Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Epigraph

LIST OF MAPS AND IMAGES

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE Polk’s Dream, 1844–45

  1 Valentine’s Day

  2 “Who Is James K. Polk?”

  3 The Upset

PART TWO Mr. and Mrs. Polk’s War, 1845–46

  4 Speaking Cannon Fire

  5 “The Mischief Is Done”

PART THREE The Crucible of Conscience, 1846–47

  6 A Tame, Spiritless Fellow

  7 Buena Vista

  8 Inscrutable Providence

  9 Needless, Wicked, and Wrong

10 War Measures

11 Duty and Justice

PART FOUR Truth and Consequences, 1848

12 To Conquer a Peace

13 A Clear Conscience

EPILOGUE Lineage

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Other Books by This Author

About the Author