From the time he left office in 1853, thirteenth United States president Millard Fillmore has become increasingly shrouded in mystery and stereotyped by traditional anecdotes that have come to be accepted as fact. The real Millard Fillmore was not the weak and boring figurehead many Americans today believe he was. This account of Fillmore's life is drawn largely from the Fillmore family's personal papers, many of which have previously been suppressed, unavailable, or believed lost for decades. Covering Fillmore's life from his ancestry to his presidency, and finally to his death and descent into obscurity, this history presents Fillmore as his own letters do, and as his friends, family members, and contemporaries saw him, as a distinguished and honorable man who was also a strong and effective president. This comprehensive work includes a genealogy of the Fillmore family, a brief chronology of Fillmore's life and career, a bibliography, and an index. Photographs complement this carefully researched portrait of a wrongfully underrated American leader. - Jacket.