Zachary Taylor: The Slave-Owning President who stopped the Spread of Slavery and Saved the Union — Market Mad House

America’s strangest chief executive was its 12th President Zachary Taylor (W-Louisiana).

To explain, Taylor, a Southern slave-owner, kept slavery out of the West. In the process, Taylor possibly saved the United States from collapse.

Strangely, Taylor, who owned 100 slaves, worked hard to bring California, Utah, and New Mexico into the Union as free states. Thus, Taylor kept slavery from spreading to the Pacific.