James K. Polk

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James K. Polk, daguerreotype by Mathew Brady, 1849. (credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

(born Nov. 2, 1795, Mecklenburg county, N.C., U.S.died June 15, 1849, Nashville, Tenn.) 11th president of the U.S. (184549). He was a friend and supporter of Andrew Jackson, who helped Polk win election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1825. He left the House in 1839 to become governor of Tennessee. At the deadlocked 1844 Democratic Party convention Polk was nominated as the compromise candidate; he is considered the first dark-horse presidential candidate. A proponent of western expansion, he openly laid claim to the whole territory that extended as far north as latitude 54 40 with the slogan Fifty-four Forty or Fight ( Oregon Question). Elected at the age of 49, the youngest president to that time, he successfully concluded the Oregon border dispute with Britain (1846) and secured passage of the Walker Tariff Act (1846), which lowered import duties and helped foreign trade. He led the prosecution of the Mexican War, which resulted in large territorial gains but reopened debate over the extension of slavery. His administration also established the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the Smithsonian Institution; oversaw revision of the treasury system; and proclaimed the validity of the Monroe Doctrine. Though an efficient and competent president and deft in his handling of Congress, he was exhausted by his efforts and did not seek reelection; he died three months after leaving office.

For more information on James Knox Polk, visit Britannica.com.

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Born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, on 2 November 1795, Polk moved to Tennessee with his family in 1806, and graduated from the University of North Carolina. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1820. An active Jacksonian Democrat, he served in Congress from 1825 to 1839, was speaker of the house and later governor of Tennessee.

In 1844, Polk—known as “Young Hickory”—was elected president. He entered the White House with a clear and aggressive foreign policy agenda, and as president he employed the threat of war and war itself as instruments to achieve his territorial objective: the West Coast and especially its ports.

The United States annexed Texas in 1845, and Polk provoked the Mexican War a year later by making use of a climate of hostility, existing border disputes, and Mexican unwillingness and inability to accept U.S. offers to purchase its northern provinces. Polk proved to be a determined, tough, and successful commander in chief. Although he lacked military experience or training, he made many key military decisions and played a direct role in organizing and planning the war effort. Despite opposition from Whigs and some Democrats, Polk never wavered in his determination to use the war to acquire the territories of New Mexico and upper California.

Polk was not a popular president with his contemporaries. He was intensely partisan and had a proclivity for secrecy and evasiveness. He was constantly at odds with his two Whig generals, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. Moreover, the Mexican War proved unpopular in the Northeast, and territorial expansion into the Southwest was a highly controversial political issue. Polk, however, is generally recognized as the first effective wartime president. Unlike James Madison during the War of 1812, Polk aggressively employed presidential power to conduct the military effort and achieve administration war goals, thus setting an example upon which Abraham Lincoln would expand during the Civil War.

[See also Commander in Chief, President as.]

Bibliography

• Paul H. Bergeron, The Presidency of James K. Polk, 1987.
• Sam W. Haynes, James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse, 1997

Polk, James Knox (1795-1849) 11th president of the United States, born in North Carolinia. Polk, who moved to Tennessee as a child, was admitted to the bar in 1820 and quickly became active in politics, entering the state legislature in 1823. In 1825 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he viewed slavery as an evil to be borne. He opposed high tariffs and supported only limited spending for internal improvements. Polk served as House Speaker for two terms (1835-39). To signal his opposition to the new Whig party, headed by Henry Clay, Polk ran for governor of Tennessee (1837) as a Democrat and won. Reelected in 1839, he lost his bid for a third term in 1843 and lost again in 1845. At the 1844 Democratic presidential nominating convention, Polk won the nomination on the eighth ballot, after an indiscreet comment on the risks of annexing Texas caused Martin Van Buren's candidacy to founder. Polk won the election with less than a majority of the popular vote but an Electoral College majority. Polk's goals as president were to reduce the tariff, to free the Treasury of the influence of private banks, and to annex California and Oregon; he achieved all of these. Perhaps the most important action of Polk's administration was his instigation of the Mexican War (1846-48); his combination of military threats and diplomatic initiatives made almost inevitable the clash that occurred by the Rio Grande River. As a result of the war, the United States annexed the territory that eventually would comprise the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, as well as parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

The administration of James Knox Polk (1795-1849), eleventh president of the United States, saw America at war with Mexico. As a consequence, Polk added more territory to the United States than had any other president except Thomas Jefferson.

James K. Polk was born on Nov. 2, 1795, in Mecklenburg County, N.C. As a child, he moved to an area in Tennessee settled by his grandfather, a land speculator. After graduation from the University of North Carolina in 1818, he studied law under Congressman Felix Grundy and was admitted to the bar in 1820. Elected to the legislature in 1822, Polk became known as an opponent of the state's banks and land speculators. He supported Andrew Jackson, who was an old friend of his father, for the presidency in the election of 1824.

As a Jacksonian, Polk was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1825, becoming a leader of his party. He advocated a strict states'-rights position, emphasizing the desirability of an economical government. As chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee from 1833 to 1835, he supported Jackson's banking policies, including removal of the government's deposits from the Bank of the United States. As a reward for his support, Polk was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1835 and served until 1839. He vastly increased the powers of the Speaker's office by assuming the burden of guiding administrative measures through Congress. He was governor of Tennessee from 1839 until 1841; he was defeated for reelection in 1841 and again in 1843.

Polk received the Democratic nomination for president in 1844; he was the compromise candidate among several contenders. The first "dark horse, " he defeated the better-known Whig nominee, Henry Clay, in an extremely close election. During the campaign Polk skillfully reconciled the various Democratic factions. To attract John C. Calhoun's partisans, Polk adopted an expressionistic platform, emphasizing the incorporation of all the Oregon Territory and the annexation of Texas. Clay's last-minute endorsement of Texas annexation cost him the election, as it forced 15, 000 antislavery Whigs to defect to the Liberty party.

The Presidency

Polk's cabinet, one of the most able of the antebellum period, included Secretary of State James Buchanan, Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft, and Secretary of War William L. Marcy. They represented most factions of the Democratic party. Their renunciations of all presidential ambitions while in the administration, as well as Polk's decision not to run for a second term, were aimed at limiting friction within the party. This failed because of the alienation of Martin Van Buren from Polk and the commitment of antislavery Democrats to a free-soil policy in the territory acquired from Mexico after 1846.

Polk maintained a tight control over all decisions. As an administrator, he was extremely innovative. Introducing a real executive budget, he tightened up the bookkeeping operations in the various departments, which resulted in a considerable savings of money. His success as president may be determined in part by how well he achieved his goals. In his inaugural address, he set four major tasks for himself: reestablishment of the independent treasury, lowering of the tariff, settlement of the Oregon dispute with England, and acquisition of California. By his retirement in 1849 he had achieved all of these. Passage of the independent treasury completed the hard currency campaign the Democrats had begun more than a decade earlier. The basic feature of this system, in which the government received and paid its debts in specie, remained the dominant element in the American banking system until the Federal Reserve Act in 1913. Polk's commitment to a low tariff resulted in the passage of the Walker Tariff, whose rates were not substantially revised until the Civil War.

Foreign Policy

The most significant events of Polk's administration occurred in foreign policy. Since 1818 the United States and Great Britain had maintained joint occupation of the Oregon Territory. This solution no longer was workable after Polk, in his presidential campaign, laid claim to the whole region up to the southern boundary of Russian-controlled Alaska. Once he became president, he sought a more amiable solution, suggesting the extension of the 49th parallel, which already divided the United States from Canada east of the Rockies. British rejection of this position led to a minor war scare, lasting until the outbreak of the Mexican War. On the eve of that conflict, the question was settled in approximately the terms suggested by Polk.

After the annexation of Texas, which occurred as a result of a joint resolution of Congress on the last day of John Tyler's administration, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. Polk wanted to eliminate all boundary disputes with Mexico, settle claims Americans had against the Mexican government, and acquire California. He hoped that the acquisition of California and Oregon would help to reunite the nation. Polk's emissaries failed to negotiate a treaty. When Mexico expelled John Slidell, the minister to Mexico, Polk decided upon war. He was given his opportunity when Gen. Zachary Taylor was fired upon in territory under dispute with Mexico above the Rio Grande River. The war resolution passed the House of Representatives on May 11, 1846.

War with Mexico

Despite the outbreak of war, Polk hoped to secure California and New Mexico by diplomacy. He financed Antonio López de Santa Ana's return to Mexico after the former dictator promised to negotiate peace. However, Santa Ana took command of the army as soon as he returned home. Another plan to set up a $2 million fund to purchase peace with Mexico met with defeat in Congress.

The war was won on the battlefield, as Polk proved an exceptionally adept commander-in-chief. Taylor advanced south to the heart of Mexico, while Gen. Winfield Scott invaded Mexico through Veracruz. Polk, distrusting both men as potential Whig candidates for president, kept close control over the Army. Scott captured Mexico City in April 1848.

