Presidential Profile: James K Polk (1795-1849): 11th POTUS, America’s first dark horse and delivering the promise of Manifest Destiny
.-James Knox Polk was born November 2, 1795 in Pineville, North Carolina, in the southwestern part of the state, born into a long established Scots-Irish family, the ethnic makeup of much of the frontier of the Carolinas during the 18th century.
-Polk was the first of 10 children born to Samuel Polk and Jane Knox. Born into the Presbyterian faith of the Scots-Irish community. His mother was devout whereas his father was known to be a deist and remained somewhat skeptical of religion. His mother however was the primary influence of Polk’s religious upbringing.
-Polk’s father was a farmer, surveyor and slave owner. Not especially wealthy but well off and socially connected enough to give his son some advantages. Polk’s grandfather moved to Tennessee and many branches of the family, including Samuel Polk’s in 1806. This lead to the Polk family becoming the dominant political family in Maury County, TN. Polk’s father became the county judge. A younger Andrew Jackson who had been a judge and Congressman visited and was friendly with the Polks, Jackson was later to serve as a role model, influence and patron of Polk.
-Polk was never in robust health during his life, made all the rougher by his frontier upbringing. Of particular note and impact was the development of severe pain resulting from urinary stones. An operation without any pain killer save for some brandy was conducted. It removed the stones but is commonly believe to Polk sterile as a result. No children would ever be born to him.
-Polk like much of the Scots-Irish community valued education and despite his father’s promises for a good job heading a company, Polk sought to make a name for himself. He attended Zion Church Academy, Bradley Academy and finally University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He became well versed in oratory and debate clubs, notably giving a speech critical of Alexander Hamilton and Federalists, citing them as examples of Americans seeking to undermine the country’s republican government with monarchical features. Polk and his family were very much what became known as states rights advocates and supporters of Thomas Jefferson.
-Upon graduation, Polk studied law, apprenticing an attorney which was more the norm in the 19th century than attending law school, especially in the frontier and rural districts of America. Later, his first foray into elected office occurred when in 1819 and 1821 he was elected and reelected the clerk of Tennessee’s State Senate. Polk became a successful lawyer representing clients during the Panic of 1819 and its fallout in the following years. He simultaneously practiced law and politics.
-Polk campaigned in 1822 for Tennessee’s House of Representatives, winning after his oratory won over many and he campaigned vigorously.
-The same year he ran for office he courted and became engaged to Sarah Childress. From a well to do family in TN, she was well educated, unusual for a woman at the time in their setting. She was also charming and diplomatic in ways that balanced out Polk’s more reserved nature. Polk was never especially a people person despite wanting to be in politics. His personality was devoid of great charisma and personal warmth but he was underestimated and appreciated for his passionate oratory and loyal focus which became his great political gifts. A sense of determination and thrifty practicality about achieving his goals. Sarah in turn would provide the warmth and charm in her own company and was a great and loyal supporter of her husband, they remained married for the rest of his life, as mentioned before no children were born to them.
-During the 1823 election, the TN House of Representatives served as the state electors for state senators as was common practice in the country at the time, state legislatures not the people directly elected US Senators. Polk through his support for Andrew Jackson which helped cement a political alliance that was to last decades, this move raised Jackson’s political experience in push for President.
-Indeed in the 1824 Presidential election, Polk also stumped for Jackson. Though Jackson won the popular vote and the plurality of a electors in the Presidential electoral college, he did not secure the majority needed for the election. The election controversially was decided by the US House of Representatives. Speaker of the House, Henry Clay was an opponent of Andrew Jackson and a candidate himself. In what Jackson and his supporters declared a “corrupt bargain” Clay withdrew his candidacy and supposedly made a deal with rival John Quincy Adams, experienced diplomat, former Secretary of State and son of former US President John Adams. The terms of the supposed deal was that Clay withdrew his candidacy, convince the House that the election go for Adams and in turn Clay would become Adams’ Secretary of State, widely seen as the gateway to a future Presidency. Polk like other Jackson supporters subscribed to this theory after Adams’s election.
