Elected President of the Republic of Texas

It was widely believed that Stephen F. Austin would be elected the first President of the Republic of Texas, but the Army did not want him. Austin’s loyalty to Mexico made him very unpopular with the people. Houston may have had an agreement with Austin not to oppose him in the Presidential election; if so, he changed his mind and ran. When the votes were counted, Houston the hero of San Jacinto received 5,119 votes and Austin only 586. Politically in the years leading up to the Texas Revolution, Houston and Austin agreed with each other more than they disagreed. They occasionally had policy differences, but there was no particular problem between the two of them.

In the minds of most Texans, there was only one important issue facing the new government: How soon could they get Texas annexed into the United States? The stumbling block was slavery. Under the Compromise of 1820 free states and slave states were equally balanced in the Senate. To admit Texas as a slave state would have turned the Senate into a battle ground.

The south was for it; the north was against it. Houston wrote to Jackson, pleading with him to find a way to annex Texas into the Union.

Sam’s letter to Jackson: “It is a policy to hold out the idea that we are very able to sustain ourselves. I am free to say that we cannot do it. My great desire is that our country Texas should be annexed into the United States. This is a matter of great distress. I look to you as the friend and patriot of my youth to interpose on my behalf and save us.”

Jackson diligently tried but had to recognize defeat in the annexation of Texas. In the final act of his administration, he extended diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Texas. Most Texans were grief stricken, but Houston recognized conditions could be influenced in the coming months and years, and he began work to build a country. A Texas flag was selected, a gold lone star on a field of royal blue. Currency was issued in the form of promissory notes backed by the public domain. Houston promised Congress he would appoint a Unity Cabinet, and he kept his word, including an invitation to Stephen Austin to serve as Secretary of State.

As the second presidential election approached, Houston was constitutionally unable to succeed himself and was going to have to leave office in the midst of the chaos. Three men were contesting for the office; one was Mirabeau B. Lamar whom Houston had promoted on the field for valor at San Jacinto but who politically had gone completely over to David Burnett.

The other two candidates enjoyed Houston’s support, but both died during the campaign handing the election on November 16, 1838 to Houston’s enemies by default.

Lamar is elected President, and it is his inauguration day. Houston is there to make his farewell speech and appears, dressed like George Washington. He has on knee britches, silk stockings, a silk coat, and a powdered wig of all things. He makes a three hour speech, greatly exaggerates all the remarkable achievements of his own administration, and takes shots at the incoming Lamar administration. When Houston finished his three hour speech, Lamar was so flustered he could not stand and give his speech; his private secretary had to read his inaugural address.