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Mark Daniels's avatar

“You can't do everything yourself.”

Polk didn’t believe this. As a consequence, after instigating and executing the war on Mexico, he barely survived his presidency.

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Alexis Ludwig's avatar

Indeed, even if counterfactual history might suggest a counterfactual. In the event a truly bad president died early in his tenure, one who in office might have done untold damage to the union and the people, might not that premature death be entered into history's positive column? I guess like any other counterfactual, we'll never know. And we have to assume that a life lived to full effect, including for a president, must be seen as a positive good. Who knows?

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