The final diplomatic negotiations were conducted by a State Department clerk who joined Gen. Scott in Mexico City and arranged the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexico gave up California and New Mexico as well as all claims to Texas for $15 million. Thus, by the Oregon and Guadalupe Hidalgo treaties, Polk had rounded out the continental United States, except for a small piece in the Southwest, purchased from Mexico in 1853.

Polk's hope that the war and the acquisition of the West Coast would end the growing sectional agitation that was threatening to break up the Union proved forlorn. During the course of the conflict, considerable opposition to the war developed both inside and outside Congress. That most of this opposition came from the Whigs did not obscure the fact that the war had intensified sectional disharmony. This was especially evident when a group of radical Democrats led by Congressman David Wilmot introduced the Wilmot Proviso, which would have barred slavery from the territories acquired as a consequence of the war. Twice this measure passed the House of Representatives to be defeated in the Senate. But the controversy would spread during the next decade and eventually lead to the Civil War. On this issue, Polk sought a compromise that would eliminate sectional friction. Although he was a slaveholder, he attempted to revive the Missouri Compromise of 1820, whereby slaves were to be prohibited above the 36°30′ parallel in the new territories. By 1848 this compromise was unacceptable to both the North and the South.

True to his commitments 4 years earlier, Polk stepped aside, supporting Lewis Cass for the presidential nomination. Zachary Taylor, the Whig candidate, defeated Cass in November. In a sense, this Democratic defeat resulted directly from Polk's administration. Van Buren broke with his party and, running as the Free Soil candidate, drew votes from Cass. The Free Soil party attracted radical Democrats and some Whigs who supported the Wilmot Proviso.

Polk had taken few vacations while in office, and when he left the presidency, his health was broken. He died in Nashville, Tenn., on June 15, 1849, just 3 months after leaving office.

Historians have generally considered Polk as one of America's "Ten Greatest Presidents." During his term he strengthened the office, achieved his legislative goals, and added a great new empire. But these goals were achieved at a great cost: the destruction of the party and the increased polarization of the sections.

Further Reading

Polk's writings are in Milo Milton Quaife, ed., The Diary of James K. Polk during His Presidency, 1845-1849 (4 vols., 1910). The definitive biography is the first two volumes of a projected three-volume study of Polk by Charles Grier Sellers: James K. Polk, Jacksonian, 1795-1843 (1957) and James K. Polk, Continentalist, 1843-1846 (1966). A useful old biography with an emphasis on Polk's public life is Eugene Irving McCormac, James K. Polk: A Political Biography (1922; repr. 1965), which concentrates particularly on Polk's role in Tennessee politics.

Polk's presidential election is covered in Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., ed., History of American Presidential Elections (4 vols., 1971). An interesting account by a political scientist of the development of the presidency during Polk's term is Charles A. McCoy, Polk and the Presidency (1960). The standard account on the war with Mexico is Justin Smith, The War with Mexico (2 vols., 1919). Glenn W. Price, Origins of the War with Mexico: The Polk-Stockton Intrigue (1967), implicates Polk in Commodore Robert Stockton's attempt to launch an attack on Mexico.

• Born: Nov. 2, 1795, Mecklenburg County, N.C.
• Political party: Democrat
• Education: University of North Carolina, B.A., 1818
• Military service: none
• Previous government service: Tennessee House of Representatives, 1823–25; U.S. House of Representatives, 1825–39; Speaker of the House, 1835–39; governor of Tennessee, 1839–40
• Elected President, 1844; served, 1845–49
• Died: June 15, 1849, Nashville, Tenn.

James K. Polk was a Jacksonian Democrat whose expansionist policies led to the Mexican-American War and the acquisition of vast territories in the Southwest. He was the first President to decline to seek a second term.

Polk was born on a small farm on the North Carolina frontier. His father became a large landowner in Tennessee and Polk was able to attend college. Two years after graduating he began to practice law in Columbia, Tennessee. Polk began his political career by serving with Andrew Jackson in the Tennessee legislature, and later he was the leading spokesman in Congress for the Jackson administration, serving as majority leader of the Democrats and chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He was elected Speaker in 1835. He helped to secure the repeal of the Second Bank of the United States, earning the name Young Hickory because of his support for the President, Old Hickory. In 1839 he won election as governor of Tennessee but was defeated in the 1841 and 1843 elections.

Polk made a political comeback in Presidential politics in 1844. He favored the annexation of the independent nation of Texas and negotiations with Great Britain to acquire territory in the Northwest, which later became known as the Oregon Territory. He received Jackson's support over John Tyler, who opposed annexing Texas. Polk was the Democratic party's first dark horse, or unknown nominee, winning in a sectional compromise on the ninth ballot. The word was sent from Baltimore to the capital by telegraph—the first use by a political party of Samuel F. B. Morse's new invention—and the recipients thought the machine was not working because it seemed so improbable that Polk was the nominee.

In the Presidential election Polk's rival, Whig candidate Henry Clay, exclaimed, “Who is James K. Polk?” The Democrats took up the question as a defiant campaign slogan, and in a fierce campaign Polk defeated Clay, receiving 49.6 percent of the popular vote to Clay's 48.1. At age 49 he was the youngest person yet to serve as President.

Polk's Presidency was distinguished for its expansionist policies. Polk claimed it was the “manifest destiny” of the nation to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He added more territory to the Union than any President except Thomas Jefferson. His quiet diplomacy secured an 1846 boundary agreement with Great Britain that settled the northern borders of the United States along the 49th parallel; the United States and Britain each gave up about half their claims. His policy was more warlike in the Southwest. Even before Polk's inauguration, his predecessor, John Tyler, claimed that the election was a mandate to annex Texas, and he supported a joint resolution of Congress to start the procedure. Texas entered the Union in December 1845, which caused Mexico to sever diplomatic relations with the United States. Polk's attempts to buy California and disputed Texas territory from Mexico for $25 million were rebuffed: the Mexicans would not permit U.S. envoys to present their proposal. In late 1845 Polk ordered 3,000 U.S. troops under the command of Zachary Taylor into a disputed border area between the Rio Grande and Rio Nueces in the state of Texas.

On May 9, 1846, Polk laid before his cabinet a proposal for a declaration of war, on the grounds that Mexico had refused to receive his envoy and had refused to pay damage claims for losses of U.S. lives and property. Just that evening, word reached the capital that there had been a skirmish between Mexican and U.S. forces that had resulted in death or injury to 16 U.S. soldiers. Polk had Congress declare war on May 13, 1846, saying that Mexican forces had “invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil.” In fact, the events occurred in disputed territory after U.S. forces trained their cannons on the town square of Matamoros.

The war was a military success: General Winfield Scott captured Mexico City on September 14, 1847, while Colonel Stephen Kearny took control of New Mexico and California. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, signed February 2, 1848, ended the war. The United States took possession of the Mexican provinces of Upper California and New Mexico, and the two countries established a border at the Rio Grande in Texas. Polk agreed to pay Mexico $15 million for the territories and also to pay $3,250,000 in claims made by U.S. citizens against Mexico. Nevertheless, the treaty was unpopular with abolitionists in the North, who saw it as a way to extend slavery. Ulysses S. Grant, who served in the war, called it “one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.” Abraham Lincoln, a Whig member of Congress at the time, devoted his first speech in the House of Representatives to criticizing Polk's decision, saying that Mexico “was in no way molesting or menacing the United States.” Needless to say, the Mexicans have never forgotten Polk for taking away half their nation. In 1848 Polk's effort to buy Cuba for $100 million was rejected by Spain.

In domestic policy, Polk secured passage of the Walker Tariff Act of 1846, which reduced tariffs, or taxes on imported products, and thus fulfilled a campaign promise popular in the South and among farmers. He later blocked the Whig programs of high tariffs, federally funded internal improvements, and a national bank, which the Whigs proposed when they took control of Congress in the midterm elections of 1846. Polk also vetoed measures to use federal funds to improve rivers and harbors.

Polk alienated the antislavery faction of his party with his Mexican policy. He opposed the Wilmot Proviso, a congressional measure intended to bar slavery from the territories newly conquered from Mexico but that failed to pass. His own idea to extend the Missouri Compromise line west and bar slavery below the 36th parallel was ignored. Congress was unable to pass laws governing the new territories because of the slavery issue. Polk was exhausted from his efforts to hold his party together and fend off the Whig majority in Congress, and decided not to seek a second term. His last message to Congress spoke of an “abundance of gold” in California, setting off the gold rush of 1849. Polk died during a cholera epidemic shortly after leaving office.

See also Jackson, Andrew; Tyler, John; Van Buren, Martin

Sources

• Paul H. Bergeron, The Presidency of James K. Polk (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1987).
• Charles Greer Sellers, James K. Polk, Continentalist, 1843–1846 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1966)

(1795-1849), eleventh president of the United States. Polk was the son of a prosperous Tennessee farmer. His mother, a devout Presbyterian, made an indelible impression on his character, instilling Calvinistic virtues of hard work, self-discipline, individualism, and a belief in the imperfection of human nature.

After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he took up the practice of law. In 1825 he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where as a Jacksonian Democrat he distinguished himself as an advocate of states' rights. He served as Speaker of the House (1835- 1839) and governor of Tennessee (1839-1841).

