Happy Birthday James K. Polk
November 2nd is the birthday of two of my favorite Presidents. One is James K. Polk, the 11th President of the United States, and probably the most effective one term president. Polk was born on November 2, 1795 (228 years ago today*).
James Knox Polk was born in a farmhouse (possibly a log cabin) in what is now Pineville, North Carolina in Mecklenburg County, just outside of Charlotte. His father was Samuel Polk, a slaveholder, successful farmer and surveyor. 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. Jane remained a devout Presbyterian her entire life, while Samuel rejected Presbyterianism. When the parents took James to church to be baptized, Samuel refused to declare his belief in Christianity, and the minister refused to baptize baby James.
In 1803, most of Polk's relatives moved to the Duck River area in what is now Maury County, Middle Tennessee. Polk's family followed in 1806. The family grew prosperous, and Samuel Polk did well in land speculation. He also became a county judge. In 1812 James was taken to see Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky, who operated on the 17 year old future president to remove urinary stones. James Polk was awake during the operation with nothing but brandy available for anesthetic. While the surgery was successful, speculation is that it may have left Polk sterile.
In January 1816, Polk was admitted into the University of North Carolina. He graduated with honors in May 1818. After graduation, James Polk traveled to Nashville to study law under the famous Nashville trial attorney Felix Grundy. On September 20, 1819, Polk was elected clerk for the Tennessee State Senate and was reelected in 1821. Polk was admitted to the bar in June 1820 and his first case was to defend his father against a public fighting charge. Polk's practice was a successful one.
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. Polk's oratory earned him the nickname "Napoleon of the Stump." In 1823 Polk was elected to the Tennessee state legislature in 1823. He added his support to those who also supported Andrew Jackson for President.
Polk courted Sarah Childress, and they married on January 1, 1824 in Murfreesboro. Polk was then 28, and Sarah was 20 years old. Some say that Andrew Jackson had a hand in the match-making. The Polks had no children, likely because of the crude operation he endured to remove the stones from his urinary tract. 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.
In 1825, Polk ran for the United States House of Representatives for the Tennessee's 6th congressional district. He won the election and took his seat in Congress. 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. In 1827 Polk was reelected to Congress. In 1828, when Andrew Jackson ran for President and won, Polk was one of Jackson's biggest supporters. Polk continued to be reelected in the House. In June 1834, 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. The two major issues during Polk's time as speaker were slavery and the economy. As speaker, Polk issued the gag rule on petitions from abolitionists. Polk is the only president to have served as Speaker of the House.
Polk left Congress in 1839, Polk to run for Governor of Tennessee. He defeated the incumbent Whig in a close election. He lost his bid for reelection to James C. Jones, in 1841, by 3,243 votes. He challenged Jones in 1843, but was defeated again, this time by a slightly greater margin of 3,833 votes.
In 1844, Polk 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. 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. 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." Polk promised to serve only one term if elected, hoping that his rival Democrats would unite behind him with the knowledge that another candidate would be chosen in four years.
Polk's Whig opponent in the 1844 presidential election was Henry Clay of Kentucky. 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 issue related to westward expansion into the Oregon Country, then under the joint occupation of the United States and the United Kingdom. The Democrats had championed the cause of expansion, while 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. 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. Polk won 15 states, while Clay won 11.
When he took office on March 4, 1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest man at the time to assume the presidency. According to historian James Bancroft (but disputed by others), Polk set four goals for his administration:
1. Reestablish the Independent Treasury System.
2. Reduce tariffs.
3. Acquire some or all of Oregon Country.
4. Acquire California and New Mexico from Mexico.
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 called "Young Hickory", an allusion to his mentor Andrew Jackson ("old Hickory").
In 1846, Congress approved the Walker Tariff which represented a substantial reduction of the high Whig-backed Tariff of 1842. Also 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. 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.
During his presidency, many abolitionists harshly criticized Polk as an instrument of the "Slave Power". Polk argued 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. Polk was a slaveholder for his entire life.
Polk strongly supported expansion. He supported the annexation of Texas and also wanted to acquire the Oregon Country (present-day Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia) as well. Polk put heavy pressure on Britain to resolve the Oregon boundary dispute. 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). Polk 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. The treaty was approved by the Senate. By settling for the 49th parallel, Polk angered many midwestern Democrats. 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.
After the Texas annexation, Polk turned his attention to California, hoping to acquire the territory from Mexico before any European nation did. In 1845, he sent diplomat John Slidell to Mexico to purchase California and New Mexico for $24-30 million. The Mexicans refused to receive Slidell. 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. Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and briefly occupied Matamoros. When Polk received word that Mexican forces had crossed the Rio Grande area and killed eleven American soldiers. Polk, in a message to Congress on May 11, 1846, 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, but Congress overwhelmingly approved the declaration of war. In the House, antislavery Whigs led by John Quincy Adams voted against the war.
By the summer of 1846, American forces under General Stephen W. Kearny captured New Mexico. Captain John C. Frémont led settlers in northern California to overthrow the Mexican garrison in Sonoma. 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 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. Polk sent diplomat Nicholas Trist to negotiate with the Mexicans. Trist successfully negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which Polk agreed to ratify. The treaty added 1.2 million square miles of territory to the United States. Mexico's size was cut in half, 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 20,000 American lives and over 50,000 Mexican ones.
In the 1848 election, however, the Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, a war hero. The strain of managing the war effort caused a decline in Polk's health toward the end of his presidency. Polk left on March 4, 1849, appearing quite exhausted. 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. Polk 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 have been reported to be: "I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you," referring to First Lady Sarah Polk. 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.
