James Polk

Click him to go to a biography site

James Polk

By: Mauricio and Andy

To celebrate the 160th anniversary of Palos Community Consolidated District 118, our class is researching life in the 1840s. The topic we chose was James Polk.

    Polk was born in 1795 in a log cabin in Mecklenburg County on the North Carolina frontier. In 1806, when James was 11 years old, the Polk family moved to the Duck river valley in central Tennessee, where Ezekiel Polk, James's grandfather, had a farm. James was not a healthy youth, he had severe abdominal pains. When he was 18 he could barely read or write. Polk began being educated when he was 18.
    In one year he mastered English, Greek and Latin grammar in one year. Next he went to the University of North Carolina for college. He graduated in 1818 with honors in mathematics and the classics. After graduating from college, Polk went to Nashville, Tennessee, to study law under Felix Grundy, who was Tennessee's leading lawyer.
    In less than a year, Polk was admitted to the practice of law in Tennessee and established his own law practice in Columbia, Tennessee. Through Grundy's influence he also secured the post of clerk for the state senate, a chamber of the General Assembly. Polk continued to practice law but was drawn more and more into politics.    The Assembly met at Murfreesboro, where, as a student, Polk had become acquainted with Sarah Childress, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Polk's duties in the Assembly enabled him to renew his friendship with Sarah, and in 1822 they became engaged.
    Sarah Polk was as talkative as Polk was quiet. Their marriage was childless, and she devoted herself to her husband's career. When Polk was elected to national office, she became one of the most popular hostesses in Washington, D.C.Former President Martin Van Buren was the leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1844. However, because he opposed annexation of the Republic of Texas, which had recently seceded from Mexico, he had little support in the South and West.
    The Democratic convention of 1844 was held in Baltimore, Maryland. After seven ballots it was clear that Van Buren could not win the two-thirds majority needed for nomination. On the eighth ballot, Polk was brought forward as a compromise candidate whom all segments of the party could support.
    Shortly after his inauguration, President Polk told his secretary of the navy, George Bancroft, that the four objectives of his administration would be the reduction of tariffs, the reestablishment of an independent treasury, the settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain, and the acquisition of California from Mexico. He achieved all four goals.
Having accomplished all his objectives in a single term, President Polk had no intention of running for the presidency again. In 1847 he had written in his diary that "though I occupy a very high position, I am the hardest working man in this country." This was probably true, for Polk worked tirelessly to master all the details and carry out the duties of the presidency.

Bibliography

James K. Polk; http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jp11.html

Back to the Web Pages