James K. Polk Quotes
I had ordered an efficient military force to take a position between the Nueces and the Del Norte. This had become necessary to meet a threatened invasion of Texas by the Mexican forces, for which extensive military preparations had been made. The invasion was threatened solely because Texas had determined, in accordance with a solemn resolution of the Congress of the United States, to annex herself to our Union, and under these circumstances it was plainly our duty to extend our protection over her citizens and soil.
James K. Polk, 1795-1849, 11th President of the United States (Democrat), Message to Congress, May 11, 1846
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President Polk and General Zachary Taylor will not He was the last President before Texas became a State. Most of us are surprised that the Texas President opposed the Mexican War.
He was announcing the arrest of an agent of the Iranian Government who was plotting to assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States.
Actually, the two world wars were wars of necessity. The Korean War and the Vietnam war are considered by many as wars of choice. But most of our military incursions—the Mexican War, the Spanish American War, Grenada, the Serbian War, Hati incursions and many others were wars of choice for which there were often very good reasons. However, we have to go to war when America is existentially threatened. In that sense, the Iraq War which Kerry was primarily addressing, could be interpreted either way. If it was really true thread. That is what caused most members of Congress to vote to approve the war. However, when that turned out to have been untrue, and it was suspected that the weapons of mass destruction was a deliberate ruse by some.
See Noah Webster and Timothy Pickering for similar positions. The War of 1812 was very unpopular with the New England states. They had the most developed trade with England and were economically injured by the curtailment of that trade. The citizens of Essex wanted to give the State Legislature the most possible moral and political power to negotiate an end to the war.
At the time of this speech virtually the entire world believed that. However world attitude changed markedly after the administration of George W. Bush and the United States invasion of Afghanistan after September 11 and the Iraq War which was for regime change.
He served Presidents Reagan, Clinton, and both Bushes
The Texans wanted independence from Mexico and this quotation illustrates their three possible alternatives. Most Texans wanted to join the United State, but the United States was not very enthusiastic about having Texas. In a sense, Texas was made up of the malcontents, failures and riffraff from the United States. Many felt the nation was good to be rid of them. So initially, Texas was an independent republic. However, public and elite opinion began to change, and finally Texas was admitted.
James Knox Polk was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841). A protégé of Andrew Jackson, he was a member of the Democratic Party and an advocate of Jacksonian democracy. Polk is chiefly known for extending the territory of the United States through the Mexican–American War; during his presidency, the United States expanded significantly with the annexation of the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory, and the Mexican Cession following the American victory in the Mexican–American War.
