| James K. Polk |
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|
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| 11th President of the United States |
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In office
March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849 |
| Vice President | George M. Dallas |
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| Preceded by | John Tyler |
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| Succeeded by | Zachary Taylor |
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| 9th Governor of Tennessee |
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In office
October 14, 1839 – October 15, 1841 |
| Preceded by | Newton Cannon |
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| Succeeded by | James C. Jones |
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| 13th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives |
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In office
December 7, 1835 – March 4, 1839 |
| President | Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren |
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| Preceded by | John Bell |
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| Succeeded by | Robert M. T. Hunter |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 9th district |
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In office
March 4, 1833 – March 4, 1839 |
| Preceded by | William Fitzgerald |
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| Succeeded by | Harvey Magee Watterson |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 6th district |
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In office
March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1833 |
| Preceded by | John Alexander Cocke |
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| Succeeded by | Balie Peyton |
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| Personal details |
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| Born | James Knox Polk
November 2, 1795
Pineville, North Carolina, U.S. |
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| Died | June 15, 1849 (aged 53)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
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| Resting place | Tennessee State Capitol
Nashville, Tennessee |
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| Political party | Democratic |
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| Spouse(s) | Sarah Childress (m. 1824; his death 1849) |
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| Alma mater | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
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| Profession | Lawyer
Planter |
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| Religion | Methodist (formerlyPresbyterianism) |
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| Signature |  |
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Polk is often considered the last strong pre–
Civil War president, having met during his four years in office every major domestic and foreign policy goal set during his campaign and the transition to his administration: When Mexico rejected American annexation of Texas, Polk led the nation to a sweeping victory in the
Mexican–American War, seizing nearly the whole of what is now the
American Southwest. He ensured a substantial reduction of tariff rates by replacing the "
Black Tariff" with the
Walker tariff of 1846, which pleased the less-industrialized states of his native South by rendering less expensive both imported and, through competition, domestic goods. He threatened war with the
United Kingdom over the issue of which nation owned the
Oregon Country, eventually reaching a settlement in which the British were made to sell the portion that became the
Oregon Territory. Additionally, he built an independent treasury system that lasted until 1913, oversaw the opening of the
U.S. Naval Academy, the
Smithsonian Institution, the groundbreaking for the
Washington Monument, and the issuance of the first United States
postage stamp.
True to his campaign pledge to serve only one term as President, Polk left office and returned to Tennessee in March 1849. He died of
cholera three months later.
Scholars have ranked him favorably on
lists of greatest presidents for his ability to promote, obtain support for, and achieve all of the major items on his presidential agenda. Polk has been called the "least known consequential president"
[2] of the United States.
Early life[edit]
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
Scottishreligious 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]
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
licensed to practice law in June 1820. His first case was to defend his father against a public fighting charge. He secured his client's release for a one-dollar fine.
[13] Polk's practice was successful, in large part due to the many cases arising from debts after the
Panic of 1819.
[14]
Early political career[edit]
In 1822 Polk joined the Tennessee militia as a captain in the cavalry regiment of the 5th Brigade. He was later appointed a colonel on the staff of Governor
William Carroll, and was afterwards often referred to or addressed by his military title.
[15][16] 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][17] In October 1823 Polk voted for
Andrew Jackson to become the next United States Senator from Tennessee.
[18] Jackson won and from then on Polk was a firm supporter of Jackson.
[19]
James K. Polk and Sarah Childress Polk.
Polk courted
Sarah Childress, and they married on January 1, 1824 in Murfreesboro.
[17] 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.
[20]
In 1824, Jackson
ran for President but was defeated.
[21] 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.
[21] Clay's support proved to be the deciding factor in the House and Adams was elected President.
[21]Adams then offered Clay a position in the Cabinet as
Secretary of State.
[21]
In 1825, Polk ran for the
United States House of Representatives for the
Tennessee's 6th congressional district.
[22] Polk vigorously campaigned in the district. Polk was so active that Sarah began to worry about his health.
[22] 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.
[22] When Polk arrived in
Washington, D.C. he roomed in Benjamin Burch's boarding house with some other Tennessee representatives, including
Sam Houston. 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.
[23] 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.
[24] 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.
[25] 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.
[26]
Speaker of the House[edit]
In June 1834, Speaker of the House
Andrew Stevenson resigned, leaving the spot for speaker open.
[27] 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.
[28]
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.
[29] 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.
[30]
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.
[31] Polk also issued the
gag rule on petitions from abolitionists.
[31] He remains the only president who served as Speaker of the House.
Governor of Tennessee[edit]
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.
