Final answer:
President John Tyler set the stage for the annexation of Texas by advocating for its inclusion into the Union and opting for a joint resolution of Congress to bypass the Senate's two-thirds majority requirement, paving the way for the annexation during James K. Polk's presidency and contributing to the onset of the Mexican American War.
Step-by-step explanation:
President John Tyler set the annexation table for the inclusion of Texas into the United States. In his pursuit of annexation, Tyler sought to bring Texas into the Union as a slave-owning state, which was a controversial issue at the time due to the balance of power between slave and free states in Congress. Knowing that his treaty of annexation would not pass through the Senate, Tyler turned to a joint resolution of Congress as a means to achieve his goal. This political maneuver circumvented the need for a two-thirds majority in the Senate, requiring only a simple majority in both the House and Senate.
The actions taken by President Tyler laid the groundwork for his successor, James K. Polk, who followed through with the annexation of Texas. This move was significant, not only for the expansion of the United States but also because it eventually led to the Mexican-American War. It served as an important chapter in the broader narrative of Manifest Destiny, the philosophy that drove the United States' territorial expansion in the 19th century.