-While Jackson didn’t win the Presidency, Polk won the 1824 congressional seat for the 6th District of Tennessee, becoming a member of the US House of Representatives. He became closer to Jackson in the ensuing years, becoming a loyal disciple. Polk denounced the electoral college and advocated for a policy of direct vote, this was in line with Jacksonian thinking and pushing for the rights of the common man. Undoubtedly the experience of the 1824 election influenced Polk’s thinking, he also repeatedly voted against the Adams administration on many policy suggestions.
-Polk was reelected in 1827 and served as a political advisor to the Jackson campaign for the Presidency in 1828 which Jackson handily won, in part to four years of networking and developing the newly coined Democratic Party which saw Andrew Jackson as its symbolic leader and founder. Polk became a member of the emerging party and ally of the new President in Congress.
-Polk most ardently Jackson’s most important domestic issue, the ending of the charter of the Second National Bank. Which Jackson and many Democrats came to see as having a corrupting and unfair influence and far too centralized influence on the country. The bank’s charter was renewed in Congress but vetoed by Jackson and the veto could not gather enough votes for an override. Polk had been in lock step opposed to it since the start. Polk also opposed “internal improvements” for infrastructure reform. Those opposed to Jackson and his Democratic party became known as Whigs which would provide the major opposition to Democrats for the next two decades in the lead up to the Civil War, only to be replaced by the Republican Party.
-Polk was continually reelected to Congress and later became Chair of Ways and Means Committee in 1833. 1834 saw him with Jackson’s support go for the Speaker of the House position, he was defeated by John Bell but in 1835 following a new session of Congress, Jackson called in more political favors to help his disciple, Polk became the new Speaker of the House. His patronage from “Old Hickory” Andrew Jackson, along with their settlement in Tennessee, similar political outlook and shared Scots-Irish heritage lead to a firm friendship of common values and mentorship. Polk himself due to his closeness with Jackson was named “Young Hickory.”
-Following the 1836 election, Polk supported the new President, Jackson’s former Vice President, New Yorker Martin Van Buren, who like Polk had been a keen supporter of Jackson’s policies and architect of the political networking that created the Democratic Party.
-Polk as Speaker of the House, used the gag rule, no discussion or taking citizen petitions regarding the issue of slavery was taken up. Former President, John Quincy Adams was in his own right now elected to Congress in Massachusetts and himself being abolitionist argued against Polk. The two engaged in publicized shouting matches that accomplished nothing. Despite the shouting matches with Adams, Polk was well versed on House rules and used them effectively overall. He also never took personal insults to the point where he challenged others due a duel, something not unheard of with previous Speakers of the House.
-Following another reelection in 1837 and close retainment of the Speakership the Panic of 1837 was largely blamed on Martin Van Buren and his supporters in Congress, Polk foresaw his days in the halls of Congress as over. He also sought Presidential ambitions at that time so in 1839 he decided to return to state level politics, fighting to reclaim the governorship of Tennessee for Democrats which the party lost in 1835. Polk won by some 3,000 votes.
-The Governor of Tennessee was comparatively weak but the notion of executive and not solely legislative experience was to be useful for his Presidential ambitions. Polk had hoped to be named Van Buren’s running mate in 1840, but things did not pan out in Polk’s favor or Van Buren’s for that matter, his entire term was dominated combating the economic depression of the Panic of 1837 and he was defeated as President in 1840 by William Henry Harrison.
-Polk as governor accomplished little, not surprising given the position’s weak powers. He did manage to secure replacements for Whig senators to Congress but beyond that little was accomplished. He was defeated in 1841 by 3,000 votes by James Jones. Polk returned to his law practice but sought reelection 1843, again Jones defeated Polk by 3,000 votes. These defeats would be the only defeats at the polls, Polk would have have in his 30 year career. Now he was unsure of his political future following back to back defeats and with little accomplishment at the state level. With his heights as Speaker of the House had name recognition but he seemed a long way from those days only a few years prior.
