary Taylor represented the Whig Party as president. The Whigs were very much the political descendants of the Federalist Party, the party of John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. They believed in a strong central government and the development of an industrialized economy. They were also staunch supporters of a literal construction of the Constitution as a means of combating what they saw as the populist tyranny of the Democrats under Andrew Jackson.
For the whole of his adult life, Taylor had prided himself on being a political maverick, a man who belonged to no party. In fact, prior to his election as president in 1848, he'd never even voted. As a popular war hero and charismatic leader, Taylor was thought to be a natural for a presidential candidate. Both parties, Whigs and Democrats alike, therefore sought to have him as their man. Initially, Taylor was reluctant to commit himself, but eventually he plumped for the Whigs, and it was under their banner that he was elected for the first and only time in 1848.
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