Polk, while not fully
dictated by the ex-President, was the result of a compromise in which
his advice played a prominent part. Though past seventy-seven and
hardly able to sign his name, Jackson threw himself into the campaign
and undoubtedly contributed to the election of his fellow-Tenneseean.
His satisfaction with the outcome and with the annexation of Texas
which quickly followed found expression in a barbecue attended by all
the Democrats of the neighborhood and by some of note from a distance.
"We have restored the Government to sound principles," declared the
host in a brief, faltering speech from the Hermitage portico, "and
extended the area of our institutions to the Rio Grande. Now for
Oregon and Fifty-four-forty."
Oregon--although not to fifty-four forty--was soon to be duly made
American soil. But Jackson did not live to witness the event. Early in
1845 his health began to fail rapidly and on the very day of Polk's
inauguration he was at the point of death. Rallying, he struggled
manfully for three months against the combined effects of consumption,
dropsy, and dysentery.
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