-1840-1844 were a politically divided time for both the Democrats and the Whigs, President Harrison died after only 30 days in office and he was replaced by Vice President John Tyler, the first instance in US history of such a succession. Tyler was effectively at odds with own party and the opposition meaning his alienation of Congress, where long term Congressman and Senator Henry Clay was his primary opposition eroded his chances of an election in his own right since he had no party to call home. Clay became the Whig nominee in 1844. Meanwhile Van Buren had hoped to regain the Presidency with nomination by the Democrats and Polk wanted to be his Vice President having been forced to withdraw his name in 1840.
-The major issue at hand was the impending annexation of Texas. 1836 saw Texan rebels of mostly Anglo-American extraction successfully revolt against Mexico of which it had long been a province. Texas became the independent Republic of Texas and conducted its own foreign policy, the Mexican view of independence at this point was largely a de-facto acceptance of events in 1836 but they never truly accepted it as a lasting matter, only a temporary state of affairs. The US annexation of Texas by outgoing President John Tyler was not accepted by Mexico. The issue for the Democrats was a sectional divide over slavery and its expansion, Northern Democrats were under pressure in free states to oppose slavery, while Southern Democrats tended to favor slavery’s preservation and expansion and many saw Texas as the next slave state in the Union. Additionally there was a dispute with Great Britain over the boundary between Oregon Territory and Canada which was jointly occupied by American and British settlement. Van Buren, a Northerner suddenly found himself in a compromised position which may effect the outcome of election, dividing support amongst Democrats. He rejected recognition of Texan annexation and this cost his crucial southerner support meaning he would not be the nominee. A new one had to be found...
-Polk asserted very strongly that America had rights to Texas and Oregon and this appealed his southern and expansionist wings of his party. Along with Andrew Jackson’s support as still the elder statesman of the Democratic Party, support around Polk’s name began to pickup at the Democratic Convention, ultimately a man with little overall name recognition was nominated to become in effect, America’s first dark horse candidate for the Presidency. The southern wing had won out without northern support but to “balance” the ticket, George Dallas, former Pennsylvania Senator was named his Polk’s running mate.
-Polk’s orientation while it appealed to slavery said little of the issue itself, focusing more on the issue of expansion. A promise of the concept of the Manifest Destiny, the belief that the US would become a transcontinental power and settle lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast. In the 1844 election, Polk’s message struck a chord with many Americans that transcended the slave issue, at least somewhat, even though there were anti and pro-slavery factions determined to link expansion with the issue. Nevertheless, Polk was elected by a difference of some 30,000 votes in the popular vote and a majority of the electoral college (170 to Clay’s 105) which secured the election. Making him the 11th President of the United States. Though Polk lost both his birth state of North Carolina and state of residence, Tennessee. No winner of a Presidential election would his state of birth in history until the 2016 election when Donald Trump would when the election but lose his home state. Additionally, 1844 saw the only battle between two former Speakers of the House for the Presidency in both Polk and Clay.
--Polk was inaugurated on March 4, 1845. The day was marked by thunderstorms and it was the first inauguration reported by telegraph.
-Polk made a pledge to serve one term and one term only. His plan was to implement all his major objectives whether in foreign or domestic policy within that span of time. The annexation of Texas was announced prior to inauguration of Polk and statehood was completed by year’s end but its border with Mexico remained in dispute. Polk’s main objectives were to acquire California and New Mexico, settle the border dispute with Britain over Oregon Territory. Domestically he wanted to reduce tariffs and establish an independent treasury system avoiding a new national bank charter.
