Editing John C. Calhoun (section)

===Election of 1844===
{{main|1844 United States presidential election}}
[[File:John_Caldwell_Calhoun_ca._1843.jpg|thumb|upright|Daguerreotype of Calhoun, {{circa|1843}}]]
At the Democratic Convention in Baltimore, Maryland in May 1844, Calhoun's supporters, with Calhoun in attendance, threatened to bolt the proceedings and shift support to Tyler's third party ticket if the delegates failed to produce a pro-Texas nominee.{{sfn|Howe|2007|p=683}} Calhoun's Pakenham letter, and its identification with proslavery extremism, moved the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, the northerner Martin Van Buren, into denouncing annexation. Therefore, Van Buren, already not widely popular in the South, saw his support from that region crippled. As a result, [[James K. Polk]], a pro-Texas Jacksonian and Tennessee politician, won the nomination. Historian [[Daniel Walker Howe]] says that Calhoun's Pakenham letter was a deliberate attempt to influence the outcome of the 1844 election, writing:
{{blockquote|By identifying Texas with slavery, Calhoun made sure that Van Buren, being a northerner, would have to oppose Texas. This, Calhoun correctly foresaw, would hurt the New Yorker's chances for the Democratic nomination. Nor did the Carolinian's ingenious strategy ultimately wreck the cause for Texas annexation. Indeed, in that respect it would turn out a brilliant success.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pp=681–682}}}}

In the general election, Calhoun offered his endorsement to Polk on condition that he support the annexation of Texas, oppose the [[Tariff of 1842]], and dissolve the ''Washington Globe,'' the semi-official propaganda organ of the Democratic Party headed by [[Francis Preston Blair]]. He received these assurances and enthusiastically supported Polk's candidacy.{{sfn|Merry|2009|pp=104–107}} Polk narrowly defeated Henry Clay, who opposed annexation.{{sfn|Remini|1984|pp=497; 507}} Lame-duck President Tyler organized a joint House–Senate vote on the Texas treaty which passed, requiring only a simple majority. He signed a bill of annexation on March 1, With President Polk's support, the Texas annexation treaty was approved by the Texas Republic in 1845.{{sfn|Borneman|2009|pp=79–84}} A bill to admit Texas as the 28th state of the Union was signed by Polk on December 29, 1845.{{sfn|Merk|1978|p=308}}