President Dallas

Apologies if it's been done before. WI President Polk has his fatal illness a couple of years early, and dies as Winfield Scott enters Mexico City. George M Dallas is President.

What next? I gather Dallas was a strong annexationist. While "all Mexico" is almost certainly a non-runner, could the US end up with significantly more territory than OTL, and if so what might the butterflies be? If Coahuila becomes part of Texas (iirc they had been united under Mexican rule) does that state have to accept a northern border at the 32nd parallel, as Henry Clay proposed? And/or if Baja California becomes American, would its northern boundary be the same as today's, or might places like Los Angeles be included in a separate State or Territory of Lower California, rather than in CA?

And what of Mr Dallas? Can he get an elected term in 1848? I gather he had made himself unpopular at home by his vote on a tariff bill, but patronage might repair some of that. And if he can't get the 1848 nomination, might he have a chance to come back in 1852? And would it greatly matter?

Thoughts?
 
So President Polk dies June 15, 1847 (two years earlier) Vice President George M. Dallas, is sworn in as the 12th President of the United States of America.

At the same time General Zachary Taylor wins a series of victories in northern Mexico and Winfield Scott destroyed all resistance, capturing Mexico City in September 1847.

IOTL Mexico did not surrender until 1848, when it agreed to peace terms set out by Polk. Will President Dallas be as "kind"?

Can he get an elected term in 1848?
If he can persuade General Zachary Taylor to run as his VP and not as a rival for the Whig party, he may have a chance, but as we know the war had serious consequences for the Democrats as it gave the Whig Party a unifying message of denouncing the war as "an immoral act of aggression" carried out through abuse of power by the president.

So if the Democrats can use General Zachary Taylor, portraying him as a war hero, and celebrate his victories, they may have a shot.

Might he have a chance to come back in 1852?
Dallas is a 60 year old man now and has already seen 5 years in office, so he may want to retire, especially with all the up and coming young politicians who want a chance in the White House.
 
Might he have a chance to come back in 1852?
Dallas is a 60 year old man now and has already seen 5 years in office, so he may want to retire, especially with all the up and coming young politicians who want a chance in the White House.

The question was, if not nominated in 1848, and therefore not in office in 1849-1852, could he be nominated and elected in 1852?

He'd be four years younger than the OTL Whig nominee Winfield Scott, so it would definitely be possible.

OTL, Millard Fillmore succeeded to the Presidency, failed of nomination for a full term, but was nominated four years later. Granted it was the American Party, but they were serious. So there is an OTL example.
 
Mexicans do not accept

It is very likely that Mexicans do not accept the new conditions that they would impose on them by the new American president and continue fighting.
Perhaps the war officially would conclude with a treaty signed by a Mexican puppet government imposed and maintained by the American garrison in Mexico City.

Edit: What is certain is that the Americans would have a permanent enemy irreconcilable , one with an inextinguishable resentment on its southern border.
 
Last edited:
Top