Son of a prominent planter, Tennesse lawyer, State legislator at 27, follower of Andrew Jackson, speaker of the House, governor of Tennessee, defeated in a bid for the vice-presidential nomination in 1840. PERSONAL LIFE: During 25 years of marriage, Sarah Childress Polk devoted all her energies to working at her husband's side. The Polks never had children. In the White House, Sarah served as Polk's personal secretary and they worked together 12 to 24 hours a day. A devout Presbyterian, Sarah banned all drinking and dancing at the White House. Polk's last words were addressed to her: "I love you, Sarah, for all eternity, I love you." HIS PERSON: About 5'8" tall, slight build; his clothes always seemed too large for him. Cold gray eyes, grim mouth. A compulsive worker with no sense of humor. ELECTION: In 1844, former President Andrew Jackson personally engineered the nomination of the dark horse, Polk, over a number of better known candidates. In the general election, the popular vote was 1,338,464 for Democrat Polk, with 1,300,097 for his Whig opponent, Henry Clay. The Electoral College margin was 170 to 105. The major issue of the campaign was expansionism - Polk came out strongly for a U.S. takeover of Texas and Oregon. During his Presidency, he managed to fulfill his key campaign promises. TERM OF OFFICE: March 4, 1845 - March 4, 1849. Polk was so exhausted by his 4 year ordeal that he died just 3 months after leaving office. LITTLE KNOWN FACTS: At the inaugural ball in deference to Mrs. Polk's religious convictions, dancing and music were halted when the Polks entered, then resumed 2 hours later after they left. QUOTE FROM POLK: "I prefer to supervise the whole operation of the Government myself rather than entrust the public business to subordinates and this makes my duties very great." QUOTE ABOUT HIM: "Polk's mind was rigid, narrow, obstinate, far from 1st rate...But he knew how to get things done, which is the 1st necessity of Government, and he knew what he wanted done, which is the 2nd." Historian Bernand DeVeto DIED: At his home near Nashville, Tenn. The cause of death was officially listed as "diarrhea." The above is from "The People's Almanac" by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace, page 266. George M. Dallas served as his vice president. From "The American Desk Encyclopedia" page 996-997 comes the following: "POLK, James Knox (1795-1849), 11th president of the US, 1845-49, elected on a Democratic platform pledged to expand the existing territories of the nation according to the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. In 1825 Polk was elected to the US House of Representatives, and during Andrew Jackson's presidency he became the administration's leading spokesman in the House. After Jackson's reelection (1832) Polk became chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in 1833. He was speaker of the House 1835-39, and governor of Tennessee 1839-41. Chosen as a compromise candidate by the Democrats, Polk defeated Henry Clay and was inaugurated as president on March 4, 1845, having campaigned on five main objectives, eachof which he managed to achieve. The first, the annexation of Texas, was in fact achieved before Polk took up office, for the outgoing president, John Tyler, had already accepted the Democratic victory as a mandate and sanctioned (March, 1845) the admission of Texas as a slave state of the Union. The second objective was to extend the boundary in Oregon Territory to a latitude of 54 40'. In the event, he compromised with Great Britain in the Oregon Territory (1846) which established the boundary between the US and British America at the 49th parallel. The third objective, to acquire California from Mexico involved the US in the Mexican War, 1846-48. By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) Mexico ceded all her claims to the territory of California and New Mexico and recognized the border at the Rio Grande. The fourth objective, a promise to the South to lower the tariff, was enacted by the Walker Tariff (1846). Polk's final objective, to reestablish an independent treasury system, was achieved by the Independent Treasury Act (1846) which survived with some modifications until 1913. Broken in health by overwork, he chose not to run for reelection and died shortly afterwards, havin achieved impressive successes in fulfilling his aims.
James was born at
Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina, on 2 November 1795. He was the son of
Samuel Polk and
Jane Knox. He married
Sarah Childress at
Murfreesboro, Rutherford Co., Tennessee, on 1 January 1824. James died on 15 June 1849 at
Nashville, Davidson Co, Tennessee, at age 53. His body was interred in June 1849 at
Nashville, Davidson Co, Tennessee.