Polk, James K. (James Knox), 1795-1849

POLK, JAMES KNOX, (brother of William Hawkins Polk), a Representative from Tennessee and 11th President of the United States; born near Little Sugar Creek, Mecklenburg County, N.C., November 2, 1795; moved to Tennessee in 1806 with his parents, who settled in what later became Maury County; attended the common schools and was tutored privately; graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1818; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1820 and commenced practice in Columbia, Tenn.; chief clerk of the state senate 1821-1823; member of the state house of representatives 1823-1825; elected as a Jacksonian to the Nineteenth through the Twenty-fourth Congresses and reelected as a Democrat to the Twenty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1825-March 3, 1839); chairman, Committee on Ways and Means (Twenty-third Congress); Speaker of the House of Representatives (Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Congresses); did not seek renomination in 1838 having become a candidate for governor; governor of Tennessee 1839-1841; elected as a Democrat as President of the United States in 1844; inaugurated on March 4, 1845, and served until March 3, 1849; declined to be a candidate for renomination; died in Nashville, Tenn., June 15, 1849; interment within the grounds of the state capitol.

<p>James Knox Polk was born on his family farm in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in 1795. The oldest of ten children, Polk suffered from poor health. In spite of his less than robust stamina, Polk moved west into Tennessee with his family where they settled on land purchased from Polk's grandfather. Polk developed severe gallstones, which were surgically removed in a risky procedure at that time. Without the benefit of modern technology, sterilization, or anesthesia, Polk remarkably survived the surgery. During these early years, his education was informal until 1813 when he enrolled in a Presbyterian school in Columbia. Polk soon transferred to a more challenging school and in 1816 returned to North Carolina to attend the University in Chapel Hill. The future president excelled at the University of North Carolina, graduating with honors in 1818.</p>

<p>Returning to Tennessee in 1819, Polk took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar the following year. Polk attained his first political post in 1823, winning election to the Tennessee House of Representatives. He became engaged during this same year and in 1824 married Sarah Childress, whom he had met in school before attending the University of North Carolina. Polk served in the Tennessee House from 1823 until 1825 during which time he supported Andrew Jackson's bid for the U.S. Senate seat from Tennessee. He continued to support Jackson while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1825 to 1839. Polk served as Speaker of the House for the last four years of this term. Polk won election as governor of Tennessee in 1839 but lost the gubernatorial election of 1841 and again in 1843. During these times of holding political office, "Young Hickory" followed Jackson's lead supporting the "common man" and lower taxes and attacking the Bank of the United States and federal surpluses.</p>

<p>Polk attended the 1844 Democratic Party convention as a supporter of President Martin Van Buren. Van Buren was the likely choice for the party nomination with Polk the favored choice for the vice-presidential nomination. Van Buren failed to gain the two-thirds majority vote required for the nomination on the first vote, and other contenders gained more votes in the subsequent balloting. Polk received one delegate vote for the presidential nomination during the eighth round of voting, and won the nomination with 233 votes in the next round making him the first dark-horse candidate to win his party's nomination.</p>

<p>The 1844 campaign centered upon the annexation of Texas and the re-occupation of Oregon. Conflict over the issue of slavery continued to strain the politics of the nation and directly affected the 1844 election. A national feeling of "Manifest Destiny," the belief that the United States should span the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, also spurred political debate. The territory now known as Texas was part of a disputed boundary between the United States and Mexico in 1844. The issue of annexing Texas raised not only the question of war with Mexico, but also the issue of whether Texas would be a free state or slave state. The Oregon Territory was claimed by both the United States and Great Britain. Polk's campaign slogan of "Fifty-four Forty or Fight!" refers to the latitude coordinates of the disputed territory. Polk endorsed both the annexation of Texas and American control of the entire Oregon Territory. Polk also promised if elected not to seek a second term. A third candidate, James G. Birney, ran in the 1844 election extensively as an abolitionist. Birney's presence in the election captured votes which Clay needed. In the election, Polk defeated Clay and Birney to become the eleventh president of the United States.</p>

