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Millard Fillmore Caldwell was born near Knoxville, Tennessee on February 6, 1897. He attended Carson Newman College, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Virginia. He also served in the army as a Lieutenant in World War I. Caldwell moved to Milton, Florida in 1924 where he practiced law. He represented Santa Rosa County in the Florida House of Representatives from 1929 to 1931. He served in the U.S. Congress representing the Third Congressional District from 1933 to 1941. When Caldwell retired from Congress, he moved to the Harwood Plantation near Tallahassee where he farmed and practiced law.

Caldwell won the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1944 and defeated Bert Acker in the general election. As governor, Caldwell revised the system of educational finance. The Minimum Foundation Program for public schools was enacted during his administration. He expanded the Capitol Center and state services to meet the postwar population boom. After leaving office in 1949, he was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in 1962 and served until 1969, having been elected Chief Justice in 1967. He retired to practice law in Tallahassee. Caldwell died in Tallahassee in 1984.