Letters from Mexico

In March 1848, the Polk Administration provided a vast collection of correspondence related to the ongoing war in Mexico.  The letters included reports from the field, communications between the generals and the War Department, troop counts, financial reports, general orders, administration of martial law, and many other topics.  The letters provide details about the workings of the army, the jealousies among commanders, difficulties involved in fielding volunteer troops, and a close-up look at the personalities of the generals and officials.

Volunteer troops had a huge impact on the conduct of the war.  Initially, they were brought in for only 3- or 6-month tours.  Later, that was extended to 1-year and finally they were required to sign on until the end of the war.  As these troops were typically raw recruits, training was required.  The troops were sent to Camargo or Meir on the Rio Grande before finally being deployed.  By the time the volunteers were seasoned and competent, it was time to send them home and a new wave of neophytes replaced them.  As such, military victories were often not exploited.  General Scott crushed the Mexican Army at Cerro Gordo in April 1847 but then was unable to drive onto Mexico City until August because most of his volunteers left in May and June.

The squabbles among and between the generals and the Polk Administration are embarrassing.  Winfield Scott comes across particularly badly in his letters.  Though he certainly had cause to believe the administration didn't have his back, he proved to be paranoid, acting as if the administration was trying to make him fail.  On the other hand, Zachary Taylor came off well.  Though there is a clear current in his correspondence that he viewed himself as mistreated by having his army transferred to General Scott, he was not a whiner and comported himself professionally.  Of course, he had William W. S. Bliss as his adjutant, a man of tremendous ability who managed the general's paperwork.  The letters do not offer the homespun sound of Taylor.  Scott wrote or dictated his letters and it shows.

One humorous exchange was between Scott and General Gideon Pillow.  Initially, Scott wrote to Pillow and requested that he 'correct' his account of a recent battle.  Pillow had arrogated to himself credit for several aspects of the battle.  It comes as no surprise that Pillow was later arrested by Scott, who demanded a court martial.  With all this bickering among the generals, it's a wonder that the war was won.

Scott's most dramatic letter was in answer to his recall.  He composed a laundry list of mistreatments he had received from the Polk Administration.  Indeed, from his perspective, it looked as though the President wanted him to fail.  However, his claims sounded surprisingly convincing.  Was Polk trying to sink his lead general and thus lose the war?  The reply from War Secretary William Marcy was devastating, answering most - though not all - of Scott's claims, often disproving them with copies of Scott's reports.  Ouch!

Highly entertaining for those interested.

Presidential Rankings - The Terrible Ones

These are the presidential disasters, highly-negative leaders who clearly damaged the well-being of the nation.

Franklin Pierce: An unknown politician unprepared for the presidency.  His last surviving child died shortly before Pierce assumed the presidency, sending him into alcohol and grief.  He pandered to slave owners and vilified abolitionists.  The Gadsden Purchase took place during his presidency.

James Buchanan: Most impressive resume prior to George H W Bush, but twiddled his thumbs as the country descended into Civil War.  Did nothing as the South seceded after the election but before Lincoln's inauguration.

Andrew Johnson: Lincoln's greatest mistake.  A pro-slavery demagogue who was entirely unsuited to the task of healing a nation in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Woodrow Wilson: Worst racist in presidential history.  Reversed racial progress rather than accept the status quo.  Set the stage for the rise of the Nazis and WWII.  Imprisoned political opponents, notably Eugene Debs.  Held constitutional limits in low regard, ignored civil liberties, refused to negotiate with Senate Republicans in foreign policy (which killed his League of Nations), and hid his debilitating stroke for more than a year at the end of his term.

Herbert Hoover: Tragic figure.  Brilliant, accomplished, and well-meaning.  However, he was a compulsive busybody whose efforts to fix the economy only worsened the Great Depression.  Began many of the New Deal policies that FDR adopted; they were all bad.

Jimmy Carter: Economic incompetence, foreign affairs disasters, angering allies and fawning over enemies.  Responsible for the rise of the Iranian mullahs.  Emboldened Islamic terrorists for decades thereafter by showing such astonishing weakness.  The malaise speech, the misery index, inability to get along with Congressional Democrats, let alone the Republicans.  Acted to undermine virtually every successor, regardless of party.