<p>Polk's administration lived up to its campaign promises. In 1846 Polk reached an agreement with Great Britain over the disputed Oregon Territories. While the treaty did not provide the full territory to the United States, the area that is now the states of Washington and Oregon was formally placed under the control of the United States. The issue of Texas was not solved as peacefully. In the Texas debate America wanted to establish the southern border of the nation at the Rio Grande while Mexico favored the Nueces River for the national boundary. In 1845 Polk sent federal emissaries to offer compensation for the disputed area of Texas as well as the territories of New Mexico and California. When the Mexican government rejected the offer, Polk sent troops under General Zachary Taylor into the Texas Territory. Mexican troops attacked Taylor's force, and Polk claimed this action as a provocation of war. Congress approved Polk's decision, and the U.S.-Mexican War began. The decision to go to war was not unanimous. Some legislators, including Representative Abraham Lincoln, felt that the Mexican War would be used as a tool to spread slavery into new states and territories in the west. After a year and a half of fighting, and another 6 months of civil unrest and negotiation, the combatants signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, ending the Mexican War. Polk remained true to his campaign promise and did not seek a second term as president, retiring from office in 1849. During Polk's presidency, the United States attained the desire of Manifest Destiny. The nation now controlled the land between the two oceans. The states of Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin were admitted to the Union during Polk's term of office. It was also under Polk's presidency that the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland was established. The issue of slavery, especially in the newly acquired lands, continued to haunt the country, and Polk's administration did little to soothe the turmoil.</p>

<p>After the conclusion of his term in office, James Polk purchased a home, renamed Polk Place, in Nashville, Tennessee. The former president planned to retire there after a tour of the South. After traveling down the Atlantic seacoast and along the Gulf of Mexico, Polk returned to Nashville in ill health. He died in his home in Nashville on June 15, 1849, three months after departing the White House. Polk's dedication to his goal enabled him to overcome his physical frailty. A dedicated student and public servant, Polk carried his determination and energy to the presidency where his talents greatly increased the size of the nation. James Polk began his journey to greatness in the land "where the weak grow strong, and the strong grow great", North Carolina.</p>

<p>James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and governor of Tennessee (1839–1841). A protégé of Andrew Jackson, he was a member of the Democratic Party and an advocate of Jacksonian democracy. Polk is chiefly known for extending the territory of the United States during the Mexican–American War; during his presidency, the United States expanded significantly with the annexation of the Republic of Texas, the Oregon Territory, and the Mexican Cession following the American victory in the Mexican–American War.</p>

<p>After building a successful law practice in Tennessee, Polk was elected to the state legislature (1823) and then to the United States House of Representatives in 1825, becoming a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson. After serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he became Speaker in 1835, the only president to have been Speaker. Polk left Congress to run for governor of Tennessee; he won in 1839, but lost in 1841 and 1843. He was a dark horse candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 1844; he entered his party's convention as a potential nominee for vice president, but emerged as a compromise to head the ticket when no presidential candidate could secure the necessary two-thirds majority. In the general election, Polk defeated Henry Clay of the rival Whig Party.</p>

<p>Historians have praised Polk for having met during his four-year term every major domestic and foreign policy goal he had set. After a negotiation fraught with risk of war, he reached a settlement with Great Britain over the disputed Oregon Country, the territory for the most part being divided along the 49th parallel. Polk achieved a sweeping victory in the Mexican–American War, which resulted in the cession by Mexico of nearly all the American Southwest. He secured a substantial reduction of tariff rates with the Walker tariff of 1846. The same year, he achieved his other major goal, re-establishment of the Independent Treasury system. Historian Thomas A. Bailey says that during the Mexican war, "Polk was an energetic and indefatigable war leader, and he emerged, partly through rare good luck, with uninterrupted success. He kept the sole direction of the war in his own hands, from grand strategy to the procurement of mules." True to his campaign pledge to serve only one term, Polk left office in 1849 and returned to Tennessee where he died three months after leaving the White House.</p>

<p>Though he is relatively obscure today, scholars have ranked Polk favorably for his ability to promote and achieve the major items on his presidential agenda. However, he has also been criticized for leading the country into an unnecessary war against Mexico and for exacerbating sectional divides. A slaveholder for most of his adult life, he owned a plantation in Mississippi and bought slaves while president. A major legacy of Polk's presidency is territorial expansion, as the United States reached the Pacific coast and became poised to be a world power. However, sectional divisions in the U.S. were exacerbated by the territorial expansion and the Civil War is considered a direct consequence of Polk's policy.</p>

<p>James Knox Polk followed a career path which was blazed by Andrew Jackson. Both men hailed from southwestern North Carolina. Both migrated to Tennessee, where they practiced law and entered politics, and both were elected president of the United States. As similar as their paths were, James Polk was a different personality from his fiery predecessor. His life and career were marked by a relentless pursuit of his goals instead of the dramatic aura that perpetually surrounded Jackson. The effects of Polk's presidency, however, were more dramatic upon the nation.</p>