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. In the fall of 2014, when I was in Nashville, I paid them a visit.
James Knox Polk was born in a farmhouse (possibly a log cabin) in what is now Pineville, North Carolina in Mecklenburg County, just outside of Charlotte. His father was Samuel Polk, a slaveholder, successful farmer and surveyor. 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. Jane remained a devout Presbyterian her entire life, while Samuel rejected Presbyterianism. When the parents took James to church to be baptized, Samuel refused to declare his belief in Christianity, and the minister refused to baptize baby James.
In 1803, most of Polk's relatives moved to the Duck River area in what is now Maury County, Middle Tennessee. Polk's family followed in 1806. The family grew prosperous, and Samuel Polk did well in land speculation. He also became a county judge. In 1812 James was taken to see Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky, who operated on the 17 year old future president to remove urinary stones. James Polk was awake during the operation with nothing but brandy available for anesthetic. While the surgery was successful, speculation is that it may have left Polk sterile.
In January 1816, Polk was admitted into the University of North Carolina. He graduated with honors in May 1818. After graduation, James Polk traveled to Nashville to study law under the famous Nashville trial attorney Felix Grundy. On September 20, 1819, Polk was elected clerk for the Tennessee State Senate and was reelected in 1821. Polk was admitted to the bar in June 1820 and his first case was to defend his father against a public fighting charge. Polk's practice was a successful one.
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. Polk's oratory earned him the nickname "Napoleon of the Stump." In 1823 Polk was elected to the Tennessee state legislature in 1823. He added his support to those who also supported Andrew Jackson for President.
Polk courted Sarah Childress, and they married on January 1, 1824 in Murfreesboro. Polk was then 28, and Sarah was 20 years old. Some say that Andrew Jackson had a hand in the match-making. The Polks had no children, likely because of the crude operation he endured to remove the stones from his urinary tract. 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.
In 1825, Polk ran for the United States House of Representatives for the Tennessee's 6th congressional district. He won the election and took his seat in Congress. 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. In 1827 Polk was reelected to Congress. In 1828, when Andrew Jackson ran for President and won, Polk was one of Jackson's biggest supporters. Polk continued to be reelected in the House. In June 1834, 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. The two major issues during Polk's time as speaker were slavery and the economy. As speaker, Polk issued the gag rule on petitions from abolitionists. Polk is the only president to have served as Speaker of the House.
Polk left Congress in 1839, Polk to run for Governor of Tennessee. He defeated the incumbent Whig in a close election. He lost his bid for reelection to James C. Jones, in 1841, by 3,243 votes. He challenged Jones in 1843, but was defeated again, this time by a slightly greater margin of 3,833 votes.
In 1844, Polk 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. 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. 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." Polk promised to serve only one term if elected, hoping that his rival Democrats would unite behind him with the knowledge that another candidate would be chosen in four years.
Polk's Whig opponent in the 1844 presidential election was Henry Clay of Kentucky. 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 issue related to westward expansion into the Oregon Country, then under the joint occupation of the United States and the United Kingdom. The Democrats had championed the cause of expansion, while 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. 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. Polk won 15 states, while Clay won 11.
When he took office on March 4, 1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest man at the time to assume the presidency. According to historian James Bancroft (but disputed by others), Polk set four goals for his administration:
1. Reestablish the Independent Treasury System.
2. Reduce tariffs.
3. Acquire some or all of Oregon Country.
4. Acquire California and New Mexico from Mexico.
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 called "Young Hickory", an allusion to his mentor Andrew Jackson ("old Hickory").
In 1846, Congress approved the Walker Tariff which represented a substantial reduction of the high Whig-backed Tariff of 1842. Also 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. 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.
During his presidency, many abolitionists harshly criticized Polk as an instrument of the "Slave Power". Polk argued 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. Polk was a slaveholder for his entire life.
Polk strongly supported expansion. He supported the annexation of Texas and also wanted to acquire the Oregon Country (present-day Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia) as well. Polk put heavy pressure on Britain to resolve the Oregon boundary dispute. 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). Polk 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. The treaty was approved by the Senate. By settling for the 49th parallel, Polk angered many midwestern Democrats. 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.
After the Texas annexation, Polk turned his attention to California, hoping to acquire the territory from Mexico before any European nation did. In 1845, he sent diplomat John Slidell to Mexico to purchase California and New Mexico for $24-30 million. The Mexicans refused to receive Slidell. 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. Taylor crossed the Rio Grande and briefly occupied Matamoros. When Polk received word that Mexican forces had crossed the Rio Grande area and killed eleven American soldiers. Polk, in a message to Congress on May 11, 1846, 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, but Congress overwhelmingly approved the declaration of war. In the House, antislavery Whigs led by John Quincy Adams voted against the war.
By the summer of 1846, American forces under General Stephen W. Kearny captured New Mexico. Captain John C. Frémont led settlers in northern California to overthrow the Mexican garrison in Sonoma. 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 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. Polk sent diplomat Nicholas Trist to negotiate with the Mexicans. Trist successfully negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which Polk agreed to ratify. The treaty added 1.2 million square miles of territory to the United States. Mexico's size was cut in half, 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 20,000 American lives and over 50,000 Mexican ones.
In the 1848 election, however, the Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, a war hero. The strain of managing the war effort caused a decline in Polk's health toward the end of his presidency. Polk left on March 4, 1849, appearing quite exhausted. 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. Polk 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 have been reported to be: "I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you," referring to First Lady Sarah Polk. 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.
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. In the fall of 2014, when I was in Nashville, I paid them a visit.