Subsequently twice defeated for reelection to the governorship, he seemed in eclipse until a deadlocked Democratic convention in 1844 unexpectedly nominated him for president. He prevailed over Henry Clay, the Whig nominee, and James G. Birney, the Liberty nominee, becoming a minority president but enjoying majorities in both houses of Congress. The election marked the beginnings of party realignment, and Polk's administration denoted factionalism.

Describing himself as "the hardest working man in this country," Polk displayed a quality of leadership that has won for him a high rating by historians. His success is attributable to a well-formulated set of goals, the dexterous use of his cabinet, frequent consultation with congressmen, the establishment of an administration press, and his conception of himself as representative of the whole people.

The election of 1844 was virtually a referendum on westward expansion, the Democrats championing "the reannexation of Texas" and "the reoccupation of Oregon." Combining belligerency and tact, Polk arrived at a compromise with Great Britain that set the forty-ninth parallel as the northern boundary of the Oregon Territory, thus securing an excellent harbor on the northwest coast.

Texas had been annexed before Polk's inauguration. Wishing to acquire California and New Mexico also, Polk seized on a skirmish between Mexican and U.S. troops as a pretext and in 1846 asked Congress to declare war. His handling of the dispute, his message blaming Mexico for the war, and his zeal for adding territory in the Southwest badly divided the nation. But the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war gained for the United States the southwestern territory Polk coveted. Polk's negotiations regarding Oregon and military actions in Mexico added 522 million acres to the public domain.

Jacksonian principles marked Polk's economic policy. The Walker Tariff of 1846 lowered duties, and the Independent Treasury law restored a federal depository designed to keep public money out of private banks. But the Democrats lost control of the House in 1846, and his aggressive war policy provoked the Wilmot Proviso aimed at excluding slavery from the territories taken from Mexico. Although the proviso was not passed by the Senate, the principle that Congress could exclude slavery from the territories became the focus of the Republican party.

By 1848 Polk, myopic about the immorality of slavery and the modernization of the nation, was cursing "southern agitators and northern fanatics." His policies led eventually to disintegration of both major parties and the sectional crisis of 1849-1850, although his achievements in adding territory and securing the tariff and banking laws were considerable.

Bibliography:

Paul H. Bergeron, The Presidency of James K. Polk (1987); Milo Quaife, ed., The Diary of James K. Polk during His Presidency, 1845 to 1849, 4 vols. (1910; abridged edition, 1 vol., ed. Allan Nevins, 1929).

Author:

James A. Rawley

See also Expansion, Continental and Overseas; Independent Treasury; Mexican War; Wilmot Proviso.

Early Career

His family moved (1806) to the Duck River valley in Tennessee and there, after graduating from the Univ. of North Carolina (1818) and studying law under Felix Grundy, he began (1820) to practice law in Columbia. Polk served in the state legislature (1823-25) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1825-39), where he was speaker for the years 1835-39. He was a leading Jacksonian Democrat. In 1839 he was elected governor of Tennessee, but he was defeated for reelection by the Whig candidate in 1841 and 1843.

Polk had vice presidential ambitions, but Andrew Jackson, convinced that Martin Van Buren had committed political suicide by announcing his opposition to the annexation of Texas, urged Polk to consider the presidency. With the Van Buren and Lewis Cass factions deadlocked at the Democratic convention at Baltimore in 1844, George Bancroft advanced Polk as a candidate behind whom both sections could unite, and the "dark horse" won the nomination. Polk campaigned on an expansionist platform and narrowly defeated Henry Clay by carrying New York state, where the presidential candidacy of James G. Birney of the Liberty party cut into Clay's vote.

Presidency

To the surprise of many, the new President proved to be his own man; he even ignored Jackson's wishes on several matters. Renouncing a second term for himself, he required the members of his cabinet, which included James Buchanan, Robert J. Walker, William L. Marcy, and Bancroft, to devote all their energies to their offices, not to campaigning to succeed him.

Polk announced that his administration would achieve "four great measures": reduction of the tariff; reestablishment of the independent treasury; settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute; and the acquisition of California. All were accomplished. The Walker Tariff, one of the lowest in U.S. history, was enacted in 1846, as was the bill restoring the Independent Treasury System. Despite the aggressive Democratic slogan "Fifty-four forty or fight," the dispute with Great Britain over Oregon was peaceably resolved with the adoption of lat. 49°N (the 49th parallel) as Oregon's northern boundary.

Relations with Mexico, on the other hand, reached a breaking point after the annexation of Texas. Polk had hoped to purchase California and to settle other difficulties with Mexico by negotiation. However, after the failure of the mission of John Slidell to Mexico, the President ordered the American advance to the Rio Grande that precipitated the Mexican War. As a result of the war, the United States acquired not only California but the entire Southwest.

Few presidents have worked harder, and few have equaled Polk's record of attaining specific, stated aims. He labored so strenuously in fact that his health gave way, and he died a few months after leaving office.

Bibliography

See The Diary of James K. Polk (ed. by M. M. Quaife, 4 vol., 1910; abr. in 1 vol. by A. Nevins, 1952); his correspondence, ed. by H. Weaver and P. H. Bergeron (2 vol. 1969-72); biographies by C. G. Sellers, Jr. (2 vol., 1957-66) and C. A. McCoy (1960, repr. 1973); R. W. Merry, A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent (2009).

A political leader of the nineteenth century; Polk, a Democrat, was president from 1845 to 1849. An ardent believer in manifest destiny, he led the United States into the Mexican War. In his presidency, the United States acquired Texas and California and large territories in between.

James Knox Polk, eleventh president of the United States, served just one term in office, but in that time he was extremely influential in shaping the United States' evolution into a large and politically formidable nation. Polk's primary achievements came in the area of foreign affairs, where he completed the annexation of Texas; directed the Mexican War (1846-48); and negotiated with Great Britain for the acquisition of the Oregon territory. In domestic policy, Polk was a strong advocate for lowering tariffs and establishing an independent treasury for the United States. Historians and presidential scholars consistently rate Polk among the most effective and important presidents of the United States.

James Polk was born on November 2, 1795, in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to study law, establishing a successful practice in Columbia, Tennessee.

Polk soon embarked on a political career, being elected to the Tennessee legislature in 1823 and the U.S. House of Representatives in 1825. In Congress, Polk fought to defend individual freedoms, the rights of the states against the centralizing tendencies of the national government, and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. In 1839 Polk was elected governor of Tennessee. However, his two-year term in office was undistinguished, and he was defeated in the 1841 and 1843 gubernatorial races.

After his second defeat, Polk's political career appeared to be over, but events took a surprising turn. Martin Van Buren, who had served as Andrew Jackson's vice president from 1833 to 1837 and as president from 1837 to 1841, was expected to be the Democratic party's presidential nominee for the 1844 election, but Van Buren's candidacy was derailed when he announced in April 1844 that he was opposed to the annexation of Texas on the grounds that it would constitute aggression against Mexico. Van Buren's support immediately eroded, because the annexation of Texas was a controversial political item widely supported by Andrew Jackson and his followers. By the time the Democrats held their nominating convention in late May, the party was in turmoil. Van Buren's supporters failed to generate the support needed for their candidate and Polk was nominated to be the presidential candidate instead.

The Whig presidential candidate in 1844 was the powerful and influential Henry Clay of Kentucky, who had held important positions in both the House and the Senate in addition to serving as secretary of state under John Quincy Adams. The campaign was hard fought and bitter. Polk eventually won with 170 electoral votes compared with Clay's 105; in the popular vote, Polk received just 38,000 more votes than Clay, out of the almost 2,700,000 votes cast.

The Polk administration added approximately 1.2 million square miles to the United States, increasing its size by fifty percent. The addition resulted from the three major foreign policy matters Polk oversaw: the annexation of Texas, the Mexican War, and negotiations with Great Britain over the Oregon territory.

Polk inherited the Texas issue from the administration of John Tyler. Tyler had wrestled with Congress over methods for annexing Texas, which had existed as the independent Lone Star Republic since winning its independence from Mexico in 1836. Tyler and Congress had agreed that Texas would be given the opportunity to vote for annexation, and Polk continued this approach. The Texas congress eventually approved annexation and wrote a state constitution, which the voters approved in a general referendum. In December 1845 the U.S. Congress completed the transaction by admitting Texas as the twenty-eighth state.

The annexation led to territorial disputes that resulted in war between the United States and Mexico. For several years relations between the United States and Mexico had been rocky, primarily because the United States had made financial claims against the Mexican government. Since winning its independence from Spain in the early 1820s, Mexico had had a series of unstable governments, and foreign nationals often had lost property during the resulting revolutions. Those individuals and their governments lodged claims against the Mexican government, and by the mid-1840s, these claims amounted to millions of dollars. This dispute over claims had soured relations between the United States and Mexico, and the annexation of Texas brought matters to a crisis. As part of the annexation agreement, the United States government had consented to recognize Texas's claim to the Rio Grande boundary and to provide military protection to defend that boundary. For its part, Mexico had never given up hope of winning back Texas, and the United States' annexation, together with the assertion of the Rio Grande boundary, the placement of U.S. troops along the border, and the longstanding claims disagreement, led Mexico to break off diplomatic relations with Washington and accuse the United States of initiating war.

