Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the Commerce and Navigation of the United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1862.

[MILLARD FILLMORE],.

Item Number: 140499

Washington: Government Printing, 1864.

First edition of the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, from the library of Millard Fillmore, signed twice by him, on the front pastedown, “Millard Fillmore April 10 1865”, and on the title page, “Millard Fillmore April 10 1865″.” Octavo, original cloth. When Fillmore served as a member of the U. S. House of Representatives, he was active in framing the protective Tariff of 1842 as chairman of Committee on Ways and Means. A protectionist tariff schedule, the Tariff of 1842 was repealed in 1846 and replaced by the Walker Tariff. In very good condition, rebacked. Housed in a custom slipcase.

The 12th Vice President, United States, Millard Fillmore, was elevated to the presidency in 1850 by the death of President Zachary Taylor. Born into relative poverty in upstate New York, he became a prominent lawyer and politician in the Buffalo area and a Whig as the party formed in the 1830s in opposition to the policies of Andrew Jackson. During the American Civil War, Fillmore was critical of Lincoln's war policies and openly denounced secession, asserting that the Union must be maintained by force if necessary. As President he was instrumental in passing the Compromise of 1850 which led to a brief truce in the conflict between slave and free states which divided the Union and strengthened the Fugitive Slave Act which provided for the return of slaves who escaped from one state into another territory.