Would that George W. Bush had studied Calhoun

John C. Calhoun, the great South Carolina senator, spoke against the proposed use of the U.S. military to invade Mexico and force it to a more democratic form of governance. A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent quotes him as saying that he couldn't see how such a republic could grow up under the protection of a conqueror.

I had always supposed that republican government was the spontaneous work of the people - that it came from the people - from the hearts of the people - that it was supported by the hearts of the people, and that it required no support, no protection, from any quarter whatsoever.