18.) General Winfield Scott - Scott was a hero in the War of 1812, and in 1847 was given control of the main American forces in the Mexican War by General Taylor. (Taylor's tactics had proved uneffective in the semi-desert terrain of northern Mexico.) Scott planned to press inland from Vera Cruz, eventually to the capital at Mexico City. By September of 1847, he had reached his destination, despite a startling lack of troops, constant disease and poor political backing. His efforts earned him the nickname 'Old Fuss and Feathers'. Scott's drive to Mexico City is remembered as of the most brilliant campaigns of the Mexican War. Scott, (working with chief cleck of the State Department Nicholas P. Trist), later arranged a $10,000 armistice with Santa Anna, but the money was taken and fighting continued.
16) President James K. Polk- Polk's enthusiasm for westward expansion helped him get the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1844. In his campaign, he promised the annexation of Oregon and Texas, even though either could result in war. Once he won, he used military threats and diplomacy to compromise with England to see the 49th parallel as the Oregon Territory's northern boundary. Though traditionally the boundary between Mexico and Texas was the Nueces River, Polk backed the Texans' in that their western border was the Rio Grande. Since Texas claimed the river all the way to its source, they were forcing half of present-day New Mexico and Colorado to be theirs. The Mexican government refused the United States' offer of forty million dollars for New Mexico and California. U.S. General Zachary Taylor led troops into the area to the banks of the Rio Grande in 1846, Mexican troops attacked and killed sixteen of his men. Polk immediately reacted, and sought a declaration of war from Congress.