SeleucusNicator
Diadoch
Most obscure Presidents are unknown for a good reason: they did not achieve much. No such excuse exists for James Knox Polk, the 11th President of the United States, who, despite being virtually unknown outside of elitist US History circles, was one of the most efficient leaders the republic has ever had, and, arguably, was the only President to fulfill all or most of his campaign promises. (He was also the first -- and only -- President to have a mullet -- but most pro-Polk historians like to glance over that one) Who was this man, where did he come from, and what exactly did he do?
Polk was born in Kecklenburg Country, North Carolina, in 1795. His early life provided no omens that he would grow up to be a man denounced as a warmonger. He was a frail child beset with numerous health problems, most notably severe gallstones, which he had surgically removed -- with no anasthesia or sterilization. His family moving from the somewhat civilized North Carolina to the far more frontier-like land of Tennessee certainly did not help in this regard, although it would be a fateful choice for Polk's future political career. For now, Polk, being an excellent student, decided to leave his family's new home and return to his native land to enter the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he again excelled in his studies. After graduation, he returned to Tennessee to study law. He was admitted to the Tennessee state bar in 1820. Polk's initial legal career was rather short; by 1823 he could be found running for the Tennessee state House of Representatives, to which he was elected. He then turned to his second love, Sarah Childress, a woman he met during his studies in North Carolina. James and Sarah were married in 1824. The now-married Polk served in the Tennessee state legislature until 1825. During this short period, he made a second fateful decision. At that time, US Senators were still selected by state legislatures, and, as such, Polk had a vote when Tennessee was deciding who its next Senator would be. Among the candidates was Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson, a former general and war hero (and Congressman from James K. Polk's district) who had run for President in 1824 and won a plurality of both the popular and electoral votes only to be defeated by John Quincy Adams in the House of Representatives. Jackson and his supporters were determined to win the Presidency in 1828 and viewed a Senate seat as useful towards that end. Polk became a strong supporter and admirer of Jackson, who won the seat, only to resign it later to campaign for President, who in turn began to notice and trust Polk. Appropriately enough, Polk ran for Jackson's old US House or Representatives seat and won, earning himself a useful connection to the General, as well as the nickname "Young Hickory". Young Hickory did not disappoint; he became one of Jackson's top congressional allies, especially as Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position he was elected to four times. Polk was instrumental in Jackson's war against the Bank of the United States and countless other minor issues. He showed an outstanding ability to use procedure to his advantage and could both terrify and convince audiences with his strong, austere oratory. By all accounts, he was on his way to becoming a political superstar. By 1839, Polk, seeking a more executive role, ran for Governor of Tennessee and won. Then, however, Whiggery struck. With a great economic crisis which the public blamed on President Martin Van Buren and with William Henry Harrison's ultra-populist campaign, being a Democrat was no longer the "in" thing, even in Jackson's home state. Polk lost his re-election bid in 1841 as well as an 1843 grudge match. It appeared that Young Hickory had been overhyped and that he was finished politically.
Polk still had hope, however. He was mentioned in many circles as a possible Vice-Presiential candidate for the Democratic Party in 1844. With the hopes of being nominated for the #2 slot, Polk attended the 1844 Democratic Convention in Baltimore. The most likely Presidential nominee was Martin Van Buren. Despite his crushing defeat in 1840, the abate of the economic recession and his replacement by John Tyler as the public's favorite Presidential punching bag made Martin Van Buren a viable option once again. His legendary machine-building skills would certainly be useful against Henry Clay, the formidable Whig nominee viewed as the front-runner. However, Van Buren, a northerner, had become much less pro-slavery during his four years of civilian life; so much so, in fact, that he was commonly referred to as an abolitionist. At the very least, he opposed American expansion into Texas and the West, an issue often linked with slavery, as it was believed that slaveowners wanted expansion because it could result in the creation of several new slave states. There were other candidates, of course; James Buchanan, a handsome bachelor from Pennsylvania who represented the moderate wing of the party, Lewis Cass, a general who fit into the "war hero" type that was often nominated during this time, and George M. Dallas, yet another Pennsylvanian (just like today, Pennsylvania was a state rich in electoral votes), but they were not given much of a chance against the name recognition and political talent of Van Buren. That changed drastically shortly before the convention. From his seat of informal power at The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson, the founder of the Democratic Party, sensed that expansionism, especially the acquisition of Texas and California, was growing in popularity. Jackson was worried at the fact that the leading Democratic candidate was the anti-expansionist Van Buren. Accordingly, Jackson announced, without naming anyone in particular, that a pro-expansion Democratic nominee would be best. This hurt Van Buren. While he still commanded a slight majority when the convention met to vote for a nominee, he could not match the 2/3 majority necessary to secure nomination. None of the delegates voting for Cass, Dallas, or Buchanan were willing to vote for Van Buren, and, conversely, none of the delegates supporting Van Buren were willing to change their vote to Cass, Dallas, or Buchanan. After several ballots of deadlock, the major candidates began to realize that none of them could win. It was time to move into the second tier of candidates. On the eight ballot, James K. Polk was put forward for President. On the ninth ballot, he received a majority. George M. Dallas was nominated for the #2 spot that Polk had previously hoped for. The Democratic Party quickly adopted a pro-expansionist platform calling for the annexation of Texas, the occupation of the Oregon Territory (which went as far north as 54°40', which is today part of Canada), and the acquisition of California. From Baltimore, with the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!", the Polk campaign rolled out.
The Whigs were rather amused that the famous Henry Clay would be pitted against such a relative unknown. As every schoolchild knows, they adopted the mocking slogan "Who is James K. Polk?". However, Henry Clay soon ran into troubles of his own. With an expansionist southerner as his opponent, Clay should have been the darling of the northern anti-slavery vote, the so-called "conscience Whigs" who opposed the peculiar institution as well as things such as drinking, gambling, and being Catholic on the grounds of their strong Protestantism. To court this crowd, the Whigs picked as their Vice-Presidential candidate Theodore Ferlinghuysen, a New Jersey minister and prohibition activist. There was one problem however: Clay himself. Clay was a slaveholder and a notorious gambler and drinker. