War with Mexico

<p><span class="deck"> John Charles Frémont never succeeded in living up to his fame, yet he was one of America’s great explorers</span> </p>

<p>President Polk, a Democrat, needed a commander to win his war with Mexico, but all the good generals were Whigs. Now, could the winning general steal the Presidency from the party? As a matter of fact, he did.</p>

<p><span class="deck">In the bright mestizo tapestry of Mexico’s thirty centuries of civilization, the Indian, the Spanish, and the modern threads interweave—and tangle</span></p>

<p>In a momentous couple of years, the young United States added more than a million square miles of territory, including Texas and California. </p>