Sam Houston
Texas president and senator whose unionism cost him his seat on the eve of the Civil War.
Overview
Houston led the Texas army at San Jacinto, served as president of the Republic twice, represented Tennessee in the House in the 1820s, and after annexation represented Texas in the Senate from 1846 to 1859. He voted against the Kansas-Nebraska Act, defended the Union against southern fire-eaters, and joked that Texas could survive outside both the Union and the Confederacy. Elected governor in 1859, he refused to swear allegiance to the Confederacy in 1861 and was removed from office, ending a public career unmatched in its range.
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