Summer Reading for Potus Geeks: Books for Polkaholics
If you've heard of James K. Polk thanks to the song by They Might Be Giants, but don't really know all that much about "Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump", then you're in the same position that I was less than a decade ago. The song inspired me to find out if Polk really was the champion of the "to do list" as the song suggests, or if he was a horrible warhawk as others believe. So I became a Polkaholic and began to read up about the man. His life read like a novel, especially when told by the right author. Previously in this series I've raved about John Bicknell's wonderful book America 1844: Religious Fervor, Westward Expansion, and the Presidential Election That Transformed the Nation, which belongs high on this list. Here are a few more books for those of you curious about the man. For somewhat of an obscure president, there is actually quite a bit written about him.
1. Polk: The Man Who Transformed America and the Presidency by Walter Borneman: Easily my favorite of all the Polk biographies, Borneman provides a complete and authoritative biography (and also a very readable one) that highlights Polk's accomplishments during his one-term presidency. Borneman describes how Polk fought for and won tariff reductions, reestablished an independent Treasury, brought Texas into the Union, bluffed Great Britain out of the lion’s share of Oregon, and wrested California and much of the Southwest from Mexico. As the author notes, these successes seem even more impressive, given the contentious political environment of the time. The author paints a portrait of an expansionist president and decisive statesman who redefined the country that he led.
2. A Country of Vast Designs by Robert W. Merry: The author, who was president and editor-in-chief of Congressional Quarterly Inc., offers a provocative analysis of the controversial presidency of James Polk, depicting his subject as an unabashed expansionist, devoted to extending American power across the continent. He notes how Polk's achievements were controversial across the political spectrum and uses congressional debates and newspaper reports to tell the story of a fundamental, enduring debate on America's nature and role. Merry makes a strong case that Polk embraced a sweeping vision of national destiny and argues that history is drivem not on morality but on power.
3. Slavemaster President by William Dusinberre: This book is divided into two sections, slavemaster and president. It provides a portrait of Polk as a slave owner at a time when slavery began to dominate American politics. It notes how Polk's presidency coincided with the eruption of the territorial slavery issue, which would ultimately lead to the Civil War. Polk himself owned some 50 slaves. Drawing on previously unexplored records, Dusinberre recreates the world of Polk's plantation and the personal histories of his slaves, in a vivid account of how slavery functioned on Polk's cotton plantation. Shortly before his sudden death from cholera, the president quietly drafted a new will, in which he expressed the hope that his slaves might be freed after he and his wife were both dead. Dusinberre suggests that Polk's political stance toward slavery, influenced by his personal involvement in the plantation system, likely helped precipitate the Civil War that Polk sought to avoid.
4. James K. Polk by John Siegenthaler (part of the American Presidents Series): John Siegenthaler, a former aide to Robert F. Kennedy, offers a solid portrait of an under-rated president who achieved extraordinary things. A Tennesseean like Polk, Seigenthaler agrees with those who rate the dour, grudge-holding, one-term president to be a success. The author neglects to consider the consequences of Polk's successes, and has been criticized for this omission. But like all books in this series, this book gives the reader a nice synopsis of Polk's life and presidency, in a succinct volume that can be read on a two or three hour plane ride.
5. James K. Polk by Eugene Irving McCormac: Split into two volumes, Volume 1 covers Polk's pre-presidency life, and Volume 2 his presidency. It is a thorough biography, perhaps the most thorough, though the writing style can come across as pedantic and dry at times. It is part of the series of Presidential biographies published by American Political Biography Press.
Let me close by adding a few honorable mentions for those really wanting to dive into all things Polk. Polk himself was a diarist and kept a diary of his time as president. It has been edited by Allan Nevins and published a Polk: The Diary of a President, and offers some wonderful insight and some catty remarks from the man himself. edited by Allan Nevins.
For those looking for a more academic study of Polk's administration, they can check out The Presidency of James K. Polk by Paul H. Bergeron, part of a series on the topic of post-mortem analyses of presidencies. Author Tom Chafin questions whether or nor Polk's legend is accurate in his 2014 work Met His Every Goal? James K. Polk and the Legends of Manifest Destiny. Thomas Leonard writes a volume about Polk as part of the Biographies in American Foreign Policy series called James K. Polk: A Clean and Unquestionable Destiny.
