Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/684

 674 Reviews of Books Presidents, Tyler and Polk; Tyler, the "accidental President", "the man without a party ", and Polk, styled by Alexander H. Stephens as " the mendacious ". That Tyler was a man of spirit and of firmness (or even of stubbornness) will not be denied, but remembering, for in- stance, that he was fairly dragooned by McDuffie into appointing Cal- houn as Secretary of State, the author's statement that he was " a brave and determined man ", " actuated in the main by courage and consistency" (p. 65) seems rather strong. Again, Polk is described as a man of " stern integrity and strength of . . . character ", who had "sincere faith in the righteousness of his own purposes and of the means he used to attain them" (p. 207). The basis for this judg- ment is Polk's diary, and it must, therefore, be taken somewhat upon faith. That a reading of the diary points to the strict integrity of this President is a matter for such a difference of opinion that only the printing of the manuscript can determine it. Polk's relations with Santa Anna in 1846 give evidence of his aptitude for indirect and even for conscienceless official scheming, if they do not raise questions of his personal integrity. The whole decade was one in which the politician rather than the statesman directed the policies of the government. It is true, as the author states, that no one "would be willing to see his [Polk's] work undone" (p. 207), even if the methods employed to accomplish the result were condemned. But if these methods were improper and the motives unworthy, those who were responsible for them are to be judged without reference to results. For example, the diary shows that Polk was engaged in writing a war message against Mexico when he received news of the attack upon Taylor. This for- tuitous occurrence was seized by the President to shift the burden of aggression upon Mexico. Polk's attitude toward Mexico prior to the outbreak on the Rio Grande is therefore the key to his motives and methods in the conflict which gave to the United States its great expansion to the Pacific. This volume, taking westward extension as its theme, centres around the three great episodes of the decade : the annexation of Texas, the settlement of the northwestern boundary difficulty, and the Mexican War; and about one-half of the text is concerned with these subjects. The elections of 1840 and 1844, the quarrel of Tyler with the Whigs, the Ashburton treaty, the Walker tariff, and the independent treasury system receive as much attention as could be expected in a book of this size, and the treatment of each is adequate and clear. Some minor events, such as the Dorr rebellion (described in fourteen lines), are but touched upon. With the exception of the chapter upon the Wilinot Proviso, shown to be the rock upon which both great parties were to split, and that upon the election of 1848, the part of the volume which is devoted to the results of the Mexican War gives the impression of being unduly compressed. Possibly the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, and certainly the compromise of 1850, were matters of such momentous national importance as to deserve more extended treatment in a vol-