Yes, I can agree with this bunch.  Franklin Pierce wasn't even considered as the candidate until the 35th ballot.  The big guns - Lewis Cass, James Buchanan, Stephen Douglas, and William Marcy - could not assemble two-thirds of the delegates to capture the nomination.  Pierce was a dark horse who was enough of a blank slate that he won the nomination on the 49th ballot.  Is it any wonder he was not ready for the job.  The Democrats saw their error from 1852 and did not renominate Pierce in 1856, instead choosing Buchanan.  Despite a tremendous resume, he too failed miserably.  Like George H W Bush, Buchanan was groomed for a foreign policy presidency and was unsuited to domestic issues.  Andrew Johnson was a Tennessean who favored the Union.  Straddling both sides, one would think he would be ideal in the wake of the war.  Instead, he paved the way for Jim Crow rather than racial equality.  Wilson did not like the Constitution or the Republic it established.  He was indeed a horrible president.  Hoover had been part of the Harding Administration when Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon deftly turned Wilson's post-war depression into nearly a decade of prosperity.  Instead of trying to duplicate that, he tinkered and meddled, transforming a downturn into the Great Depression.  I would guess that Graboyes had first-hand experience with the Carter presidency based on the laundry list of failings.  I've always viewed Carter in much the way he paints Hoover: a well-meaning man who inadvertently did far more harm than good.

Responding to a comment regarding his rankings, Graboyes said that the six terribles led to hell: Pierce & Buchanan to the Civil War, Johnson to Jim Crow, Wilson to Nazism, Hoover to Depression, and Carter to Jihadism.  He also speculates that it might have been better to have 7 tiers rather than 5.

Most Qualified?

In yesterday's musing, I mentioned that James Buchanan was arguably the most qualified person elected to the presidency.  Didn't President Obama recently opine during the election that Hillary Clinton was the most qualified?  Let's consider.

James Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania in 1791.  After graduating college with honors in 1809, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1812.  He was a highly paid lawyer through the rest of the decade.  Though opposed to the War of 1812, he volunteered when Maryland was invaded and took part in the Defense of Baltimore.  Soon thereafter, he was elected as a member of the Pennsylvania House, where he served for 2 years (1814 to 1816).  In 1821, he was elected to Congress and served for 10 years, the last two as the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.  In 1832, President Andrew Jackson appointed him as the Minister to Russia.  Shortly after returning from Russia, he became a Senator for Pennsylvania (1834 to 1845).  When James Knox Polk was elected to the Presidency in 1844, he offered Buchanan a nomination to the Supreme Court!  Buchanan declined and instead served as Secretary of State.  The Polk years (1845 to 1849) were exciting ones for foreign policy, involving both a war with Mexico and resolving the Oregon Question with England.  Polk had stated his intention to serve only one term.  When Franklin Pierce was elected in 1852, he appointed Buchanan to be the Minister to the United Kingdom (1853 to 1856).  With this immense depth of experience, Buchanan then failed spectacularly as the 15th president of the United States (1857-1861).  Like George H. W. Bush, Buchanan wasn't particularly interested in domestic affairs and really wanted to tinker on the world stage.

 

Hillary Clinton graduated from Wellesley with honors in 1969 and earned her Juris Doctor from Yale in 1973.  She served as an attorney for the Children's Defense Fund (established 1973).  In 1974, she advised the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate.  She became First Lady of Arkansas (1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992).  During this period, she was a highly-paid lawyer at the Rose Law Firm.  When her husband was elected president, she followed him to Washington where she became First Lady (1993 to 2001).  She managed the healthcare overhaul that failed so badly as to trigger the Republican wave of 1994 in which the Democrats lost the House for the first time in 40 years!  Her first elective office was that of New York Senator (2001 to 2009), where she served on many committees but chaired none.  She served as President Obama's first Secretary of State (2009 to 2013), a tenure overshadowed by the collapse of Libya and American deaths in Benghazi.

Looks like a hands down victory for Buchanan and he proved to be a disaster as president.  Of course, the man who followed Buchanan had a thin resume by comparison, having served only 2 years in Congress and 8 in the Illinois House of Representatives.  On paper, Lincoln has less governmental experience than either of these two highly qualified individuals but is regularly rated among the best presidents, if not the best.  Government experience is not as valuable as one might expect.