John L. O’Sullivan

(1813 - 1895)

Having written the editorial “The Great Nation of Futurity” at the age of twenty-six, John L. O’Sullivan in 1845 published an essay calling for the annexation of Texas, in which he stated it would be “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence.” Politicians quickly adopted the phrase, which became the succinct distillation of public policy during U.S. expansion into Oregon, New Mexico, and California.