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  •  He was a president? (3+ / 0-)

    Seriously. I'm Canadian, and while I know a lot about US politics, even I'm not all-knowing.

    You guys actually had a president named Millard Fillmore?! It sounds more like a marketing experiment at selling a particularly bad candy bar... gone horribly awry. ;)

    Sure, he comes across quiet and avuncular. Until he gets mad ... then he sounds like God on a bad day. ~ Dallasdoc on Senator Patrick Leahy

    by KiaRioGrl79 on Tue Jan 22, 2008 at 07:19:47 PM PDT

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    •  yes (3+ / 0-)

      He was President from 1850 to 1853. Believe it or not, I didn't have to Wikipedia that (major nerd here). In fact, he took over on a fluke: President Zachary Taylor (a Whig from Louisiana, and another empty suit President) died at 65 of God-knows-what. Fillmore was a mild-mannered someone from New York who did virtually nothing during his three years in the White House. He's everybody's favorite "Who the Hell Was That?!" President.

      What happened after his presidency? Well, he wasn't able to secure the Whig nomination in 1852, so he retired from politics. But four years later he mounted a third-party bid (under the Free Soil Party) and got the best third-party showing until Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. He died in 1874 of lameness.

      The Republican Party is neither pro-republic nor pro-party. Discuss!

      by Nathaniel Ament Stone on Tue Jan 22, 2008 at 07:27:15 PM PDT

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    •  No, that was the 'Reggie' bar. (3+ / 0-)

      I'm sending your comment to Top Comments, by the way!

      "Many people did not care for Pat Buchanan's speech; it probably sounded better in the original German," Molly Ivins, 1992

      by jeffinalabama on Tue Jan 22, 2008 at 07:27:39 PM PDT

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