Editing George M. Dallas (section)

==Vice presidency (1845–1849)==
At the May [[1844 Democratic National Convention]] in [[Baltimore]], [[James K. Polk]] and [[Silas Wright]] were nominated as the Democratic ticket.  However, Wright declined the nomination, and the delegates chose Dallas as his replacement.  Dallas, who was not at the convention, was awakened at his home by convention delegates who had traveled to Philadelphia to tell him the news.  Dallas somewhat reluctantly accepted the nomination.  The Democratic candidates won the popular vote by a margin of 1.5%, and won the election with an electoral vote of 170 out of 275.<ref name="senate" />

During his time as vice president, Dallas was committed to advancing two major objectives: tariff reduction and territorial expansion. He had traditionally supported the protectionist tariff policy that his state's coal and iron interests demanded, but he agreed to do anything necessary to realize the goal of tariff reduction. Dallas equated the vice president's constitutional power to break tied votes in the Senate with the president's constitutional power to veto acts of Congress. At the end of his vice-presidential term, Dallas said he had cast thirty tie-breaking votes during his four years in office. However, he sought to avoid having to exercise his singular constitutional prerogative on the tariff issue, actively lobbying senators during the debate over Treasury Secretary Walker's tariff bill in the summer of 1846. Despite his efforts, the Senate completed its voting on the Walker Tariff with a 27-to-27 tie, and Dallas cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the tariff on July 28, 1846.

Dallas rationalized that he had studied the distribution of Senate support and concluded that backing for the measure came from all regions of the country. Additionally, the measure had overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives, a body closer to public sentiment. While his action earned Dallas the respect of the president and certain party leaders—and possible votes in 1848 from the southern and western states that supported low tariffs—it effectively demolished his home state political base, ending any serious prospects for future elective office.

Dallas was influential as the presiding officer of the Senate, where he worked to support Polk's agenda and cast several tie-breaking votes. He called for the annexation of all of the Oregon Territory and all of Mexico during the Mexican–American War, but was satisfied with compromises that saw the United States annex parts of both areas. Though Dallas was unsuccessful in preventing Polk from appointing Buchanan as Secretary of State, he helped convince Polk to appoint Robert J. Walker as Secretary of the Treasury. As vice president, Dallas sought to maneuver himself into contention for the presidency in the 1848 election, as Polk had promised to serve only one term. However, Dallas' reluctant vote to lower a tariff destroyed much of his base in Pennsylvania, and his advocacy of popular sovereignty on the question of slavery strengthened opposition against him.

===Tariffs===
{{more sources|section|date=August 2023}}
Dallas determined that he would use his vice-presidential position to advance two of the administration's major objectives: tariff reduction and territorial expansion. As a Pennsylvanian, Dallas had traditionally supported the protectionist tariff policy that his state's coal and iron interests demanded. But as vice president, elected on a platform dedicated to tariff reduction, he agreed to do anything necessary to realize that goal. Dallas equated the vice president's constitutional power to break tied votes in the Senate with the president's constitutional power to veto acts of Congress. At the end of his vice-presidential term, Dallas said he had cast thirty tie-breaking votes during his four years in office (although only nineteen of these have been identified in Senate records). Taking obvious personal satisfaction in this record, Dallas singled out this achievement and the fairness with which he believed he accomplished it in his farewell address to the Senate. Not interested in political suicide, however, Dallas sought to avoid having to exercise his singular constitutional prerogative on the tariff issue, actively lobbying senators during the debate over Treasury Secretary Walker's tariff bill in the summer of 1846. He complained to his wife (whom he sometimes addressed as "Mrs. Vice") that the Senate speeches on the subject were "as vapid as inexhaustible&nbsp;... All sorts of ridiculous efforts are making, by letters, newspaper-paragraphs, and personal visits, to affect the Vice's casting vote, by persuasion or threat."

Despite Dallas' efforts to avoid taking a stand, the Senate completed its voting on the Walker Tariff with a 27-to-27 tie. (A twenty-eighth vote in favor was held in reserve by a senator who opposed the measure but agreed to follow the instructions of his state legislature to support it.) When he cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the tariff on July 28, 1846, Dallas rationalized that he had studied the distribution of Senate support and concluded that backing for the measure came from all regions of the country. Additionally, the measure had overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives, a body closer to public sentiment. He apprehensively explained to the citizens of Pennsylvania that "an officer, elected by the suffrages of all twenty-eight states, and bound by his oath and every constitutional obligation, faithfully and fairly to represent, in the execution of his high trust, all the citizens of the Union" could not "narrow his great sphere and act with reference only to [Pennsylvania's] interests." While his action, based on a mixture of party loyalty and political opportunism, earned Dallas the respect of the president and certain party leaders—and possible votes in 1848 from the southern and western states that supported low tariffs—it effectively demolished his home state political base, ending any serious prospects for future elective office. (He even advised his wife in a message hand-delivered by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, "If there be the slightest indication of a disposition to riot in the city of Philadelphia, owing to the passage of the Tariff Bill, pack up and bring the whole brood to Washington.")

While Dallas' tariff vote destroyed him in Pennsylvania, his aggressive views on Oregon and the Mexican War crippled his campaign efforts elsewhere in the nation. In his last hope of building the necessary national support to gain the White House, the Vice President shifted his attention to the aggressive, expansionist foreign policy program embodied in the concept of "Manifest Destiny". He actively supported efforts to gain control of Texas, the Southwest, Cuba, and disputed portions of the Oregon territory.<ref name="senate" />

Dallas was influential as the presiding officer of the Senate, where he worked to support Polk's agenda and cast several [[List of tie-breaking votes cast by Vice Presidents of the United States|tie-breaking votes]].  Dallas called for the annexation of all of the [[Oregon Territory]] and [[All of Mexico Movement|all of]] Mexico during the [[Mexican–American War]], but was satisfied with compromises that saw the United States annex parts of both areas.  Though Dallas was unsuccessful in preventing Polk from appointing Buchanan as Secretary of State, he helped convince Polk to appoint [[Robert J. Walker]] as Secretary of the Treasury.  As vice president, Dallas sought to maneuver himself into contention for the presidency in the [[1848 United States presidential election|1848 election]], as Polk had promised to serve only one term.  However, Dallas' reluctant vote to lower a tariff destroyed much of his base in Pennsylvania, and Dallas' advocacy of [[popular sovereignty]] on the question of slavery strengthened opposition against him.