In response, Polk sent a representative to negotiate with the Mexican government, offering to buy California and New Mexico and relinquish U.S. claims against Mexico in return for a recognition of the Rio Grande boundary. The Mexican government refused to negotiate, and by spring of 1846, skirmishes were beginning to break out along the border. Polk requested that Congress declare war, which it did by an overwhelming margin. Though the United States lacked a powerful professional army, volunteers signed up in droves. The war lasted until September 1847, when the Mexican government agreed to enter into peace negotiations. In the resulting agreement, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico agreed to recognize the Rio Grande as the boundary of Texas and to cede New Mexico and upper California to the United States; for its part, the United States agreed to relinquish all claims against Mexico and to pay the Mexican government $15 million.

The third major foreign policy issue requiring Polk's attention was the dispute between the United States and Great Britain over the Oregon territory, which stretched from the northern boundary of California to the Alaska panhandle, including what is now Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Both countries claimed the area but had agreed in 1818 to occupy it jointly, with the provision that either party could terminate the agreement with a year's notice. The United States had repeatedly requested to resolve the issue by extending the forty-ninth parallel boundary that existed between the two countries east of the Rocky Mountains, but Britain had refused, insisting on the Columbia River as the boundary.

The situation had remained unresolved, and British fur traders had continued to dominate the area into the 1830s. At that time, however, increasing numbers of U.S. settlers migrated into Oregon and pressed the United States to address their needs and defend their interests. After the 1844 presidential election, the issue became heated. As U.S. statements on the issue became more angry and aggressive, the British government grew concerned that war might break out, and it entered into earnest negotiations with the United States. In July 1845 Polk once again offered to draw the boundary at the forty-ninth parallel, but the British minister in Washington rejected the offer. Furious, Polk withdrew the offer, instead reasserting the U.S. claim to the entire territory.

In his first message to Congress in December 1845, Polk continued this hard line on Oregon, asking Congress to provide the one year's notice that the United States was terminating its joint occupancy agreement with Great Britain. In addition, he asked that jurisdiction be extended to Americans living in Oregon and that military protection be provided to emigrants along the route to Oregon. Finally, Polk reasserted the Monroe Doctrine, which held that North America was not open to any further colonization by European powers. Polk's tough stance apparently spurred Great Britain to renew negotiations, and this time it agreed to the forty-ninth parallel boundary. The treaty was signed on June 15, 1846.

A principal goal of Polk's domestic agenda was to eliminate the high tariffs that had been imposed in 1842 under the Tyler administration. Polk believed that low tariffs were crucial for the success of the agricultural sector, and after strong and sustained lobbying, he was able to persuade Congress to reduce tariffs in July 1846.

A second focus of Polk's domestic efforts was the establishment of an independent treasury for the United States. Previously, the government's funds had been held in national banks or in various state banks, but Polk argued that the government's money should not be deposited in banks at all, but should be held in its own independent treasury.

Despite Polk's many successes, presidential scholars agree that he utterly failed in his ability to foresee the catastrophic consequences that the slavery issue would have for the nation. A slaveholder with plantations in Tennessee and Mississippi, Polk never actively defended slavery, but he failed to see the importance that it would have, instead believing that it was an aggravating side issue that hampered the resolution of more important problems.

Polk left office when his term ended in 1849, remaining faithful to his election promise that he would serve only one term as president. Polk returned to Tennessee exhausted and in ill health. Just three months after leaving office, Polk died unexpectedly on June 15, 1849. He was fifty-four years old.

This article is about the U.S. president. For other uses, see James Polk (disambiguation).

James K. Polk
11th President of the United States
In office March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849
Vice President	George Dallas
Preceded by	John Tyler
Succeeded by	Zachary Taylor
Governor of Tennessee
In office October 14, 1839 – October 15, 1841
Preceded by	Newton Cannon
Succeeded by	James Jones
17th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office December 7, 1835 – March 4, 1839
President	Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren
Preceded by	John Bell
Succeeded by	Robert Hunter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 9th district
In office March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1839
Preceded by	William Fitzgerald
Succeeded by	Harvey Watterson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th district
In office March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1833
Preceded by	John Cocke
Succeeded by	Balie Peyton
Personal details
Born	James Knox Polk (1795-11-02)November 2, 1795 Pineville, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	June 15, 1849(1849-06-15) (aged 53) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Sarah Childress
Alma mater	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Profession	Lawyer Planter
Religion	Presbyterianism
Signature

James Knox Polk ( /ˈpoʊk/ "poke"; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th President of the United States (1845–1849). Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.^[1] He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841). Polk was the surprise (dark horse) candidate for president in 1844, defeating Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party by promising to annex Texas. Polk was a leader of Jacksonian Democracy during the Second Party System.

Polk was the last strong pre–Civil War president, and he is the earliest of whom there are surviving photographs taken during a term in office. He is noted for his foreign policy successes. He threatened war with Britain over the issue of which nation owned the Oregon Country, then backed away and split the ownership of the region with Britain. When Mexico rejected American annexation of Texas, Polk led the nation to a sweeping victory in the Mexican-American War, which gave the United States most of its present Southwest. He secured passage of the Walker tariff of 1846, which had low rates that pleased his native South, and he established a treasury system that lasted until 1913.

Polk oversaw the opening of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Smithsonian Institution, the groundbreaking for the Washington Monument, and the issuance of the first postage stamps in the United States.

He promised to serve only one term and did not run for reelection. He died of cholera three months after his term ended.

Scholars have ranked him favorably on the list of greatest presidents for his ability to set an agenda and achieve all of it. Polk has been called the "least known consequential president"^[2] of the United States.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Early political career 2.1 Speaker of the House 2.2 Governor of Tennessee 3 Election of 1844 4 Presidency (1845–1849) 4.1 Fiscal policy 4.2 Rivers and Harbors Veto 4.3 Slavery 4.4 Foreign policy 4.4.1 Oregon territory 4.4.2 Texas 4.5 Mexican-American War 4.5.1 Military action 4.5.2 Peace: the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 4.6 Cuba 4.7 Department of the Interior 4.8 Administration and cabinet 4.9 Judicial appointments 4.9.1 Supreme Court 4.9.2 Other courts 4.10 Congress 4.11 States admitted to the Union 5 Post-presidency 6 Reputation 7 See also 8 Ancestors 9 References 9.1 References 9.2 Primary sources 10 External links

Early life

James Knox Polk, the first of ten children, was born on November 2, 1795 in a farmhouse (possibly a "log" cabin)^[1] in what is now Pineville, North Carolina in Mecklenburg County, just outside Charlotte.^[3] His father, Samuel Polk, was a slaveholder, successful farmer and surveyor of Scots-Irish descent. His mother, Jane Polk (née Knox), was a descendant of a brother of the Scottish religious reformer John Knox. She named her firstborn after her father James Knox.^[3] Like most early Scots-Irish settlers in the North Carolina mountains, the Knox and Polk families were Presbyterian. While Jane remained a devout Presbyterian her entire life, Samuel (whose father, Ezekiel Polk, was a deist) rejected dogmatic Presbyterianism. When the parents took James to church to be baptized, the father Samuel refused to declare his belief in Christianity, and the minister refused to baptize the child.^[3][4] In 1803, most of Polk's relatives moved to the Duck River area in what is now Maury County, Middle Tennessee; Polk's family waited until 1806 to follow.^[5] The family grew prosperous, with Samuel Polk turning to land speculation and becoming a county judge.^[5]

Polk was home schooled.^[5] His health was problematic and in 1812 his pain became so unbearable that he was taken to Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky, who operated to remove urinary stones.^[6] Polk was awake during the operation with nothing but brandy available for anesthetic, but it was successful. The surgery may have left Polk sterile, as he did not sire any children.^[7]

The house where Polk spent his adult life before his presidency, in Columbia, Tennessee, is his only private residence still standing.

When Polk recovered, his father offered to bring him into the mercantile business, but Polk refused.^[6] In July 1813, Polk enrolled at the Zion Church near his home. A year later he attended an academy in Murfreesboro, where he may have met his future wife, Sarah Childress.^[8] At Murfreesboro, Polk proved a promising student. In January 1816, he transferred and was admitted into the University of North Carolina as a second-semester sophomore. The Polks had connections with the university, then a small school of about 80 students: Sam Polk was their land agent for Tennessee, and his cousin, William Polk, was a trustee.^[9] While there, Polk joined the Dialectic Society where he regularly took part in debates and learned the art of oratory. His roommate William Dunn Moseley later became the first governor of Florida. Polk graduated with honors in May 1818.^[10] The University later named the lower quad on its main campus, Polk Place.^[11]

After graduation, Polk traveled to Nashville to study law under renowned Nashville trial attorney Felix Grundy.^[12] Grundy became Polk's first mentor. On September 20, 1819, Polk, with Grundy's endorsement, was elected clerk for the Tennessee State Senate.^[13] Polk was reelected as clerk in 1821 without opposition, and would continue to serve until 1822. Polk was admitted to the bar in June 1820 and his first case was to defend his father against a public fighting charge, and secure his release for a one dollar fine.^[13] Polk's practice was successful as there were many cases arising from debts after the Panic of 1819.^[14]

Early political career

In 1822 Polk joined the local militia and rose to the rank of captain, and was soon promoted to colonel.^[15] Polk's oratory became popular, earning him the nickname "Napoleon of the Stump." In 1822 Polk resigned his position as clerk to run his successful campaign for the Tennessee state legislature in 1823, in which he defeated incumbent William Yancey, becoming the new representative of Maury County.^[15][16] In October 1823 Polk voted for Andrew Jackson to become the next United States Senator from Tennessee.^[17] Jackson won and from then on Polk was a firm supporter of Jackson.^[18]

James K. Polk and Sarah Childress Polk.

