Domestic shipping $4 refers to Serbia only.***
James Knox Polk (November 2,
1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th President of the United States (1845–1849).
Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and
represented the state of Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as Speaker of the
House (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841). Polk was the surprise
("dark horse") candidate for president in 1844, defeating Henry Clay
of the rival Whig Party by promising to annex Texas. Polk was a leader of Jacksonian
Democracy during the Second Party System.
Polk was the last strong pre-Civil
War president and the first president whose photographs while in office still
survive. Polk is noted for his foreign policy successes. He threatened war with
Britain then backed away and split the ownership of the Oregon region (the Pacific
Northwest) with Britain. When Mexico rejected American annexation of Texas,
Polk led the nation to a sweeping victory in the Mexican–American War, followed
by purchase of California, Arizona, and New Mexico. He secured passage of the Walker
tariff of 1846, which had low rates that pleased his native South. He
established a treasury system that lasted until 1913.
Polk oversaw the opening of the U.S.
Naval Academy and the Smithsonian Institution, the groundbreaking for the Washington
Monument, and the issuance of the first postage stamps in the United States.
He promised to serve only one term
and did not run for reelection. He died of cholera three months after his term
ended.
Scholars have ranked him favorably
on the list of greatest presidents for his ability to set an agenda and achieve
all of it. Polk has been called the "least known consequential
president" of the United States.
Early life
James Knox Polk, the first of ten
children, was born in a farmhouse (possibly a "log" cabin) in what is
now Pineville, North Carolina in Mecklenburg County on November 2, 1795, just
outside of Charlotte. 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 Scottish religious reformer John Knox. She
named her firstborn after her father James Knox. 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, Ezekial 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. In 1803, the majority 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. The family grew prosperous, with Samuel Polk turning to land
speculation and becoming a county judge.
Polk was home schooled His health
was problematic and in 1812 his pain became so unbearable that he was taken to
Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Kentucky, who conducted an operation to
remove urinary stones. The operation was conducted while Polk was awake, with
nothing but brandy then available for anesthetic, but it was successful. The
surgery may have left Polk sterile, as he did not sire any children.
When Polk recovered, his father
offered to bring him into the mercantile business, but Polk refused. 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. At Murfreesboro, Polk was
regarded as 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
eighty students: Sam Polk was their land agent for Tennessee, and his cousin,
William Polk, was a trustee. While there, Polk joined the Dialectic Society, in
which 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.
After graduation, Polk traveled to Nashville
to study law under renowned Nashville trial attorney Felix Grundy. Grundy
became Polk's first mentor. On September 20, 1819, Polk was elected to be the
clerk for the Tennessee State Senate with Grundy's endorsement. Polk was
reelected as clerk in 1821 without opposition, and would continue to serve
until 1822. Polk was admitted to the bar in June 1820 and his first case was to
defend his father against a public fighting charge, a case which he was able to
get his father's release for a fine of one dollar. Polk's practice
was successful as there were many cases regarding the settlement of debts following
the Panic of 1819.
Early political career
In 1821 Polk joined the local
militia and rose to the rank of Captain, and was soon promoted to Colonel.
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. In October
1823 Polk voted for Andrew Jackson to become the next United States Senator
from Tennessee. Jackson won and from then on Polk was a firm supporter of
Jackson
Polk courted Sarah Childress, and
they married on January 1, 1824. Polk was then 28, and Sarah was 20
years old. Through their marriage they had no children. They were married until
his death in 1849. During Polk's political career, Sarah was said to assist her
husband with his speeches, give him advice on policy matters and was always
active in his campaigns. An old story told that Andrew Jackson had encouraged
their romance when they began to court.
In 1824, Jackson ran for President
but was defeated. 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 obtained 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 therefore was dropped from the ballot, supported Adams.
Clay's support proved to be the deciding factor in the House and Adams was
elected President. Adams then offered Clay a position in the Cabinet as Secretary
of State.
In 1825, Polk ran for the United
States House of Representatives for the Tennessee's 6th congressional district.
Polk vigorously campaigned in the district. Polk was so active that Sarah began
to worry about his health. During the campaign, Polk's opponents said that at
the age of 29 Polk was too young for a spot in the House. However, Polk won the
election and took his seat in Congress. When Polk arrived in Washington D.C he
roomed in a boarding house with some other Tennessee representatives, including
Benjamin Burch. 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. 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. 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. 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.
Speaker
of the House
In June 1834, Speaker of the House Andrew
Stevenson resigned, leaving the spot for speaker open. 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.
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. The two major issues
during Polk's speakership were slavery and the economy, following the Panic of
1837. Van Buren and Polk faced pressure to rescind the Specie Circular, an act
that had been passed by Jackson, in an attempt to help 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.
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 at the time. Polk also issued the gag rule
on petitions from abolitionists.
Polk has the distinction as being
the only President that had served in the capacity as Speaker of the House.
Governor
of Tennessee
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. 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.
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. In the presidential election of 1840, Van Buren was overwhelmingly
defeated by a popular Whig, William Henry Harrison. Polk received one electoral
vote from Tennessee for Vice President in the election. Polk lost his own
reelection bid to a Whig, James C. Jones, in 1841, by 3,243 votes. 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.
