Jackson met with Polk , Robert Armstrong , and Andrew Jackson Donelson in his study . He then pointed directly at a startled Polk , telling him that , as a man from the southwest and a supporter of annexation , he would be the perfect candidate . Polk called the scheme " utterly abortive , " but agreed to go along with it . At the 1844 Democratic National Convention , Polk emerged as the party 's nominee after Van Buren failed to win the required two-thirds majority of delegates . George M. Dallas was selected for vice president . Jackson convinced Tyler to drop his plans of running for re-election as an independent by promising , as Tyler requested , to welcome the president and his allies back into the Democratic Party and by instructing Blair to stop criticizing the President . Polk won the election , defeating Clay . A bill of annexation was passed by Congress in February and signed by Tyler on March 1
1844 Democratic National Convention
1844 Democratic National Convention
Andrew Jackson