Polk didn't have much going for him in the personality department, but he did have focus and persistence. He would be the last president to accomplish anything positive until Lincoln.
Like his mentor, Andrew Jackson, Polk was born in North Carolina (in 1795), but moved to Tennessee at a young age. He was the oldest of 10 children. Polk was pretty sickly during most of his childhood. The cause was stones in his urinary tract. He had one of those delightful 19th century surgeries that involved alcohol instead of anesthesia when he was 17. This surgery is most likely the reason why he never had children.
Polk climbed up the political ladder in a pretty typical way. He initially studied law. Around that time he met his wife Sarah...who thankfully had more personality than he did. He had a stint in the Tennessee militia. He was good at making speeches which was how he got the "Napoleon of the Stump" moniker. (Which, before doing research for this, I just thought They Might Be Giants made up!)
In 1834 Polk was elected to the House, and in 1835 he became Speaker of the House. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1839. However, he was then defeated in the next two gubernatorial elections. It seemed like his political career was over.
But then...in 1844 the Democrats were spliiit. (OK hard not to just quote the entire song at this point.) Initially the front runner for the Democrats was former president Martin Van Buren. Van Buren was the favorite until he made a very critical mistake. The big issue of the day was the potential annexation of Texas. Martin Van Buren was against the annexation. However the majority of the population was an expansionist Manifest Destiny sort of mood. Thus Van Buren pretty much shot himself in the foot by making these views public.
Unlike the Democratic and Republican conventions of today, there was some genuine suspense at the 19th century party conventions about who would emerge as the leading candidate. Like Abraham Lincoln would do later, Polk successfully got himself into the position of being everybody's second choice. Polk ultimately emerged as a dark horse candidate. Although this also led to Democrats saying what they'd say again during the 1976 election. "James who?"
The Democrats tried their best to portray Polk as an heir to Jackson, referring to him as "Young Hickory." While Polk was definitely Jackson's protégé, and shared a similar background, he definitely lacked his mentor's charisma. Pretty much imagine Al Gore, change the key issue from the environment to expansionism...then remove the sense of humor (I know it's subtle with Gore, but it is there...) and you've got James Knox Polk.
Despite being personality-impaired, Polk managed to be in the right place at the right time, and have the right views on the issue of the day. From the beginning he vowed to serve only one term, like the Kids in the Hall character, Polk had his list of what he wanted to get done in his administration.
1. Lower the tariffs
2. Establish an independent treasury
3.Take the Oregon territory
4. Take California and other parts of the Southwest from Mexico
The tariffs issue was taken care of relatively easily. The independent treasury was created pretty quickly as well. Since Jackson had gotten rid of the National Bank, Polk realized there needed to be another system in place to help regulate the economy. This solution was so successful, it was in place until the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. Not the sexiest of victories, but definitely an important one.
The Oregon Territory was more complex. At one point in its history, 4 countries were claiming it: The United States, Mexico, Britain...and Russia! Russia and Mexico backed out pretty quickly. Eventually Britain and the United States managed to figure out a compromise which is why Seattle is part of the U.S. and Vancouver is part of Canada.
Negotiations with Mexico....were all meshuga. Of course Mexican history in general tends to be really complicated. (I've had the Mexican revolution of the 20th century explained to me a few times and I still don't get it. One of my friends took a whole semester on it and even she has problems wrapping her mind around it!) The quick and dirty is all the territory that wound up becoming part of the U.S. at the time had a very sparse population, and the Mexican population did not have much control over the area. While the United States definitely showed aggression, it was Mexico who fired the first shots in the Mexican-American War.
With the exception of the Commander in Chief, there were also a lot of larger than life personalities involved. In Mexico there was General Santa Anna. On the American side future President General Zachary "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor and General Winfield "Old Fuss and Feathers" Scott, Secretary of State and future president James Buchanan...all of whom got in some trouble with the president for being better at giving orders than following them. There was also probably one of the more strong-minded congresses in American history that included: Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas, John C. Calhoun, Jefferson Davis, John Quincy Adams...and freshman congressman Abraham Lincoln.
The war lasted two years. At one point Congress was on the verge of accepting a treaty when a Representative named Wilmot added a proviso that said any property they gained must remain without slavery. Until this point slavery had not been an issue in the Mexican-American War. But thanks to Wilmot. that can of worms was opened. Discussion in Congress was pretty much all slavery all the time until the Civil War.
The other big debate was how much territory the United States should try and grab. Some people thought the United States should try and conquer Mexico altogether, and make it into a democracy. Senator Calhoun argued that you can't have a successful democracy in a country that isn't composed of white Anglo-Saxons. (I would just looove to put that guy in a time machine and show him today!) Ultimately at the war's conclusion, the borders of the continental United States looked almost like they do today...except for a part of southern Arizona and New Mexico that would be bought in the Gadsden Purchase 10 years later for the purposes of building a railroad.
The Mexican-American War ended in the last year of Polk's presidency. He was in office just long enough to watch Congress argue over what they should do with all the new territory. The stress of the presidency put a severe strain on his health. Less than a year after leaving office, he was dead.
About 1/3 of the continental United States became part of the country during Polk's administration. Thanks to the lowering of the tariffs and the independent treasury, he also left the country with a robust economy. Yet Polk remained one of the least remembered presidents.
Then in 1996 geek rock group They Might Be Giants released the song "James K. Polk" on their album "Factory Showroom." I went to see one of their concerts in college. It was very funny to see a whole theatre full of people all excited about James K. Polk...probably the most excited people had been about him since 1844.
Now for those of you who have had that song in your head since reading the title of this blog...enjoy!
Hail to the Chiefs Part XI: Napoleon of the Stump
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