Sam Houston did not realize that the events of a January day in 1829 would shatter his own pattern of life and shape the course of American history. When Houston was born George Washington was President and at the time of his death Abraham Lincoln was guiding the nation through a civil war. Sam Houston in his time was many things, school teacher, soldier, lawyer, he was the governor of Tennessee a United States senator, the first President of the Republic of Texas - and at one time he seemed scheduled for the presidency of the United States.