"I am Houston"

Sam Houston was one of the most colorful and enigmatic figures of the nineteenth century. He resumed office as President of Texas in December 1841, in an election that repudiated the policies of the Lamar government. Eloquent witness to the slap-dash pragmatism of Texas statecraft is borne by Houston's own passport, with the word "citizen" simply scratched out and the word "president" inserted. He compensated for this with the flourish of his signature, which he occasionally altered to a regal "I am Houston" to annoy his enemies.

A man of great physical vigor and passion, Houston was wounded three times in battle, and in his younger years sometimes had to be restrained from duelling. He mellowed as he aged, once dismissing a challenger by saying that he "never fought downhill." No mere brawling bumpkin, Houston was steeped in classical literature and was capable of deep political thinking. He delighted in being known as the "Talleyrand of the Brazos."