Columbia, Gem of the Ocean!

As news of the outbreak of hostilities between Mexico and the United States of America led to an official declaration of war between the two powers in May of 1846, an outbreak of cholera occurred in Washington, D.C. The disease spread quickly with little regard for the political power-brokers of the national capitol, quickly taking the life of Secretary of State James Buchanan. As May turned into June and the oppressive summer heat overtook the city, President James K. Polk passed away, leaving the reigns of a nation at war to his Vice President, George Mifflin Dallas, who was quickly sworn in as the 12th President of the United States on June 13th, 1846.

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An avid believer in Manifest Destiny and American expansion, President Dallas had proclaimed that all of Mexico should be taken and incorporated into the United States when the Mexican American War initially broke out and he was still Vice President.
 
I can't see the annexation of all of Mexico given the difficulties associated with the initial Treaty of Hidalgo, and the tracts of land desired by most Southerners in what is now Present-Day Northern Mexico were only desired precisely because they were sparsely populated; just about every American balked at the idea of annexing the entirety of Mexico, either because they were convinced it would allow slavery to expand throughout, because they considered the Mexicans inferiors who deserved no place in American Democracy, because they were opposed to the war in the first place, etc. The political capital and willpower to make it actually happen simply wasn't there.
 
I can't see the annexation of all of Mexico given the difficulties associated with the initial Treaty of Hidalgo, and the tracts of land desired by most Southerners in what is now Present-Day Northern Mexico were only desired precisely because they were sparsely populated; just about every American balked at the idea of annexing the entirety of Mexico, either because they were convinced it would allow slavery to expand throughout, because they considered the Mexicans inferiors who deserved no place in American Democracy, because they were opposed to the war in the first place, etc. The political capital and willpower to make it actually happen simply wasn't there.

Just because Dallas wants all of Mexico doesn’t mean Dallas will get all of Mexico.
 
Upon his ascension to the Presidency, George M. Dallas began updating his Cabinet. With the Secretary of State position open following the death of James Buchanan, Dallas felt the need to fill the spot with a fellow believer in Manifest Destiny. However, because the Mexican-American War was seen in the North as an excuse to grab land for the expansion and extension of slavery, Dallas wanted to find a candidate who was both an expansionist and an ardent opponent of slavery, seeing this as a path toward appeasing Northern Whigs and Democrats. To this end, the new President of the United States settled upon George Bancroft, the Secretary of the Navy.


A native of Massachusetts, Bancroft was a firm believer in the importance of education and had previously served as a tutor at Harvard. While having failed in his 1844 campaign for the Massachusetts governorship, James Polk appointed Bancroft to his cabinet in 1845. While serving as the Secretary of the Navy, Bancroft established the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis. Previously, Congress had not been open to the idea of creating a naval academy. However, ever the scholar, Bancroft poured through the laws surrounding his position and determined that, as the Secretary of the Navy, he was able to direct midshipmen to await for orders in a specific place, that he could direct naval instructors to instruct midshipmen while at sea, and that naval instructors could follow midshipmen to their place of common residence. By combining these three things, as well as determining that the expenses could be funded through the funds his department had already received, Bancroft established the Naval Academy in an abandoned military post that was ceded to the Navy by the Secretary of War. Congress thereafter accepted the Academy and began to properly fund it.


As a result of his success as Secretary of Navy, Dallas was thoroughly impressed by Bancroft and believed that his anti-slavery attitudes combined with his pro-expansionist beliefs would enable him to pass through Congress in order to become the new Secretary of State. While there was minimal opposition, Dallas was correct that Bancroft’s beliefs paved a middle path between Whigs and Democrats and he was confirmed as the Secretary of State on June 24th, 1846.

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Secretary of State, George Bancroft

In order to replace Bancroft as Secretary of Navy, President Dallas nominated William Orlando Butler, who had lost his race for the Kentucky governorship in 1844 to the Whig Party candidate by 4,634 votes. There was more debate over Butler joining Dallas’s cabinet than there had been for Bancroft’s appointment as Secretary of State; however, ultimately Butler was confirmed as the new Secretary of the Navy on June 30th, 1846.

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Secretary of Navy, William Orlando Butler
 
So who are some people that y’all definitely want to see featured in the posts that cover the actual battles of the Mexican American war?
 
Jeff Davis, natch. I imagine there is nothing really different, given the POD, for the Mormon Battallion than OTL?

George H. Thomas

It would be fun to see some butterflies flapping in California, leading to some variation in what happens out there.
 
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So who are some people that y’all definitely want to see featured in the posts that cover the actual battles of the Mexican American war?

Jesse Reno, maybe? Or other less famous Civil War figures who also fought in Mexico IOTL.
 
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