Not for Sale
The big, bad US of A threatened time and time again to travel the 90 nautical miles and conquer Cuba. Eventually, we stopped all our efforts to take the country over by force, and in 1848, James K. Polk dangled a $100-million offer in front of Spain’s nose for the island. Spain said no, hoping that was that.
But that wasn’t that at all. Six years later, President Franklin Pierce upped the offer to $130 million, which prompted a disgusted scoff from Spain. President William McKinley tried to buy Cuba for a whopping $300 million, and again, Spain told America where they could stick it.