Finally, many books about the Mexican War are really largely about this aspect of Polk's presidency, and if this is the focus of your reading, let me recommend two such books:
1. A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico by Amy Greenberg (reviwed here in this community)
2. So Far From God: The U. S. War With Mexico, 1846–1848 by John Eisenhower.
1. Polk: The Man Who Transformed America and the Presidency by Walter Borneman: Easily my favorite of all the Polk biographies, Borneman provides a complete and authoritative biography (and also a very readable one) that highlights Polk's accomplishments during his one-term presidency. Borneman describes how Polk fought for and won tariff reductions, reestablished an independent Treasury, brought Texas into the Union, bluffed Great Britain out of the lion’s share of Oregon, and wrested California and much of the Southwest from Mexico. As the author notes, these successes seem even more impressive, given the contentious political environment of the time. The author paints a portrait of an expansionist president and decisive statesman who redefined the country that he led.
2. A Country of Vast Designs by Robert W. Merry: The author, who was president and editor-in-chief of Congressional Quarterly Inc., offers a provocative analysis of the controversial presidency of James Polk, depicting his subject as an unabashed expansionist, devoted to extending American power across the continent. He notes how Polk's achievements were controversial across the political spectrum and uses congressional debates and newspaper reports to tell the story of a fundamental, enduring debate on America's nature and role. Merry makes a strong case that Polk embraced a sweeping vision of national destiny and argues that history is drivem not on morality but on power.
3. Slavemaster President by William Dusinberre: This book is divided into two sections, slavemaster and president. It provides a portrait of Polk as a slave owner at a time when slavery began to dominate American politics. It notes how Polk's presidency coincided with the eruption of the territorial slavery issue, which would ultimately lead to the Civil War. Polk himself owned some 50 slaves. Drawing on previously unexplored records, Dusinberre recreates the world of Polk's plantation and the personal histories of his slaves, in a vivid account of how slavery functioned on Polk's cotton plantation. Shortly before his sudden death from cholera, the president quietly drafted a new will, in which he expressed the hope that his slaves might be freed after he and his wife were both dead. Dusinberre suggests that Polk's political stance toward slavery, influenced by his personal involvement in the plantation system, likely helped precipitate the Civil War that Polk sought to avoid.
4. James K. Polk by John Siegenthaler (part of the American Presidents Series): John Siegenthaler, a former aide to Robert F. Kennedy, offers a solid portrait of an under-rated president who achieved extraordinary things. A Tennesseean like Polk, Seigenthaler agrees with those who rate the dour, grudge-holding, one-term president to be a success. The author neglects to consider the consequences of Polk's successes, and has been criticized for this omission. But like all books in this series, this book gives the reader a nice synopsis of Polk's life and presidency, in a succinct volume that can be read on a two or three hour plane ride.
5. James K. Polk by Eugene Irving McCormac: Split into two volumes, Volume 1 covers Polk's pre-presidency life, and Volume 2 his presidency. It is a thorough biography, perhaps the most thorough, though the writing style can come across as pedantic and dry at times. It is part of the series of Presidential biographies published by American Political Biography Press.
Let me close by adding a few honorable mentions for those really wanting to dive into all things Polk. Polk himself was a diarist and kept a diary of his time as president. It has been edited by Allan Nevins and published a Polk: The Diary of a President, and offers some wonderful insight and some catty remarks from the man himself. edited by Allan Nevins.
For those looking for a more academic study of Polk's administration, they can check out The Presidency of James K. Polk by Paul H. Bergeron, part of a series on the topic of post-mortem analyses of presidencies. Author Tom Chafin questions whether or nor Polk's legend is accurate in his 2014 work Met His Every Goal? James K. Polk and the Legends of Manifest Destiny. Thomas Leonard writes a volume about Polk as part of the Biographies in American Foreign Policy series called James K. Polk: A Clean and Unquestionable Destiny.
Finally, many books about the Mexican War are really largely about this aspect of Polk's presidency, and if this is the focus of your reading, let me recommend two such books:
1. A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico by Amy Greenberg (reviwed here in this community)
2. So Far From God: The U. S. War With Mexico, 1846–1848 by John Eisenhower.