author
William Walker
1824–1860
A brilliant, reckless American adventurer briefly made himself ruler of Nicaragua before his dramatic downfall. His life reads like a political thriller, full of ambition, violence, and the dangerous pull of Manifest Destiny.
1 Audiobook
The war in Nicaragua
by William Walker
About the author
Born in Nashville in 1824, William Walker trained as a doctor and lawyer and also worked as a journalist before turning to armed expeditions in Mexico and Central America. He became the most famous American "filibuster" of the 1850s, part of a movement of private adventurers who tried to seize foreign territory without official U.S. approval.
Walker first launched schemes in Baja California and Sonora, then entered Nicaragua during a civil conflict and, in 1856, managed to install himself as president. His rule was short-lived. A coalition of Central American forces pushed him out, and his actions helped fuel lasting hostility in the region.
He kept trying to return to power even after his defeat. On his final expedition, he was captured in Honduras and executed in 1860, ending one of the most audacious and controversial careers of the era.