Sparks Commentary: James K. Polk: President during the Mexican-American War

James K. Polk was one of the most expansionist presidents in American history. In 1845, he oversaw the annexation of the Republic of Texas, which had once belonged to Mexico. In 1846, he oversaw a full-scale war with Mexico, which would lead to the annexation of what is now the American Southwest. Mexico had formerly claimed the Oregon territory as well, but Oregon was divided between the United States and the British Empire in 1846. Oregon then became an incorporated territory of the United States in 1848, also during the presidency of Mr. Polk. But there’s more to the story of James K. Polk than his controversial foreign policy. He was also a believer in Jacksonian democracy, and the last president of the “Jacksonian Era.” James K. Polk is the only Speaker of the House of Representatives ever to be elected president. But who exactly is James K. Polk? What are the complexities of his legacy? And just where did this man come from? These are the questions that this post will try to examine.

James K. Polk

Polk’s early life and career, through the presidential elections of 1844

James Knox Polk was born in a log cabin in North Carolina in 1795. He was the first of what would eventually be ten children. James’ father was a farmer and slaveholder of Scotch-Irish descent. Both branches of his family were Presbyterian, but his father rebelled against Presbyterianism. The father refused to declare his Christianity at his son’s baptism, so the minister then refused to baptize James K. Polk. When James was about eleven years old, the family moved to Tennessee. The Polk family was political, and Andrew Jackson was one of the guests at the Polk home. James K. Polk’s father was a judge. But the young Polk suffered from frail health as a child, and a surgical operation may have left him impotent. This may explain why Polk never had any children. James K. Polk graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Among other things, he became a gifted speaker, and learned how to debate. James K. Polk then studied law and became a trial lawyer, but also became active in politics. Incidentally, James K. Polk was by then a Democrat, and remained a Democrat for the rest of his life. Polk became a Tennessee state legislator, and was a disciple of Andrew Jackson. Eventually, James K. Polk was elected to the United States House of Representatives, and was Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Eventually, Polk became the Speaker of the House of Representatives. After that, James K. Polk was elected Governor of Tennessee, and served there from 1839 until 1841. But he twice failed to be re-elected as Governor. Thus, James K. Polk was a private citizen when he first ran for president in 1844.

James K. Polk

The presidential elections of 1844, which put James K. Polk into the White House

The incumbent president in 1844 was John Tyler. Mr. Tyler had been kicked out of the Whig political party back in 1841. Thus, he formed the “Tyler Party” in 1844, but this party went nowhere. Thus, by the time of the election, John Tyler was again a political Independent. Mr. Tyler had pursued Texas annexation, but this proved somewhat controversial. In part, this was because the annexation would spread American slavery to the west. Thus, Texas annexation would again be an issue in the 1844 elections. At the time, negotiations with British Canada over Oregon were already underway. The former president Martin Van Buren was an early leader at the 1844 Democratic National Convention. However, Van Buren’s opposition to the annexation of Texas was still unpopular in his party. Andrew Jackson was now opposing his former running mate Van Buren, and so were most Southern delegations. This, combined with an important rule change at the convention, prevented Van Buren from getting the necessary two-thirds majority. Thus, the Democrats instead turned to James K. Polk as a “dark horse” candidate. Polk openly advocated expansionism and “manifest destiny.” When President Tyler dropped out of the race, he also endorsed Polk. On the Whig side, the Whigs instead nominated Henry Clay, a longtime Congressional leader of his own party. Like James K. Polk, Henry Clay was a former Speaker of the House of Representatives. Thus, this is the only election where both major candidates had served as Speaker of the House. It was also the first election where neither candidate held major office at the time. Henry Clay was a Southerner from Kentucky. Like James K. Polk, Henry Clay was a slaveholder. But Henry Clay waffled on Texas annexation, greatly confusing voters. By contrast, James K. Polk was consistent in his support for expansion. His support for annexing Texas as a slave state was popular with Southerners. But he placated the Northerners by suggesting that Oregon would be admitted as a free state, balancing out the westward expansion. James G. Birney of the anti-slavery “Liberty Party” got 2.3% of the popular vote, but no electoral votes. Henry Clay got 48.1% of the popular vote, and 38.2% of the electoral vote. James K. Polk got 49.5% of the popular vote, and 61.8% of the electoral vote. Thus, James K. Polk had just been elected the 11th President of the United States.

James K. Polk

Polk’s presidency, noted for its expansionist foreign policy (especially in Mexico)

Polk soon reached an agreement with British Canada over Oregon, which was admitted as a free state. As Wikipedia puts it, James K. Polk “secured a substantial reduction of tariff rates with the Walker tariff of 1846. The same year, he achieved his other major goal, reestablishment of the Independent Treasury system.” (Source: Their page on “James K. Polk”) Polk also secured the promised annexation of the Republic of Texas, which by then was independent of Mexico. And he led the United States into its fateful conflict with Mexico in 1846. The region that is today the Southwestern United States was transferred in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. But James K. Polk may have wanted to annex even more territory from Mexico. On his orders, the United States Navy had landed some troops behind Mexican lines to march on Mexico City. This put considerable pressure on Santa Anna, then the president of Mexico. There were people in Polk’s party who wanted to annex more territory. But Polk’s peace commissioner signed a peace treaty that allowed Mexico to retain more territory than the United States had originally wanted to leave them. Polk was furious when he heard the news. But he had no choice but to accept the peace treaty anyway. There was a faction within his own party that wanted to end the war comparatively early, even if this meant less of a transfer of territory. Thus, he seems to have been pulled between two different factions of his party. Regardless, Polk had pledged back in 1844 to serve only one term. Thus, in 1848, he kept his promise, and did not seek a second term as president. The Democrats instead nominated Lewis Cass as their candidate. But, in the end, the election went to the Whig candidate Zachary Taylor, who died two years later from natural causes. In 1849, James K. Polk left office and returned to his home in Tennessee. A few months later, James K. Polk died of cholera in June 1849, when his successor Zachary Taylor was still president.

James K. Polk

Conclusion: Polk is mostly ranked favorably today, although some controversy remains

As Wikipedia puts it, “Though he is relatively obscure today, scholars have ranked Polk favorably for his ability to promote and achieve the major items on his presidential agenda. He has also been criticized for leading the country into a war with Mexico that exacerbated sectional divides. A property owner who used slave labor, he kept a plantation in Mississippi and increased his slave ownership during his presidency. Polk's policy of territorial expansion saw the nation reach the Pacific coast and almost all its contiguous borders. He helped make the U.S. a nation poised to become a world power, but with divisions between free and slave states gravely exacerbated, setting the stage for the Civil War.” (Source: Their page on “James K. Polk”) The “Jacksonian Era” was now over, and the Civil War’s first shots on Fort Sumter were still a dozen years in the future. But the prelude to the Civil War was now beginning. That is, some would date the beginning of the “Civil War Era” to the election of Zachary Taylor in 1849 – twelve years before the fatal cannon shots were fired at Fort Sumter.

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Part of a series about

The Presidents

1. George Washington
2. John Adams
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. James Madison
6. John Quincy Adams
7. Andrew Jackson

8. Martin Van Buren

11. James K. Polk

12. Zachary Taylor

14. Franklin Pierce

16. Abraham Lincoln
18. Ulysses S. Grant