Art. Review "The Thankless Task Of Nicholas Trist"

1058 Words5 Pages
Ketchum, Richard M. “The Thankless Task of Nicholas Trist.” American Heritage. August 1970: 12-15, 86-90. Print. Nicholas Trist, born 1800 was close with many important political figures of his time such as Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson, thanks to familial connections. Thanks to these connections and his fluency in Spanish, Trist gained the position as the United State’s Emissary to Mexico during the Mexican-American War. Although Nicholas Trist secured a favorably peace treaty with Mexico, and in turn almost doubled the size of the U.S., Trist was a man forgotten by the country and by many historians despite his perseverance and accomplishment in one of the most productive and misunderstood diplomatic assignments in U.S. History. When Trist was recalled prematurely from Mexico, Trist instead stayed to finish the treaty to avoid missing what he knew was a enormous opportunity for the U.S. Not only did Trist realize the importance of seizing the moment but he succeeded in settling a treaty with Mexico which included nearly everything Polk had ask for. For these tremendous achievements one would think Nicholas Trist would be greatly revered until his death and go down in history, but instead Trist was dismissed in disgrace from government service and denied pay for his work in Mexico after his official recall. Trist was Recalled In November of 1847 about seven months in Mexico. This was however, right at the point where Trist felt that it was only a matter of time before a settlement would be reached with the Mexicans. A Mexican peace government was being formed by Santa Ana’s successor, and then Trist received his letter of recall. When by December Washington had not sent a replacement, Trist, with peace in his sincere interest, decided to stay and finish the treaty himself. Trist supported his decision to stay with the thought that even if a
Open Document