Polk courted Sarah Childress, and they married on January 1, 1824.^[16] Polk was then 28, and Sarah was 20 years old. They had no children. During Polk's political career, Sarah assisted her husband with his speeches, gave him advice on policy matters and played an active role in his campaigns. An old story told that Andrew Jackson had encouraged their romance when they began to court.^[19]

In 1824, Jackson ran for President but was defeated.^[20] Though Jackson had won the popular vote, neither he nor any of the other candidates (John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and William H. Crawford) had won a majority of the electoral vote. The House of Representatives then had to select the verdict; Clay, who had received the least amount of electoral votes and dropped from the ballot, supported Adams.^[20] Clay's support proved to be the deciding factor in the House and Adams was elected President.^[20] Adams then offered Clay a position in the Cabinet as Secretary of State.^[20]

Presidential $1 Coin of Polk.

In 1825, Polk ran for the United States House of Representatives for the Tennessee's 6th congressional district.^[21] Polk vigorously campaigned in the district. Polk was so active that Sarah began to worry about his health.^[21] During the campaign, Polk's opponents said that at the age of 29 Polk was too young for a spot in the House, but he won the election and took his seat in Congress.^[21] When Polk arrived in Washington, D.C. he roomed in a boarding house with some other Tennessee representatives, including Benjamin Burch. Polk made his first major speech on March 13, 1826, in which he said that the Electoral College should be abolished and that the President should be elected by the popular vote.^[22] After Congress went into recess in the summer of 1826, Polk returned to Tennessee to see Sarah, and when Congress met again in the autumn, Polk returned to Washington with Sarah. In 1827 Polk was reelected to Congress.^[23] In 1828, Jackson ran for President again and during the campaign Polk and Jackson corresponded, with Polk giving Jackson advice on his campaign. With Jackson's victory in the election Polk began to support the administration's position in Congress.^[24] During this time, Polk continued to be reelected in the House. In August 1833, after being elected to this fifth term, Polk became the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.^[25]

Speaker of the House

In June 1834, Speaker of the House Andrew Stevenson resigned, leaving the spot for speaker open.^[26] Polk ran against fellow Tennessean John Bell for Speaker, and, after ten ballots, Bell won. However, in 1835, Polk ran against Bell for Speaker again and won.^[27]

Polk worked for Jackson's policies as speaker, and Van Buren's when he succeeded Jackson in 1837; he appointed committees with Democratic chairs and majorities, including the New York radical C. C. Cambreleng as Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, although he maintained the facade of traditional bipartisanship.^[28] The two major issues during Polk's speakership were slavery and the economy, after the Panic of 1837. Van Buren and Polk faced pressure to rescind the Specie Circular, an act that had been signed by Jackson to boost the economy. The act required that payment for government lands be in gold and silver. However, with support from Polk and his cabinet, Van Buren chose to stick with the Specie Circular.^[29]

Polk attempted to make a more orderly house. He never challenged anyone to a duel no matter how much they insulted his honor as was customary then.^[30] Polk also issued the gag rule on petitions from abolitionists.^[30]

Polk remains the only president who served as Speaker of the House.

Governor of Tennessee

In 1838, the political situation in Tennessee—where, in 1835, Democrats had lost the governorship for the first time in their party's history—persuaded Polk to return to help the party at home.^[31] Leaving Congress in 1839, Polk became a candidate in the Tennessee gubernatorial election, defeating the incumbent Whig, Newton Cannon by about 2,500 votes, out of about 105,000.^[32]

Polk's three major programs during his governorship; regulating state banks, implementing state internal improvements, and improving education all did not get approval by the legislature.^[33] In the presidential election of 1840, Van Buren was overwhelmingly defeated by a popular Whig, William Henry Harrison. Polk received one electoral vote from Tennessee for Vice President in the election.^[34] Polk lost his own reelection to James C. Jones, in 1841, by 3,243 votes.^[35] He challenged Jones in 1843, campaigning across the state and publicly debating against Jones, but was defeated again, this time by a slightly greater margin of 3,833 votes.^[36][37]

Election of 1844

Results of the 1844 Presidential election

Main article: United States presidential election, 1844

Polk initially hoped to be nominated for vice-president at the Democratic convention, which began on May 27, 1844. The leading contender for the presidential nomination was former President Martin Van Buren, who wanted to stop the expansion of slavery. Other candidates included James Buchanan, General Lewis Cass, Cave Johnson, John C. Calhoun, and Levi Woodbury. The primary point of political contention involved the Republic of Texas, which, after declaring independence from Mexico in 1836, had asked to join the United States. Van Buren opposed the annexation but in doing so lost the support of many Democrats, including former President Andrew Jackson, who still had much influence. Van Buren won a simple majority on the convention's first ballot but did not attain the two-thirds supermajority required for nomination. When it became clear after another six ballots that Van Buren would not win the required majority, Polk emerged as a "dark horse" candidate. After an indecisive eighth ballot, the convention unanimously nominated Polk.

Before the convention, Jackson told Polk that he was his favorite for the nomination of the Democratic Party. Even with this support, Polk instructed his managers at the convention to support Van Buren if he could win the nomination. This assured that if a deadlocked convention occurred, initial supporters of Van Buren would pick Polk as a compromise candidate for the Democrats. In the end, this is exactly what happened as a result of Polk's support of westward expansion.^[38]

When advised of his nomination, Polk replied: "It has been well observed that the office of President of the United States should neither be sought nor declined. I have never sought it, nor should I feel at liberty to decline it, if conferred upon me by the voluntary suffrages of my fellow citizens." Because the Democratic Party was splintered into bitter factions, Polk promised to serve only one term if elected, hoping that his disappointed rival Democrats would unite behind him with the knowledge that another candidate would be chosen in four years.^[39]

1844 campaign banner, produced by Nathaniel Currier.

Polk's Whig opponent in the 1844 presidential election was Henry Clay of Kentucky. (Incumbent Whig President John Tyler—a former Democrat—had become estranged from the Whigs and was not nominated for a second term.) The annexation of Texas, which was at the forefront during the Democratic Convention, again dominated the campaign. Polk was a strong proponent of immediate annexation, while Clay seemed more equivocal and vacillating.

Another campaign issue, also related to westward expansion, involved the Oregon Country, then under the joint occupation of the United States and the United Kingdom. The Democrats had championed the cause of expansion, informally linking the controversial Texas annexation issue with a claim to the entire Oregon Country, thus appealing to both Northern and Southern expansionists. (The slogan "Fifty-four Forty or Fight," often incorrectly attributed to the 1844 election, did not appear until later; see Oregon boundary dispute.) Polk's consistent support for westward expansion—what Democrats would later call "Manifest Destiny"—likely played an important role in his victory, as opponent Henry Clay hedged his position.

In the election, Polk and his running mate, George M. Dallas, won in the South and West, while Clay drew support in the Northeast. Polk lost both his home state, North Carolina, and his state of residence, Tennessee, the most recent successful presidential candidate to do so. but won New York, where Clay lost votes to the antislavery Liberty Party candidate James G. Birney. Also contributing to Polk's victory was the support of new immigrant voters, who opposed the Whigs' policies. Polk won the popular vote by a margin of about 39,000 out of 2.6 million, and took the Electoral College with 170 votes to Clay's 105.^[40] Polk won 15 states, while Clay won 11.^[41]

Presidency (1845–1849)

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Polk's presidential proclamation of war against Mexico.

When he took office on March 4, 1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest man at the time to assume the presidency. According to a story told decades later by George Bancroft, Polk set four clearly defined goals for his administration:

• Reestablish the Independent Treasury System.
• Reduce tariffs.
• Acquire some or all of Oregon Country.
• Acquire California and New Mexico from Mexico.

Polk and his cabinet in the White House dining room. Secretary of State James Buchanan is absent.

Pledged to serve only one term, he accomplished all these objectives in just four years. By linking acquisition of new lands in Oregon (with no slavery) and Texas (with slavery), he hoped to satisfy both North and South.

During his presidency James K. Polk was known as "Young Hickory", an allusion to his mentor Andrew Jackson, and "Napoleon of the Stump" for his speaking skills.

Fiscal policy

In 1846, Congress approved the Walker Tariff (named after Robert J. Walker, the Secretary of the Treasury), which represented a substantial reduction of the high Whig-backed Tariff of 1842. The new law abandoned ad valorem tariffs and set rates independent of the monetary value of the product. Polk's actions were popular in the South and West; however, they were despised by many protectionists in Pennsylvania.

