This led to Tyler's realization that the only way he could maintain his legacy was to show public support for a proposed annexation of Texas.
They believed that the Democrats, deadlocked between Martin Van Buren and Lewis Cass, would choose Tyler as a compromise candidate to unite the party.
[5] Democratic editor James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald, then among the most popular newspapers in the country,[6] would tacitly lend his support to Tyler's nomination.
[1] With assurances that his followers would be welcomed into the Democratic ranks, Tyler announced the end of his candidacy on August 20 and threw his meager support to Polk.
Polk would narrowly defeat Clay in the election and would follow through on Tyler's late order to annex Texas, eventually culminating in the Mexican–American War.