The Diary of James K. Polk
Recently, a net friend from another online group in Yahoo joined this community and she too is a Polkaholic. She will correct me if I am wrong about this, but I believe that James K. Polk was the first President to keep a diary of his time in the White House. I know that Rutherford Hayes and Ronald Reagan also did, but Polk: The Diary of a President 1845-1849 really is an interesting and insightful read into the mind of a President.
In a time long before LiveGerbil or Blogger, Polk diarized about a variety of subjects such as the Mexican War and the acquisition of Oregon and California, but what I love most is how he talks about the various people he had to deal with such as members of his cabinet or congress. Polk was a micro-manager. He never took holidays and the job may have literally killed him. He had the shortest retirement of any President, dying 109 days after leaving office. Although his cause of death is listed as cholera, many believe that he left the Presidency so exhausted that his immune system was too weak to fight off much of anything.
I love how Polk speaks his mind and makes it clear what motives he perceives in the other players in his world. For example, a number of entries in the spring of 1846 make it clear that Polk didn't like General Winfield Scott. In his diary entry of May 21, 1846, he writes "I am satisfied that the administration will not be safe in intrusting the command of the army in the Mexican War to General Scott. His bitter hostility toward this administration is such that I could not trust him..." The following day, Polk wrote:
Friday, 22nd May, 1846 - I learned yesterday and today that General Scott, General Wool, and Adjutant-General Jones were using their influence with members of Congress to prevent passage of the bill now before the Senate authorizing the appointment of two additional major-generals and four brigadier-generals. Such conduct is highly censurable. These officers are all Whigs and violent partisans and not having the success of my administration at heart seem disposed to throw every obstacle in the way of my prosecuting the Mexican War successfully. An end must be put to this state of things.
Polk also describes his successor, General Zachary Taylor as "wholly incompetent for so large a command. He seems to have no mind or powers of combination." I wish I could put my finger on the places where he savages future President James Buchanan who was Polk's Secretary of State, basically calling him an old woman and a ditherer.
There is also some interesting comments in the diary about slavery and how whether any acquired territory will be open to the practice. Polk, himself a slaveholder, writes on January 5, 1847 "there is no probability that any territory will ever be acquired from Mexico in which slavery could ever exist. New Mexico and California is all that can ever probably be acquired by treaty, and indeed all that I think it important to acquire. In these provinces slavery would probably never exist, and therefore the question would never arise."
Polk is generally unguarded about what he writes, and probably never worried about who might subsequently read his diary or what they might think of him. In an entry written on September 23rd, 1848 he also gives us some insight into his workaholism. He writes:
Indeed I have become so familiar with the workings and duties of the government, not only upon general principles, but in most of its minute details, that I find little difficulty in doing this. I have made myself acquainted with the duties of the subordinate officers, and have probably given more attention to detail than any of my predecessors. It is only occasionally that a great measure or a new question arises, upon which I desire the aid and advice of my Cabinet. At each meeting of Cabinet I learn from each member what is being done in his particular Department, and especially if any question of doubt or difficulty has arisen. I have never called for any written opinions from my cabinet, preferring to take their opinions, after discussion, in Cabinet and in the presence of each other. In this way harmony of opinion is more likely to exist.
The diary of James Polk is an interesting and enjoyable read. It's like sitting down with the man, asking him "so what's it like being President" and enjoying a fascinating and candid conversation.
In a time long before LiveGerbil or Blogger, Polk diarized about a variety of subjects such as the Mexican War and the acquisition of Oregon and California, but what I love most is how he talks about the various people he had to deal with such as members of his cabinet or congress. Polk was a micro-manager. He never took holidays and the job may have literally killed him. He had the shortest retirement of any President, dying 109 days after leaving office. Although his cause of death is listed as cholera, many believe that he left the Presidency so exhausted that his immune system was too weak to fight off much of anything.
I love how Polk speaks his mind and makes it clear what motives he perceives in the other players in his world. For example, a number of entries in the spring of 1846 make it clear that Polk didn't like General Winfield Scott. In his diary entry of May 21, 1846, he writes "I am satisfied that the administration will not be safe in intrusting the command of the army in the Mexican War to General Scott. His bitter hostility toward this administration is such that I could not trust him..." The following day, Polk wrote:
Friday, 22nd May, 1846 - I learned yesterday and today that General Scott, General Wool, and Adjutant-General Jones were using their influence with members of Congress to prevent passage of the bill now before the Senate authorizing the appointment of two additional major-generals and four brigadier-generals. Such conduct is highly censurable. These officers are all Whigs and violent partisans and not having the success of my administration at heart seem disposed to throw every obstacle in the way of my prosecuting the Mexican War successfully. An end must be put to this state of things.
Polk also describes his successor, General Zachary Taylor as "wholly incompetent for so large a command. He seems to have no mind or powers of combination." I wish I could put my finger on the places where he savages future President James Buchanan who was Polk's Secretary of State, basically calling him an old woman and a ditherer.
There is also some interesting comments in the diary about slavery and how whether any acquired territory will be open to the practice. Polk, himself a slaveholder, writes on January 5, 1847 "there is no probability that any territory will ever be acquired from Mexico in which slavery could ever exist. New Mexico and California is all that can ever probably be acquired by treaty, and indeed all that I think it important to acquire. In these provinces slavery would probably never exist, and therefore the question would never arise."
Polk is generally unguarded about what he writes, and probably never worried about who might subsequently read his diary or what they might think of him. In an entry written on September 23rd, 1848 he also gives us some insight into his workaholism. He writes:
Indeed I have become so familiar with the workings and duties of the government, not only upon general principles, but in most of its minute details, that I find little difficulty in doing this. I have made myself acquainted with the duties of the subordinate officers, and have probably given more attention to detail than any of my predecessors. It is only occasionally that a great measure or a new question arises, upon which I desire the aid and advice of my Cabinet. At each meeting of Cabinet I learn from each member what is being done in his particular Department, and especially if any question of doubt or difficulty has arisen. I have never called for any written opinions from my cabinet, preferring to take their opinions, after discussion, in Cabinet and in the presence of each other. In this way harmony of opinion is more likely to exist.
The diary of James Polk is an interesting and enjoyable read. It's like sitting down with the man, asking him "so what's it like being President" and enjoying a fascinating and candid conversation.