In 1846, Polk approved a law restoring the Independent Treasury System, under which government funds were held in the Treasury and not in banks or other financial institutions. This established independent treasury deposit offices, separate from private or state banks, to receive all government funds.

Rivers and Harbors Veto

Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Bill in 1846 to provide $500,000 to improve rivers and harbors, but Polk vetoed the bill. It would have provided for federally funded internal improvements on small harbors. Polk believed that this was unconstitutional because the bill unfairly favored particular areas, including ports which had no foreign trade. Polk believed that these problems were local and not national. Polk feared that passing the Rivers and Harbors Bill would encourage legislators to compete for favors for their home districts – a type of corruption that would spell doom to the virtue of the republic.^[42] In this regard he followed his hero Andrew Jackson, who had vetoed the Maysville Road Bill in 1830 on similar grounds.^[43]

Slavery

President Polk, 1858 portrait, by George Healy

During his presidency, many abolitionists harshly criticized him as an instrument of the "Slave Power", and claimed that spreading slavery was the reason he supported annexing Texas and later war with Mexico.^[44] Polk stated in his diary that he believed slavery could not exist in the territories won from Mexico,^[45] but refused to endorse the Wilmot Proviso that would forbid it there. Polk argued instead for extending the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific Ocean, which would prohibit the expansion of slavery above 36° 30' west of Missouri, but allow it below that line if approved by eligible voters in the territory. William Dusinberre has argued that Polk's diary, which he kept during his presidency, was written for later publication, and does not represent Polk's policy.

Polk was a slaveholder for his entire life. His father, Samuel Polk, had left Polk more than 8,000 acres (32 km²) of land, and divided about 53 slaves to his widow and children after he died. James inherited twenty of his father's slaves, either directly or from deceased brothers. In 1831, he became an absentee cotton planter, sending slaves to clear plantation land that his father had left him near Somerville, Tennessee. Four years later Polk sold his Somerville plantation and, together with his brother-in-law, bought 920 acres (3.7 km²) of land, a cotton plantation near Coffeeville, Mississippi. He ran this plantation for the rest of his life, eventually taking it over completely from his brother-in-law. Polk rarely sold slaves, although once he became President and could better afford it, he bought more. Polk's will stipulated that their slaves were to be freed after his wife Sarah had died. However, the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and the 1865 Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution freed all remaining slaves in rebel states long before the death of his wife in 1891.^[46]

Foreign policy

Polk strongly supported expansion. Democrats believed that opening up more land for yeoman farmers was critical for the success of republican virtue. (See Manifest Destiny.) Like most Southerners, he supported the annexation of Texas. To balance the interests of North and South, he wanted to acquire the Oregon Country (present-day Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia) as well. He sought to purchase California, which Mexico had neglected.

Oregon territory

Main article: Oregon boundary dispute

The Oregon Territory, established by the Oregon Treaty

Polk put heavy pressure on Britain to resolve the Oregon boundary dispute. Since 1818, the territory had been under the joint occupation and control of the United Kingdom and the United States. Previous U.S. administrations had offered to divide the region along the 49th parallel, which was not acceptable to Britain, as they had commercial interests along the Columbia River. Although the Democratic platform asserted a claim to the entire region, Polk was willing to compromise. When the British again refused to accept the 49th parallel boundary proposal, Polk broke off negotiations and returned to the Democratic platform "All Oregon" demand (which called for all of Oregon up to the 54-40 line that marked the southern boundary of Russian Alaska). "54-40 or fight!" now became a popular rallying cry among Democrats^[47]

Polk wanted territory, not war, so he compromised with the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Aberdeen. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 divided the Oregon Country along the 49th parallel, the original American proposal. Although there were many who still clamored for the entire territory, the treaty was approved by the Senate. By settling for the 49th parallel, Polk angered many midwestern Democrats. Many of these Democrats believed that Polk had always wanted the boundary at the 49th, and that he had fooled them into believing he wanted it at the 54th parallel. The portion of Oregon territory acquired by the United States later formed the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and parts of the states of Montana and Wyoming.

Texas

Main article: Texas Annexation

President Tyler despised Polk as a person and politician.^{[citation needed]} Upon hearing of Polk's election to office, Tyler urged Congress to pass a joint resolution admitting Texas to the Union; Congress complied on February 28, 1845. Texas promptly accepted the offer and officially became a state on December 29, 1845. The annexation angered Mexico, which had lost Texas in 1836. Mexican politicians had repeatedly warned that annexation would lead to war. Nonetheless, just days after the resolution passed Congress, Polk declared in his inaugural address that only Texas and the United States would decide whether to annex.

Mexican-American War

Main article: Mexican-American War

Map of Mexico in 1845, with the Republic of Texas, the Republic of Yucatan and the disputed territory between Mexico and Texas in red. Mexico claimed to own all of Texas.

After the Texas annexation, Polk turned his attention to California, hoping to acquire the territory from Mexico before any European nation did so. The main interest was San Francisco Bay as an access point for trade with Asia. In 1845, he sent diplomat John Slidell to Mexico to purchase California and New Mexico for $24–30 million. Slidell's arrival caused political turmoil in Mexico after word leaked out that he was there to purchase additional territory and not to offer compensation for the loss of Texas. The Mexicans refused to receive Slidell, citing a technical problem with his credentials. In January 1846, to increase pressure on Mexico to negotiate, Polk sent troops under General Zachary Taylor into the area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande—territory that was claimed by both the U.S. and Mexico.

Slidell returned to Washington in May 1846, having been rebuffed by the Mexican government. Polk regarded this treatment of his diplomat as an insult and an "ample cause of war",^[48] and he prepared to ask Congress for a declaration of war. Meanwhile Taylor crossed the Rio Grande River and briefly occupied Matamoros, Tamaulipas. Taylor continued to blockade ships from entering the port of Matamoros. Mere days before Polk intended to make his request to Congress, he received word that Mexican forces had crossed the Rio Grande area and killed eleven American soldiers. Polk then made this the casus belli, and in a message to Congress on May 11, 1846, he stated that Mexico had "invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil."

Some Whigs, such as Abraham Lincoln, challenged Polk's version of events,^[49] but Congress overwhelmingly approved the declaration of war. Many Whigs feared that opposition would cost them politically by casting themselves as unpatriotic for not supporting the war effort.^[50]

In the House, antislavery Whigs led by John Quincy Adams voted against the war; among Democrats, Senator John C. Calhoun was the most notable opponent of the declaration.

The Mexican Cession (in red) was acquired through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The Gadsden Purchase (in orange) was acquired through purchase after Polk left office.

Military action

Polk selected the top generals and set the military strategy of the war. By the summer of 1846, American forces under General Stephen W. Kearny had captured New Mexico. Meanwhile, Army captain John C. Frémont led settlers in northern California to overthrow the Mexican garrison in Sonoma (in the Bear Flag Revolt). General Zachary Taylor, at the same time, was having success on the Rio Grande, although Polk did not reinforce his troops there. The United States also negotiated a secret arrangement with Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican general and dictator who had been overthrown in 1844. Santa Anna agreed that, if given safe passage into Mexico, he would attempt to persuade those in power to sell California and New Mexico to the United States. Once he reached Mexico, however, he reneged on his agreement, declared himself President, and tried to drive the American invaders back. Santa Anna's efforts, however, were in vain, as Generals Taylor and Winfield Scott destroyed all resistance. Scott captured Mexico City in September 1847, and Taylor won a series of victories in northern Mexico. Even after these battles, Mexico did not surrender until 1848, when it agreed to peace terms set out by Polk.

Peace: the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Polk sent diplomat Nicholas Trist to negotiate with the Mexicans. Lack of progress prompted the President to order Trist to return to the United States, but the diplomat ignored the instructions and stayed in Mexico to continue bargaining. Trist successfully negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which Polk agreed to ratify, ignoring calls from Democrats who demanded that all Mexico be annexed. The treaty added 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square kilometers) of territory to the United States; Mexico's size was halved, while that of the United States increased by a third. California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming were all included in the Mexican Cession. The treaty also recognized the annexation of Texas and acknowledged American control over the disputed territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande. Mexico, in turn, received $15 million. The war claimed fewer than 20,000 American lives but over 50,000 Mexican ones.^[51] It may have cost the United States $100 million.^[52] Finally, the Wilmot Proviso injected the issue of slavery in the new territories, even though Polk had insisted to Congress and in his diary that this had never been a war goal.

The treaty, however, needed ratification by the Senate. In March 1848, the Whigs, who had been so opposed to Polk's policy, suddenly changed position. Two-thirds of the Whigs voted for Polk's treaty. This ended the war and legalized the acquisition of the territories.

The war had serious consequences for Polk and the Democrats. It gave the Whig Party a unifying message of denouncing the war as an immoral act of aggression carried out through abuse of power by the president. In the 1848 election, however, the Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, a war hero, and celebrated his victories. Taylor refused to criticize Polk. As a result of the strain of managing the war effort directly and in close detail, Polk's health markedly declined toward the end of his presidency.

