46 Fascinating Facts About Our 46 Presidents-- Part 3: Polk to Buchanan

11.  JAMES K. POLK (1845-1849)

During his term, Polk secretly purchased  a number of enslaved children for his Mississippi cotton  plantation.

12.  ZACHARY TAYLOR (1849-1850)

"Old Rough and Ready" never voted in an election prior to being put on the ballot himself.

13.  MILLARD FILLMORE  (1850-1853)

He was the last Whig president; the party imploded after he left office.

14.  FRANKLIN PIERCE  (1853-1857)

The only [president from New Hampshire also attended college in New England -- Bowdoin College  in Brunswick, Maine.

15.  JAMES BUCHANAN (1857-1861)

In 1853, while serving as minister to Great Britain, he helped draft the 1854 Ostend Manifesto, which advocated for an American invasion of Cuba.

--CootPres

When Presidents Lied Or Misled U.S. Into War-- Part 1: The Mexican War

From the November 16, 2018, Washington Post  "When presidents lied or misled the nation to go to war -- and when they didn't" by Matthew Dallek.

I wrote about President James Madison and the War of 1812 in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog today.

Anither president and his war:

In 1846, President James Polk responded to the ambush of a U.S. military patrol near the Rio Grande by asking Congress to declare war on Mexico.  Polk wanted to get control of California, New Mexico and Arizona and extend slavery and the nation westward.

Thus said the author of the book "Presidents of War" by Michael Beschloss.  His book details how presidents "weaponized deception."

"They hid the risks of war from soldiers and civilians, used false pretexts to fight their wars, and they waged wars even though the republics survival was not at stake.  With too-frequent acquiescence of Congress, [presidents] have seized for themselves the power to launch large conflicts almost on their own authority."

--Cooter