Election of 1844
Polk initially 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, 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. 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. After six more ballots, when it became clear that Van Buren would
not win the required majority, Polk was put forth as a "dark horse"
candidate. The eighth ballot was also indecisive, but on the ninth, the
convention unanimously nominated Polk, supported by Jackson.
Before the convention, Jackson told
Polk that he was his favorite for the nomination of the Democratic Party. Even
with this support, Polk still instructed his managers at the convention to
support Van Buren, but only if it was certain that Van Buren had a chance to 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 for Polk's
support of westward expansion.
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.
Polk's Whig opponent in the 1844
presidential election was Henry Clay of Kentucky. (Incumbent Whig President John
Tyler—a former Democrat—had become estranged from the Whigs and was not
nominated for a second term.) The question of 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 campaign issue, also
related to westward expansion, involved the Oregon Country, then under the
joint occupation of the United States and Great Britain. 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; see Oregon boundary dispute.) Polk's consistent support for
westward expansion—what Democrats would later call "Manifest Destiny"—likely
played an important role in his victory, as opponent Henry 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 his home state of Tennessee, but he won the
crucial state of New York (with the support of many Van Buren supporters, since
it was his home state), where Clay lost supporters to the third-party candidate
James G. Birney of the Liberty Party, who was antislavery. Also contributing to
Polk's victory was the support of new immigrant voters, who were angered at 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.
Polk is the only Speaker of the
House of Representatives to be elected President of the United States.
Presidency (1845–1849)
When he took office on March 4,
1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest man at the time to assume the
presidency. According to a story told decades later by George Bancroft, Polk
set four clearly defined goals for his administration:
- The
reestablishment of the Independent Treasury System.
- The
reduction of tariffs.
- Acquisition
of some or all the Oregon Country.
- The acquisition
of 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 known as "Young Hickory", an allusion to his mentor Andrew
Jackson, and "Napoleon of the Stump" for his speaking skills.
Fiscal
policy
In 1846, Congress approved the Walker
Tariff (named after Robert J. Walker, the Secretary of the Treasury), which
represented a substantial reduction of the high Whig-backed Tariff of 1842. The
new law abandoned ad valorem tariffs; instead, rates were made
independent of the monetary value of the product. Polk's actions were popular
in the South and West; however, they earned him the enmity of many protectionists
in Pennsylvania.
In 1846, Polk approved a law
restoring the Independent Treasury System, under which government funds were
held in the Treasury rather than in banks or other financial institutions. This
established independent treasury deposit offices, separate from private or
state banks, to receive all government funds.
During his presidency, many
abolitionists harshly criticized him as an instrument of the "Slave Power",
and claimed that the expansion of slavery lay behind his support for the
annexation of Texas and later war with Mexico.[40]
Polk stated in his diary that he believed slavery could not exist in the
territories won from Mexico,[41]
but refused to endorse the Wilmot Proviso that would forbid it there. Polk
argued instead 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. William Dusinberre has
argued that Polk's diary, which he kept during his presidency, was written for
later publication, and does not represent Polk's real policy.
Polk was a slaveholder for his
entire life. His father, Alabaster Polk, had left Polk more than 8,000 acres
(32 km²) of land, and divided about 53 slaves to his widow and children
after Samuel 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.[42]
Foreign
policy
Polk was committed to 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
Main
article: Oregon boundary dispute
The
Oregon
Territory, established by the Oregon Treaty
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 Great Britain 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 prepared to quietly 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). "54-40 or fight!" now became a
popular rallying cry among Democrats[43]
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 whole of
the 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 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.
Texas
Main
article: Texas Annexation
President Tyler despised Polk, both
as a person and politician. 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, Polk declared
in his inaugural address, just days after the resolution passed Congress, that
the decision of annexation belonged exclusively to Texas and the United States.
Mexican-American
War
Main
article: Mexican–American War
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",[44]
and he prepared to ask Congress for a declaration of war. Meanwhile Taylor
crossed the Rio Grande River 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 in Congress, such as Abraham
Lincoln, challenged Polk's version of events[45],
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.[46]
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
Polk selected the top generals and
set the overall 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
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 the
annexation of the whole of Mexico. 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 the sum of $15 million. The war claimed fewer than 20,000
American lives but over 50,000 Mexican ones.[47]
It may have cost the United States $100 million.[48]
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.
Cuba
In the summer of 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 of money at the time for
one territory, equivalent to $2.53 billion in present day terms.[49]
Cuba was close to the United States and had slavery, so the idea appealed to
Southerners but was unwelcome in the North. But Spain was still making huge
profits in Cuba (notably in sugar, molasses, rum, and tobacco), and the Spanish
government rejected Saunders' overtures.[50]
Department
of the Interior
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.
