A country of vast designs : James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the conquest of the American continent /
Merry, Robert W., 1946-
A country of vast designs : James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the conquest of the American continent / James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the conquest of the American continent Robert W. Merry. - 1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed. - x, 576 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits ; 25 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 479-550) and index.
Ritual of democracy: the emergence of an expansionist president -- Young Hickory: the making of a Jackson prot�eg�e -- Tennessee and Washington: the rise and fall of a presidential loyalist -- The 1844 election: searching for a means of political recovery -- Texas: dawn of a new era -- Baltimore: America's first political dark horse -- Polk vs. Clay: answering the question, "Who is James K. Polk?" -- The victor: preparing for the mantle of leadership -- Taking charge: America's zest for grand ambitions -- Annexation complete: diplomacy, intrigue, and the force of politics -- The United States and Oregon: "The people here are worn out by delay" -- The United States and Mexico: divergent new world cultures on a path to war -- Britain and Mexico: playing with prospects of a dual war -- The Twenty-ninth Congress: Polk takes command of the national agenda -- End of a treaty: diplomacy and politics at war with each other -- War: "Every consideration of duty and patriotism" -- Vagaries of war: "And may there be no recreant soul to fail or falter now" -- Presidential temperament: "I prefer to supervise the whole operations of the government" -- Wilmot's proviso: transformation of the war debate -- The war in the West: patriotism, duty, adventure, and glory -- The new face of war: "We are yet to have a long and wearisome struggle" -- The politics of rancor: constitutional usurpation vs. moral treason -- Dilatory Congress: the challenge of presidential leadership -- Veracruz and beyond: grappling with Mexico's military defiance -- Scott and Trist: a clash of policy and temperament -- Mexico City: the pivot of personality -- The specter of conquest: "Have we conquered peace? Have we obtained a treaty?" -- Treaty: from Trist to Polk to the Senate -- Peace: California, New Mexico, and the Union -- Final months: "Solemnly impressed with the ... emptiness of worldly honors" -- Legacy: the price of presidential accomplishment.
Merry examines how, in a one-term presidency, James K. Polk completed the story of America's Manifest Destiny by expanding its territory across the continent.
9780743297431 0743297431 9780743297448 074329744X
2009024131
GBB001421 bnb
015439700 Uk
Polk, James K. 1795-1849.
Polk, James Knox, 1795-1849.
Presidents--United States--Biography.
Politics and government
Presidents
Territorial expansion
Territoriale conflicten.
collective biographies.
Biographies
History
E417 / M55
A country of vast designs : James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the conquest of the American continent / James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the conquest of the American continent Robert W. Merry. - 1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed. - x, 576 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits ; 25 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 479-550) and index.
Ritual of democracy: the emergence of an expansionist president -- Young Hickory: the making of a Jackson prot�eg�e -- Tennessee and Washington: the rise and fall of a presidential loyalist -- The 1844 election: searching for a means of political recovery -- Texas: dawn of a new era -- Baltimore: America's first political dark horse -- Polk vs. Clay: answering the question, "Who is James K. Polk?" -- The victor: preparing for the mantle of leadership -- Taking charge: America's zest for grand ambitions -- Annexation complete: diplomacy, intrigue, and the force of politics -- The United States and Oregon: "The people here are worn out by delay" -- The United States and Mexico: divergent new world cultures on a path to war -- Britain and Mexico: playing with prospects of a dual war -- The Twenty-ninth Congress: Polk takes command of the national agenda -- End of a treaty: diplomacy and politics at war with each other -- War: "Every consideration of duty and patriotism" -- Vagaries of war: "And may there be no recreant soul to fail or falter now" -- Presidential temperament: "I prefer to supervise the whole operations of the government" -- Wilmot's proviso: transformation of the war debate -- The war in the West: patriotism, duty, adventure, and glory -- The new face of war: "We are yet to have a long and wearisome struggle" -- The politics of rancor: constitutional usurpation vs. moral treason -- Dilatory Congress: the challenge of presidential leadership -- Veracruz and beyond: grappling with Mexico's military defiance -- Scott and Trist: a clash of policy and temperament -- Mexico City: the pivot of personality -- The specter of conquest: "Have we conquered peace? Have we obtained a treaty?" -- Treaty: from Trist to Polk to the Senate -- Peace: California, New Mexico, and the Union -- Final months: "Solemnly impressed with the ... emptiness of worldly honors" -- Legacy: the price of presidential accomplishment.
Merry examines how, in a one-term presidency, James K. Polk completed the story of America's Manifest Destiny by expanding its territory across the continent.
9780743297431 0743297431 9780743297448 074329744X
2009024131
GBB001421 bnb
015439700 Uk
Polk, James K. 1795-1849.
Polk, James Knox, 1795-1849.
Presidents--United States--Biography.
Politics and government
Presidents
Territorial expansion
Territoriale conflicten.
collective biographies.
Biographies
History
E417 / M55