[32] 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.
[33]
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.
[34] In the
presidential election of 1840, Van Buren and James Polk were overwhelmingly defeated by a popular Whig,
William Henry Harrison. Polk received one electoral vote from Tennessee for
Vice President in the election.
[35] Polk lost his own reelection to
James C. Jones, in 1841, by 3,243 votes.
[36] 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.
[37][38]
Election of 1844[edit]
Polk initially hoped to be nominated for vice president at the
Democratic convention, which began on May 27, 1844.
[39] The leading contender for the presidential nomination was former President
Martin Van Buren,
[40] 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, but was refused by Washington. 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. In subsequent rounds the vote swung toward Cass, but he also fell short of the supermajority. When it became clear after another six ballots that neither of the front-runners would 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.
[41]
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.
[42]
Polk's Whig opponent in the
1844 presidential election was
Henry Clay of Kentucky. (Incumbent President
John Tyler—a former Democrat and Whig—had been expelled from the Whig Party in September 1841 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.
Results of the 1844 Presidential election
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.) Polk's consistent support for westward expansion—what Democrats would later call "
Manifest Destiny"—likely played an important role in his victory, as his opponent 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 birth state, North Carolina, and his state of residence, Tennessee, the most recent successful presidential candidate to do so. However, he 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.
[43] Polk won 15 states, while Clay won 11.
[44]
Presidency (1845–1849)[edit]
The inauguration of James K. Polk, as shown in the Illustrated London News, v. 6, April 19, 1845.
When he took office on March 4, 1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest man at the time to assume the presidency. This was the first
inaugural ceremony to be reported by
telegraph and to be shown in a newspaper illustration (in
The Illustrated London News).
[45] According to a story told decades later by
George Bancroft, Polk set four clearly defined goals for his administration:
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[edit]
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[edit]
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.
[47] In this regard he followed his hero
Andrew Jackson, who had vetoed the
Maysville Road Bill in 1830 on similar grounds.
[48]
Slavery[edit]
James Polk's desire to gain territory in the West caused a battle over the expansion of slavery between North and South. 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.
[49] The
Wilmot Proviso, introduced by Democratic Representative
David Wilmot of Pennsylvania on August 8, 1846 (just two months after the outbreak of the Mexican–American War), aimed to ban slavery anywhere in any territory that might be acquired from Mexico. Polk and many other Southerners were against the measure (which passed in the House, but not in the Senate). Polk argued instead for extending the
Missouri Compromise line west to the
Pacific Ocean. That would have allowed slavery below the 36° 30' latitude line west of
Missouri, and prohibit it above.
[50]
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.
[51]
Foreign policy[edit]
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[edit]
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's "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.
[52]
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 the 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.
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.
Invasion of Mexico[edit]
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",
[53] and he prepared to ask Congress for a declaration of war. Meanwhile, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande 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,
[54] 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.
[55]
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.
Military action[edit]
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[edit]
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.
[56] It may have cost the United States $100 million.
[57]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.
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 $2.74 billion in present-day terms.
[58] Cuba was close to the United States and had slavery, so the idea appealed to Southerners but was unwelcome in the North. However, Spain was still making huge profits in Cuba (notably in sugar, molasses, rum, and tobacco), and thus the Spanish government rejected Saunders' overtures.
[59]
Department of the Interior[edit]
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. Polk had misgivings about the federal government usurping power over public lands from the states; however, the delivery of the legislation on his last full day in office gave him no time to find constitutional grounds for a veto, or to draft a sufficient veto message, so Polk signed the bill.
[60]
Administration and cabinet[edit]
Judicial appointments[edit]
Supreme Court[edit]
Other judicial appointments[edit]
Congress[edit]
- 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)
- 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[edit]
Post-presidency[edit]
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 after leaving the White House.
[62] He died of cholera at his new home,
[63] 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."
[64] 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, who died on January 11, 1852.
[65][66] In 1893, the bodies of President and Mrs. Polk were exhumed and relocated to their current resting place on the grounds of the
Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville. Polk Place was demolished in 1900.
Reputation[edit]
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.
[67]
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).
[68]
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."
[69] President
Harry S. Truman summarized this view by saying that Polk was "a great president. Said what he intended to do and did it."
[70]
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."
[71]
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."
[72] Whig politicians, including
Abraham Lincoln and
John Quincy Adams, contended that the
Texas Annexationand the
Mexican Cession enhanced the
pro-slavery factions of the United States.
[73] 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.
[74]
Humorously,
Sam Houston is said to have observed that Polk was "a victim of the use of water as a beverage".
[75]
