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The President's Justification for War
In 1848, the US and Mexico signed a peace treaty. The U.S. Navy arrived from Honolulu three days later and took possession of Monterey without bloodshed. Back East, the war with Mexico was becoming a sharply divisive issue. Many Whigs saw Polk's action as the fulfillment of Jackson's autocratic legacy. Abraham Lincoln believed Polk's justification for war was, from beginning to end, the sheerst deception.