James K. Polk
11th
President of the United States
U.S. Congressman 1825-39,
Speaker 1835-39, Gov. of Tennessee 1839-41. Last of the expansionist
Presidents 1845-49, his term saw the admission of Texas to the Union and the
creation of the territorial governments of Oregon, New Mexico and
California. He died from the exigencies of his presidential term shortly
after his term ended. Active Mason in Columbia Lodge No. 31 Tennessee,
RAM Captain of the Host, Lafayette Chapter No. 4, Colombia
Tennessee. EDSEL
Often referred to as the first
"dark horse" President, James K. Polk was the last of the
Jacksonians to sit in the White House, and the last strong President until the
Civil War.
He was born in Mecklenburg
County, North Carolina, in 1795. Studious and industrious, Polk was graduated
with honors in 1818 from the University of North Carolina. As a young lawyer
he entered politics, served in the Tennessee legislature, and became a friend
of Andrew Jackson. In the House of Representatives, Polk was a chief
lieutenant of Jackson in his Bank war. He served as Speaker between 1835 and
1839, leaving to become Governor of Tennessee. Until circumstances raised
Polk's ambitions, he was a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for
Vice President in 1844. Both Martin Van Buren, who had been expected to win
the Democratic nomination for President, and Henry Clay, who was to be the
Whig nominee, tried to take the expansionist issue out of the campaign by
declaring themselves opposed to the annexation of Texas. Polk, however,
publicly asserted that Texas should be "re-annexed" and all of
Oregon "re-occupied." The aged Jackson, correctly
sensing that the people favored expansion, urged the choice of a candidate
committed to the Nation's "Manifest Destiny." This view prevailed at
the Democratic Convention, where Polk was nominated on the ninth ballot.
"Who is James K. Polk?" Whigs jeered. Democrats replied Polk was the
candidate who stood for expansion. He linked the Texas issue, popular in the
South, with the Oregon question, attractive to the North. Polk also favored
acquiring California. Even before he could take office, Congress passed a
joint resolution offering annexation to Texas. In so doing they bequeathed
Polk the possibility of war with Mexico, which soon severed diplomatic
relations. In his stand on Oregon, the President seemed to be risking war with
Great Britain also. The 1844 Democratic platform claimed the entire Oregon
area, from the California boundary northward to a latitude of 54'40', the
southern boundary of Russian Alaska. Extremists proclaimed "Fifty-four
forty or fight," but Polk, aware of diplomatic realities, knew that no
course short of war was likely to get all of Oregon. Happily, neither he nor
the British wanted a war. He offered to settle by extending the Canadian
boundary, along the 49th parallel, from the Rockies to the Pacific. When the
British minister declined, Polk reasserted the American claim to the entire
area. Finally, the British settled for the 49th parallel, except for the
southern tip of Vancouver Island. The treaty was signed in 1846. Acquisition
of California proved far more difficult. Polk sent an envoy to offer Mexico up
to $20,000,000, plus settlement of damage claims owed to Americans, in return
for California and the New Mexico country. Since no Mexican leader could cede
half his country and still stay in power, Polk's envoy was not received. To
bring pressure, Polk sent Gen. Zachary Taylor to the disputed area on the Rio
Grande. To Mexican troops this was aggression, and they attacked Taylor's
forces. Congress declared war and, despite much Northern opposition, supported
the military operations. American forces won repeated victories and occupied
Mexico City. Finally, in 1848, Mexico ceded New Mexico and California in
return for $15,000,000 and American assumption of the damage claims. President
Polk added a vast area to the United States, but its acquisition precipitated
a bitter quarrel between the North and the South over expansion of
slavery. Polk, leaving office with his health undermined from hard work,
died in June 1849.
