Polk, Trump, and Manifest Destiny. By Chris Stirewalt. ... The original idea, though, dated far before newspaper columnist John O’Sullivan coined the phrase in 1845 in support of Polk’s ambitions.

Manifest Destiny also positioned America as uniquely chosen to propagate democracy, liberty, and Christianity, rooted in biblical passages like Matthew 5:14-16 (“You are the light of the world ...

And yet, here we are, in a time when a cursory glance of the day’s news calls that ideology of Manifest Destiny to mind: The Gulf of America. Canada, the would-be 51st state. The Panama Canal ...