-Polk’s name, little known that it is is forever linked with the defining event of his Presidency, the Mexican-American War which started in 1846 due to the breakdown in negotiations with Mexico over American desire to gain California and New Mexico and its lack of Mexico recognizing Texan independence de jure. The Thornton Affair, a bloody border dispute in which Mexican troops supposedly fired upon American soldiers and spilled blood on American soil was the casus belli for the American declaration of war. The war divided opinion in American, many Americans volunteered for national pride and honor or the desire to partake in expansion of territory and possibly slavery and others for adventure. Mexico for its part was stubborn in its own pride in refusing to cede Texas despite an economy and population dwarfed by the US.
-What followed was a mismatched war from the start, California, New Mexico and Texas would all be secured. American naval superiority was evident from the start as was American artillery and overall tactical prowess. Army engineers, and officers, many future household names in the American Civil War on both sides earned their stripes in the Mexican-American War. Only, firm Mexican resistance and Americans succumbing to disease prolonged the war effort for two years. Until in late 1847 with Mexico City occupied at the county suffering defeat after defeat and government instability would Mexico agree to peace in early 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo resolved recognition of Texas as part of the US on Mexico’s part. Furthermore, the border was now the Rio Grande. America also gained all or part of the modern day states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. Later the Gadsen Purchase of 1853 would complete the modern border.
-Polk negotiated with Britain during the Oregon Boundary Dispute, not looking for but willing to engage in war. Polk used hawkish rhetoric hoping to avoid war out of concern of being caught in a two front war with Mexico and Britain. The modern Canadian and US borders were established peacefully between America and Britain signing the Oregon Treaty in 1846 as a result.
-Polk got his domestic agenda likewise accomplished with tariff reductions signing the Walker Tariff bill which modestly reduced tariff seeing an increase in trade and overall revenues. Furthermore, Polk signed the Independent Treasury Act getting approval in the House and upon personal appeal to a holdout Senator. This act set up a treasury of the federal government setting funds outside of a chartered bank, this system was in place until the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.
-Other accomplishments and occurrences during Polk’s tenure included the California gold rush starting, in his mind validating US expansionism. He also signed into law the establishment of the Department of Interior on his last full day in office. Three states were admitted to the Union during this time, Texas, Iowa and Wisconsin as the 28th, 29th & 30th states respectively.
-Polk avoided the 1848 election mostly, hoping for a Democratic victory. He kept his pledge not to seek a second term. However, the hero of the Mexican-American War, the hitherto apolitical Zachary Taylor became the Whig nominee. Polk disliked Taylor who had popular support, nevertheless Taylor won the election to become the 12th President largely due to his popularity as a war hero and divides along sectional lines with the Democratic Party as well as third party contributions from Van Buren running once more.
-Polk had he even ran and won a second term would have not lived long. his post-presidency was short lived. The demands of the Presidency took tolls on his already frail health. He started full of energy but the long hours devoted to overseeing a war effort his vigorous agenda left him sapped of energy. He and his wife performed a tour of the Deep South hoping to retire to Nashville TN. On the trip on a riverboat in the Mississippi he contracted cholera and by mid-June a renewed bout of cholera confined him to bed. He had been brought up Presbyterian but was baptized in the Methodist Church prior to his passing on June 15th, 1849 at age 53, only three months upon leaving the Presidency. His last words were said to be directed to his wife simply stating “I love you Sarah, for all eternity, I love you.”
-Polk’s most lasting legacy is undoubtedly his vast expansion and consolidation of American territory and its northern and southern borders through both war and diplomacy. On the other hand his victory in the Mexican-American War expanded the slavery debate in America and helped contribute to division along sectional lines. Polk himself was a slave owner but he considered the issue tertiary and sought to condemn both pro and anti-slavery factions which he saw as trying to manipulate territorial expansion for political gain. American nationalism and economic prosperity was his foremost concern He is little remembered overall in the American consciousness today but reassessments by historians essentially regard him as one of the more above average executives in Presidential history in terms of overall ranking. He was the last largely effective President prior to Lincoln and the Civil War. He was also the only one to achieve every single one of his major policy objectives and within the span of one term.
