"[133]
The omnibus law was a major step forward on these issues but ultimately could not pass, due to extremists on both sides and Taylor's opposition.[134] At this point, Taylor began to receive disapproval from even his own political allies. Secretary of War Crawford warned Taylor he would not approve a military deployment to New Mexico, although Taylor said he would give the order himself. Taylor's close advisors Robert Toombs and Alexander Stephens, both Southern Whigs who later served as officials in the Confederate States of America, warned him that his rhetoric on New Mexico would drive Southerners out of the party.[132]
No great compromise reached Taylor's desk during his presidency; instead, his last days were overshadowed by the Galphin affair. Before joining the Taylor cabinet, Crawford had served as a lawyer. He had been involved in a 15-year case, representing the descendants of a colonial trader whose services to the British crown had not been repaid at the time of the American Revolution. 