William Henry Harrison to the presidency. In
Tennessee the Harrison electoral ticket had re-
ceived more than 12,000 majority. Although to
overcome this was impossible, Mr. Polk entered
upon the canvass with his usual energy and ear-
nestness. He could not secure the defeat of James
C. Jones, the opposing Whig candidate, one of the
most popular members of his party in the state,
but he did succeed in cutting down the opposition
majority to about 3,000. In 1843 Mr. Polk was
once more a candidate ; but this time Gov. Jones's
majority was nearly 4.000.
In 1839 Mr. Polk had been nominated by the legislature of Tennessee as its candidate for vice- president on the ticket with Martin Van Buren, and other states had followed the example: but Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, seemed to be the choice of the great body of the Democratic party, and he was accordingly nominated. From the date of Van Buren's defeat in 1840 until within a few weeks of the meeting of the National Dc'inn- cratic convention at Baltimore in 1844, public opinion in the party undoubtedly pointed to his renomination, but when in April of the latter year President Tyler concluded a treaty between the government of the United States and the republic of Texas, providing for the annexation of the lat- ter to the Union, a new issue was introduced into American politics that was destined to change not only the platforms of parties, but the future history and topography of the country itself. On the question whether Texas should be admitted, the greatest divergence of opinion among public men prevailed. The Whig party at the north op- posed annexation, on the grounds that it would be an act of bad faith to Mexico, that it would in- volve the necessity of assuming the debt of the young republic, amounting to ten or twelve mil- lions of dollars, and that it would further increase the area of slave territory. At the south the Whigs were divided, one section advocating the new policy, while the other concurred with their party friends at the north on the first two grounds of objection. The Democrats generally favored annexation, but a portion of the party at the north, and a few of its members residing in the slave- states, opposed it. Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Clay agreed very nearly in their opinions, being in favor of annexation if the American people desired it, provided that the consent of Mexico could be ob- tained, or at least that efforts should be made to obtain it. In this crisis Mr. Polk declared his views in no uncertain tones. It being understood that he would be a candidate for vice-president, a letter was addressed to him by a committee of the citizens of Cincinnati, asking for an expression of his sentiments on the subject. In his reply, dated 22 April, 1844. he said : " I have no hesitation in declaring that I am in favor of the immediate re- annexation of Texas to the government and terri- tory of the United States. The proof is fair and satisfactory to my own mind that Texas once con- stituted a part of the territory of the United States, the title to which I regard to have been as indisputable as that to any portion of our territory." He also added that " the country west of the Sabine, and now called Texas, was [in 1819] most unwisely ceded away"; that the people and government of the republic were most anxious for annexation, and that, if their prayer was rejected, there was danger that she might become "a dependency if not a colony of Great Britain." This letter, strongly in contrast with the hesitating phrases contained in that of ex-President Van Buren of 20 April on the same subject, elevated its author to the presi- dency. When the Baltimore convention met on 27 May, it was found that, while Mr. Van Buren rouM not secure the necessary two-third vote, his friends numbered more than one third of the dele- gates present, and were thus in a position to dictate the name of the successful candidate. As it was also found that they were inflexibly opposed to Messrs. Cass, Johnson, Buchanan, and the others whose names had been presented, Mr. Polk was in- troduced as the candidate of conciliation, and nominated with alacrity and unanimity. George M. Dallas was nominated for vice-president. In his letter of acceptance, Mr. Polk declared that, if elected, he should enter upon " the discharge of the high and solemn duties of the office with the settled purpose of not being a candidate for re- election." After an exciting canvass. Mr. Polk was elected over his distinguished opponent, Henry Clay, by about 40,000 majority, on the popular vote, exclusive of that of South Carolina, whose electors were chosen by the legislature of the state ; while in the electoral college he received 175 votes to 105 that were cast for Mr. Clay.
On 4 March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated. In his inaugural address, after recounting the blessings conferred upon the nation by the Federal Union, he said: "To perpetuate them, it is our sacred duty to preserve it. Who shall assign limits to the achievements of free minds and free hands under the protection of this glorious Union J No treason to mankind, since the organization of so- ciety, would be equal in atrocity to that of him who' would lift his hand to destroy it. He would overthrow the noblest structure of human wisdom which protects himself and his fellow-man. He would stop the progress of free government and involve his country either in anarchy or in despo- tism." In selecting his cabinet, the new president was singularly fortunate. It comprised several of the most distinguished members of the Democratic party, and all sections of the Union were repre- sented. James Buchanan, fresh from his long ex- perience in the senate, was named secretary of state : Robert J. Walker, also an ex-senator and one of the best authorities on the national finances, was secre- tary of the treasury ; to William L. Marcy, ex- governor of New York, was confided the war port- folio ; literature was honored in the appointment of George Bancroft as secretary of the navy ; Cave Johnson, an honored son of Tennessee, was made postmaster-general ; and John Y. Mason, who had been a member of President Tyler's cabinet, was first attorney-general and afterward secretary of the navy. When congress met in the following December there was a Democratic majority in both branches. In his message the president condemned all anti-slavery agitation, recommended a sub- treasury and a tariff for revenue, and declared that the annexation of Texas was a matter that con- cerned only the latter and the United States, no foreign country having any right to interfere. Congress was also informed that the American army under Gen. Zachary Taylor had been ordered to occupy, and had occupied, the western bank of Nueces river, beyond which Texas had never hitherto exercised jurisdiction. On 29 Dec., Texas was admitted into the Union, and two days later an act was passed extending the United States revenue system over the doubtful territory beyond the Nueces. Even these measures did not elicit a declaration of war from the Mexican authorities, who still declared their willingness to negotiate concerning the disputed territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. These negotiations, however, came to nothing, and the president, in
