Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte

Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte( 1798–1859),
arrived in Texas from his native Georgia (1835) and distinguished himself at the Battle of San Jacinto. He successively held important positions in the Lone Star Republic, becoming its president (1838–41) between the two terms of Houston. He conducted his regime at Austin in a high-handed manner, and carried out his own ideas in opposition to Houston's desire for annexation by the U.S. His romantic strain may be observed in his Byronic Verse Memorials (1857). After serving in the Mexican War, he retired to his Richmond plantation, except for a year (1858–59) as minister to Nicaragua and Costa Rica.