Cuba

In mid-1848, President Polk authorized his ambassador to Spain, Romulus Mitchell Saunders, to negotiate the purchase of Cuba and offer Spain up to $100 million, an astounding sum at the time for one territory, equal to $2.69 billion in present day terms.^[53] Cuba was close to the United States and had slavery, so the idea appealed to Southerners but was unwelcome in the North. But Spain was still making huge profits in Cuba (notably in sugar, molasses, rum, and tobacco), and the Spanish government rejected Saunders' overtures.^[54]

Department of the Interior

One of Polk's last acts as President was to sign the bill creating the Department of the Interior (March 3, 1849). This was the first new cabinet position created since the early days of the Republic.

Administration and cabinet

The Polk Cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	James K. Polk	1845–1849
Vice President	George M. Dallas	1845–1849
Secretary of State	James Buchanan	1845–1849
Secretary of Treasury	Robert J. Walker	1845–1849
Secretary of War	William L. Marcy	1845–1849
Attorney General	John Y. Mason	1845–1846
	Nathan Clifford	1846–1848
	Isaac Toucey	1848–1849
Postmaster General	Cave Johnson	1845–1849
Secretary of the Navy	George Bancroft	1845–1846
	John Y. Mason	1846–1849

Judicial appointments

Main article: List of federal judges appointed by James K. Polk

Supreme Court

Polk appointed the following Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court:

Justice	Position	Began active service	Ended active service
Robert Cooper Grier	Seat 1	18460804August 4, 1846	18700131January 31, 1870
Levi Woodbury	Seat 2	18450920September 20, 1845[55]	18510904September 4, 1851

Woodbury was from New Hampshire, and Grier from Pennsylvania. Polk also nominated George W. Woodward of Pennsylvania in 1846, but the United States Senate rejected the nomination.

Other courts

Polk appointed eight other federal judges, one to the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, and seven to various United States district courts.

Congress

29th Congress (March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1847)

• Senate: 31 Democrats, 31 Whigs, 1 Other (President Pro Tempore – Willie P. Mangum (Whig-NC), Ambrose H. Servier (D-AR), and David R. Atchison (D-MO))
• House: 143 Democrats, 77 Whigs, 6 Others (Speaker – John W. Davis of Indiana)

30th Congress (March 4, 1847 – March 4, 1849)

• Senate: 36 Democrats, 21 Whigs, 1 Other (President Pro Tempore – David R. Atchison (D-MO))
• House: 115 Whigs, 108 Democrats, 4 Others (Speaker – Robert C. Winthrop of Massachusetts)

States admitted to the Union

• Texas – December 29, 1845
• Iowa – December 28, 1846
• Wisconsin – May 29, 1848

Post-presidency

James K. Polk's tomb lies on the grounds of the state capitol in Nashville, Tennessee.

Polk's time in the White House took its toll on his health. Full of enthusiasm and vigor when he entered office, Polk left on March 4, 1849, exhausted by his years of public service. He lost weight and had deep lines on his face and dark circles under his eyes. He is believed to have contracted cholera in New Orleans, Louisiana, on a goodwill tour of the South.^[56] He died at his new home, Polk Place, in Nashville, Tennessee, at 3:15 pm on June 15, 1849, three months after leaving office. He was buried on the grounds of Polk Place. Polk's last words illustrate his devotion to his wife: "I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you."^[57] She lived at Polk Place for over forty years after his death. She died on August 14, 1891. Polk was also survived by his mother, Jane Knox Polk.^[58]

Polk had the shortest retirement of all Presidents at 103 days. He was the youngest former president to die in retirement at the age of 53. He and his wife are buried in a tomb on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville, Tennessee. The tomb was moved to this location in 1893 after his home at Polk Place was demolished.

Reputation

See also: Mexican-American War#Opposition to the war

Polk's historic reputation was largely formed by the attacks made on him in his own time; the Whigs claimed that he was drawn from a well-deserved obscurity; Senator Tom Corwin of Ohio remarked "James K. Polk, of Tennessee? After that, who is safe?" The Republican historians of the nineteenth century inherited this view. Polk was a compromise between the Democrats of the North, like David Wilmot and Silas Wright, and the plantation owners who were led by John C. Calhoun; the northern Democrats thought that when they did not get their way, it was because he was the tool of the slaveholders, and the conservatives of the South insisted that he was the tool of the northern Democrats. These views were long reflected in the historical literature, until Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr and Bernard De Voto argued that Polk was nobody's tool, but set his own goals and achieved them.^[59]

Polk is now recognized, not only as the strongest president between Jackson and Lincoln, but the president who made the United States a coast-to-coast nation. When historians began ranking the presidents in 1948, Polk ranked 10th in Arthur M. Schlesinger’s poll. and has subsequently ranked 8th in Schlesinger’s 1962 poll, 11th in the Riders-McIver Poll (1996), 11th in the most recent Siena Poll (2002), 9th in the most recent Wall Street Journal Poll (2005), and 12th in the latest C-Span Poll (2009).^[60]

Polk biographers over the years have sized up the magnitude of Polk’s achievements and his legacy, particularly his two most recent. “There are three key reasons why James K. Polk deserves recognition as a significant and influential American president,” Walter Borneman wrote. “First, Polk accomplished the objectives of his presidential term as he defined them; second, he was the most decisive chief executive before the Civil War; and third, he greatly expanded the executive power of the presidency, particularly its war powers, its role as commander-in-chief, and its oversight of the executive branch."^[61] President Harry S. Truman summarized this view by saying that Polk was "a great president. Said what he intended to do and did it."^[62]

While Polk’s legacy thus takes many forms, the most outstanding is the map of the continental United States, whose landmass he increased by a third. “To look at that map,” Robert Merry concluded, “and to take in the western and southwestern expanse included in it, is to see the magnitude of Polk’s presidential accomplishments.”^[63]

Nevertheless, Polk's aggressive expansionism has been criticized on ethical grounds. He believed in "Manifest Destiny" even more than most did. Referencing the Mexican-American War, General Ulysses S. Grant stated that "I was bitterly opposed to the [Texas annexation], and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory."^[64] Whig politicians, including David Wilmot, Abraham Lincoln and John Quincy Adams contended that the Texas Annexation and the Mexican Cession enhanced the pro-slavery factions of the United States.^[65] Unsatisfactory conditions pertaining to the status of slavery in the territories acquired during the Polk administration led to the Compromise of 1850, one of the primary factors in the establishment of the Republican Party and later the beginning of the American Civil War.^[66]

On the other hand, Sam Houston is said to have observed that Polk was "a victim of the use of water as a beverage.^[67]

See also

	Book: Presidents of the United States (1789–1860)
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• James K. Polk Ancestral Home
• Historical rankings of United States Presidents
• List of Presidents of the United States
• US Presidents on US postage stamps

Ancestors

Ancestors of James K. Polk

16. William Polk               8. William Polk                       17. Nancy Knox               4. Ezekiel Franklin Polk                             18. James Taylor               9. Margaret Taylor                       19. Martha Thompson               2. Samuel Wilson Polk                                   20. John Wilson               10. Samuel Wilson                       21. Christian Suttell               5. Mary Jane Wilson                             22. Benjamin Winslow               11. Mary Osborne Winslow                       23. Jean Osborne               1. James Knox Polk                                         24. John Knox               12. John Knox                       25. Margaret Brock               6. James Knox                             26.               13. Jean Sinclair Gracy                       27.               3. Jane Gracy Knox                                   28. Robert Gillespie               14. Thomas Gillespie                       29.               7. Lydia Gillespie                             30. William Thompson               15. Naomi Thompson                       31. Sarah Evans

