Matias Romero, Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, 2016.

Date unknown. Pictured: Mexican ambassador to Washington, Matias Romero. Description: Nearly four years after the famous Cinco de Mayo Battle of Puebla in which the Mexican army defeated the occupying French, Andrew Johnson secretly met with ambassador Romero. The subject of their April 8, 1866 meeting was the sale of arms to the Mexicans who were still engaged in conflict with the occupying French under Maximilian I. The two were able to work out a deal in which an American merchant would buy weapons from the US government and resell the arms to the Mexicans, thus avoiding violation of US neutrality. With US support, the Republican Mexican government and the French agreed to terms for the withdrawal of the French forces on November 13, 1866.