8 Dreadful Acts From US Presidents

James Polk, really, wanted California. The territory was owned by Mexico and Polk made several attempts to buy the land but Mexico wouldn't entertain the thought. In this situation the calmest most logical thing to do is, of course, initiate a war.

The trouble really began when Texas seceded from Mexico (remember the Alamo) and was was annexed by the US. Mexico didn't take kindly to any of that so was not in the best of moods to negotiate giving any more land no matter the cost.

Those generous to Polk's legacy insist that his positioning of troop across the Rio Grande was just a means of making sure negotiations would occur.

Most aren't kind to Polk's legacy though and believe he positioned troops, in an area Mexico believed theirs, to bait Mexico into starting a war.

And they did, Mexican troops attacked the Americans giving Polk cause to declare that war had already started so we might as well roll with it. Or something to this effect.

The end of the Mexico-American war would lead to the US gaining territory in Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and, much to Polk's delight, California. A year before the war's end Polk was censured in 1847 by the House for “unnecessarily and unconstitutionally” initiating the war.