Administration
and cabinet
Judicial
appointments
Main
article: List of
federal judges appointed by James K. Polk
Supreme
Court
Polk appointed the following
Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court:
|
Justice
|
Position
|
Began
active
service
|
Ended
active
service
|
|
Robert Cooper Grier
|
Seat
1
|
18460804August 4, 1846
|
18700131January 31, 1870
|
|
Levi
Woodbury
|
Seat
2
|
18450920September 20, 1845[51]
|
18510904September 4, 1851
|
Woodbury was from New Hampshire,
and Grier from Pennsylvania. Polk also nominated George W. Woodward of Pennsylvania in 1846, but
the nomination was rejected by the United States Senate.
Other
courts
Polk was able to appoint eight
other federal judges, one to the United States
Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, and seven to various United States district courts.
Congress
29th Congress
(March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1847)
- 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)
30th Congress
(March 4, 1847 – March 4, 1849)
- 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
Post-presidency
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.[52]
He died at his new home, Polk Place, in Nashville, Tennessee, at 3:15 p.m. on June
15, 1849, three months after leaving office. He was buried on the grounds of
Polk Place. Polk's devotion to his wife is illustrated by his last words:
"I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you."[53]
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.[54]
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. The tomb was moved to this location in 1893 after his home at Polk Place
was demolished.
Reputation
See
also: Mexican-American War#Opposition to the war
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.[55]
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).[56]
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 prior
to 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."[57]
President Harry S. Truman summarized this view by saying
that Polk was "a great president. Said what he intended to do and did
it."[58]
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.”[59]
Nevertheless, the Polk's aggressive
expansionism has been criticized on ethical grounds. In a sentence, he believed
in "Manifest Destiny" to a much greater extent
than most. In reference to 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."[60]
Whig politicians, including David Wilmot, Abraham
Lincoln and John Quincy Adams contended that the Texas
Annexation and the Mexican
Cession enhanced the pro-slavery
factions of the United States.[61]
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.[62]
See also
George McDuffie (August 10,
1790 – March 11, 1851) was the 55th Governor of South Carolina and a member of
the United States Senate.
Born of modest means in Columbia County, Georgia, McDuffie's
extraordinary intellect was noticed while clerking at a store in Augusta,
Georgia. The Calhoun family sponsored his education at Moses
Waddel's famous Willington Academy, where he established an
outstanding reputation. Graduating from South Carolina College in 1813, he was
admitted to the bar in 1814, and went into partnership with Eldred Simkins at Edgefield. Rising rapidly, he served in
the South Carolina General Assembly
in 1818–1821, and in the United States House of
Representatives in 1821–1834. In 1834 he became a Major General of
the South Carolina Militia.
In 1821 he published a pamphlet in
which strict states' rights were strongly denounced; yet in 1832 he became one
of the greater nullificationists. The change seems to have
been gradual, and to have been determined in part by the influence of John C.
Calhoun. When, after 1824, the old Democratic-Republican party split into
factions, he followed Andrew Jackson and Martin Van
Buren in opposing the Panama
Congress and the policy of making Federal appropriations for
internal improvements. He did not hesitate, however, to differ from Jackson on
the two chief issues of his administration: the Bank and nullification.
In 1832 he was a prominent member
of the South Carolina Nullification Convention,
and drafted its address to the people of the United States. He served as
governor in 1834–1836, during which time he helped to reorganize South Carolina College. From January 1843
until January 1846 he was a member of the United States Senate. The leading
Democratic measures of those years all received his hearty support. McDuffie,
like Calhoun, became an eloquent champion of state sovereignty; but while
Calhoun emphasized state action as the only means of redressing a grievance,
McDuffie paid more attention to the grievance itself. Influenced in large
measure by Thomas Cooper, he made it his special work
to convince the people of the South that the downfall of protection was
essential to their material progress. In opposing the 1828 Tariff of Abominations he used the
illustration that forty bales of every one hundred went to pay tariffs and
therefore Northern interests. His argument that it is the producer who really
pays the duty of imports has been called the economic basis of nullification.
In 1822, mirroring the political
confrontation between Calhoun of South Carolina and William H. Crawford of Georgia, McDuffie fought
a series of duels
with Colonel William Cumming. He suffered serious wounds that ultimately led to
his death and were said by O'Neall to "change the whole character of his
disposition... all who knew him afterwards are obliged to admit his great
irritability". O'Neall went on to say that "McDuffie was in youth,
manhood and old age, a remarkable man for his taciturnity and reserve. He
literally seemed to commune with himself; yet there were occasions, when he met
with old friends and companions, in which he seemed to enjoy life with as much
zest as any man." Perley Poore stated that McDuffie was a "spare,
grim-looking man, who was an admirer of Milton, and who was never known to jest
or smile." In a description by Sparks, "His temperament was nervous
and ardent, and his feelings strong. His manner when speaking was nervous and
impassioned, and at times fiercely vehement, and again persuasive and tenderly
pathetic, and in every mood he was deeply eloquent." Sparks recounts
McDuffie's triumph on first coming to the House, driving the madcap John Randolph from the floor with
"vituperation witheringly pungent".
George McDuffie died at his estate
"Cherry Hill" in Sumter County, South Carolina, on March
11, 1851. McDuffie County, Georgia is named after
him.
