Animated by Lofty Principles

American Minute from William J. Federer

"Old Rough and Ready" died JULY 9, 1850. This was General Zachary Taylor.

He fought the British in the War of 1812, the Sac Indians in the Black Hawk War and the Seminole Indians in Florida. Zachary Taylor's victories in the Mexican War, being greatly outnumbered by Santa Anna's forces, made him a national hero.

Zachary Taylor was elected the 12th U.S. President.

Presented with a Bible by a delegation of ladies from Frankfort, Kentucky, President Zachary Taylor's acknowledgment was printed in the Frankfort Commonwealth, February 21, 1849: "I accept with gratitude...your gift of this inestimable Volume. It was for the love of the truths of this great Book that our fathers abandoned their native shores for the wilderness. Animated by its lofty principles they toiled and suffered till the desert blossomed as a rose."

Zachary Taylor continued: "The same truths sustained them...to become a free nation; and guided by the wisdom of this Book they founded a government."

Refusing to be sworn in on the Sabbath, President Zachary Taylor told a Sabbath-School celebration in the City of Washington, July 4, 1849: "The only ground of hope for the continuance of our free institutions is in the proper moral and religious training of the children."

William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.