References

1. ^ ^{a b} James Knox Polk from PresidentialAvenue.com
2. ^ The Overlooked President from TheDailyBeast.com
3. ^ ^{a b c} Borneman, p. 6
4. ^ Haynes, pp. 4–6.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Borneman p. 7
6. ^ ^{a b} Borneman p. 8
7. ^ Seigenthaler p. 19
8. ^ Borneman p. 13
9. ^ Haynes p.11.
10. ^ Borneman p. 8–9
11. ^ "History". University of North Caroilna at Chapel Hill. http://www.cs.unc.edu/~cssa/students/candday_camptour.doc. Retrieved 2011-04-15. 
12. ^ Borneman p. 10
13. ^ ^{a b} Borneman p. 11
14. ^ Seigenthaler p.24
15. ^ ^{a b} Seigenthaler p.25
16. ^ ^{a b} Borneman p. 14
17. ^ Borneman p. 17
18. ^ Borneman p. 18
19. ^ Sarah Childress Polk. The White House. Retrieved on October 14, 2007.
20. ^ ^{a b c d} Borneman p. 22
21. ^ ^{a b c} Borneman p. 23
22. ^ Borneman p. 24
23. ^ Borneman p. 26
24. ^ Borneman p. 32
25. ^ Borneman p. 33
26. ^ Borneman p. 34
27. ^ Borneman p. 35
28. ^ Seigenthaler p. 57
29. ^ Seigenthaler p. 60
30. ^ ^{a b} Seigenthaler p. 62
31. ^ Seigenthaler p. 64
32. ^ Seigenthaler p.65: 54,012 to 51,396
33. ^ Seigenthaler p. 66
34. ^ Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 31, 2005).
35. ^ Seigenthaler p. 67
36. ^ Borneman p.64
37. ^ Seigenthaler p. 68
38. ^ Brinkley, Alan and Davis Dyer, (ed). The American Presidency. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. ISBN 0-618-38273-9 pp. 129–138
39. ^ Haynes, pp. 61–2
40. ^ "The American Presidency Project – Election of 1844." Retrieved: March 27, 2008.
41. ^ "National Atlas – Presidential Elections Maps 1844–1856." Retrieved: March 27, 2008.
42. ^ Yonatan Eyal, The Young America movement and the transformation of the Democratic Party (2007) p. 63
43. ^ Mark Eaton Byrnes, James K. Polk: a biographical companion (2001) p. 44
44. ^ Haynes, p. 154
45. ^ Schlesinger, p. 453, citing Polk's Diary II, 289
46. ^ Dusinberre, passim
47. ^ This slogan, although often associated with Polk, was the position of his rivals in the Democratic Party, who wanted Polk to be as uncompromising in acquiring the Oregon territory as he had been in annexing Texas. This slogan is inappropriately tagged to the Election of 1844, although it didn't come until the year after. Borneman, p. 164, 173.
48. ^ Haynes, p. 129
49. ^ Mark E. Neely, Jr., "War And Partisanship: What Lincoln Learned from James K. Polk," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Sept 1981, Vol. 74 Issue 3, pp 199–216
50. ^ In January 1848, the Whigs won a House vote attacking Polk in an amendment to a resolution praising Major General Taylor for his service in a "war unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by the President of the United States". House Journal, 30th Session (1848) pp.183–184 The resolution, however, died in committee.
51. ^ Smith II, 51–8 "about 12,850" deaths out of 90,000 American troops.
52. ^ Rough estimate of total cost, Smith, II 266–7; this includes the payments to Mexico in exchange for the ceded territories. The excess military appropriations during the war itself were $63,605,621.
53. ^ [Staff.] Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2012. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
54. ^ David M. Pletcher, The Diplomacy of Annexation: Texas, Oregon, and the Mexican War (1973) pp. 571–74.
55. ^ Recess appointment; formally nominated on December 23, 1845, confirmed by the United States Senate on January 3, 1846, and received commission on January 3, 1846.
56. ^ Haynes, p. 191
57. ^ "First Lady Biography: Sarah Polk". The National First Ladies Library. 2005. http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=12. Retrieved April 13, 2008. 
58. ^ Dusinberre, p. xii. Mrs Polk died in 1852.
59. ^ Schlesinger, pp.439–455; quote from Corwin (who became a Republican) on p. 439
60. ^ Historical rankings of Presidents of the United States
61. ^ Borneman, p. 353.
62. ^ Truman, Harry S., and Robert H. Ferrell, Off the Record: The Private Papers of Harry S. Truman, Letter to Dean Acheson (unsent), August 26, 1960 (University of Missouri Press, 1997), p. 390.
63. ^ Merry, Robert W. (2009). A Country of Vast Designs, James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent. Simon & Schuster. p. 477. 
64. ^ Ulysses S Grant Quotes on the Military Academy and the Mexican War from Fadedgiant.net
65. ^ Stephenson, Nathaniel Wright. Texas and the Mexican War: A Chronicle of Winning the Southwest. Yale University Press (1921), pg. 94-95.
66. ^ Holt, Michael F. The Political Crisis of the 1850s (1978).
67. ^ Borneman, p. 11.

References

• Borneman, Walter R. (2008). Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America. Random House, Inc.. ISBN 978-1-4000-6560-8. 
• Bergeron, Paul H. The Presidency of James K. Polk. 1986. ISBN 0-7006-0319-0.
• De Voto, Bernard The Year of Decision: 1846 Houghton Mifflin, 1943.
• Dusinberre, William. Slavemaster President: The Double Career of James Polk 2003. ISBN 0-19-515735-4
• Dusinberre, William. "President Polk and the Politics of Slavery". American Nineteenth Century History 3.1 (2002): 1–16. ISSN 1466-4658. Argues he misrepresented strength of abolitionism, grossly exaggerated likelihood of slaves' massacring white families and seemed to condone secession.
• Eisenhower, John S. D. "The Election of James K. Polk, 1844". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 53.2 (1994): 74–87. ISSN 0040-3261.
• Haynes, Sam W. (1997). James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse. New York: Longman. ISBN 978-0-673-99001-3. 
• Kornblith, Gary J. "Rethinking the Coming of the Civil War: a Counterfactual Exercise". Journal of American History 90.1 (2003): 76–105. ISSN 0021-8723. Asks what if Polk had not gone to war?
• Leonard, Thomas M. James K. Polk: A Clear and Unquestionable Destiny. 2000. ISBN 0-8420-2647-9.
• McCormac, Eugene Irving. James K. Polk: A Political Biography to the End of a Career, 1845–1849. Univ. of California Press, 1922. (1995 reprint has ISBN 0-945707-10-X.) hostile to Jacksonians
• Merry, Robert W. A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. xiv, 576 pp.) ISBN 978-0-7432-9743-1
• Morrison, Michael A. "Martin Van Buren, the Democracy, and the Partisan Politics of Texas Annexation". Journal of Southern History 61.4 (1995): 695–724. ISSN 0022-4642. Discusses the election of 1844. online edition
• Paul; James C. N. Rift in the Democracy. (1951). on 1844 election
• Pletcher, David M. The Diplomacy of Annexation: Texas, Oregon, and the Mexican War (1973), standard the study of Polk's foreign policy
• Sellers, Charles. James K. Polk, Jacksonian, 1795–1843 (1957) vol 1 online; and James K. Polk, Continentalist, 1843–1846. (1966) vol 2 online; long scholarly biography
• Seigenthaler, John. James K. Polk: 1845–1849. 2003. ISBN 0-8050-6942-9, short popular biography
• Smith, Justin Harvey. The War with Mexico, Vol 1. (2 vol 1919), full text online.
  • Smith, Justin Harvey. The War with Mexico, Vol 2. (2 vol 1919). full text online; Pulitzer prize; still the standard source,

Primary sources

• Cutler, Wayne, et al. Correspondence of James K. Polk. 1972–2004. ISBN 1-57233-304-9. 10 vol. scholarly edition of the complete correspondence to and from Polk.
• Polk, James K. The Diary of James K. Polk During His Presidency, 1845–1849 edited by Milo Milton Quaife, 4 vols. 1910. Abridged version by Allan Nevins. 1929, online

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: James K. Polk

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: James K. Polk

Wikisource has original works written by or about: James K. Polk

• James K. Polk: A Resource Guide, from the Library of Congress
• James K. Polk's Personal Correspondence Shapell Manuscript Foundation
• Extensive essay on James K. Polk and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
• Inaugural Address of James K. Polk from The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School
• Biography of James K. Polk from the official White House website
• Polk's Messages to the U.S. Congress from usa-presidents.info:
  • First (1845)
  • Second (1846)
  • Third (1847)
  • Fourth (1848)
• Works by James K. Polk at Project Gutenberg
• Obituary of President Polk in The Liberator (June 22, 1849)
• Establishing Borders: The Expansion of the United States, 1846–48 from the Smithsonian, with essay and lesson plans
• President James K. Polk State Historic Site, Pineville, North Carolina from a State of North Carolina website
• James K. Polk at Findagrave
• James K. Polk at C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits
• Booknotes interview with John Siegenthaler on James K. Polk, January 18, 2004.

Offices and distinctions

United States House of Representatives Preceded by John Cocke Member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th congressional district 1825–1833 Succeeded by Balie Peyton Preceded by William Fitzgerald Member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee's 9th congressional district 1833–1839 Succeeded by Harvey Watterson Preceded by Gulian Verplanck Chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee 1833–1835 Succeeded by Churchill Cambreleng Political offices Preceded by John Bell Speaker of the House of Representatives 1835–1839 Succeeded by Robert Hunter Preceded by Newton Cannon Governor of Tennessee 1839–1841 Succeeded by James Jones Preceded by John Tyler President of the United States 1845–1849 Succeeded by Zachary Taylor Party political offices Preceded by Martin Van Buren Democratic nominee for President of the United States 1844 Succeeded by Lewis Cass

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Dallas (1845–1849) Secretary of State James Buchanan (1845–1849) Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker (1845–1849) Secretary of War William L. Marcy (1845–1849) Attorney General John Y. Mason (1845–1846) Nathan Clifford (1846–1848) Isaac Toucey (1848–1849) Postmaster General Cave Johnson (1845–1849) Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft (1845–1846) John Y. Mason (1846–1849)

Authority control: LCCN: n80145740 | VIAF: 90717491 | WorldCat

Persondata
Name	Polk, James Knox
Alternative names
Short description	Eleventh president of the United States
Date of birth	November 2, 1795
Place of birth	Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Date of death	June 15, 1849
Place of death	Nashville, Tennessee

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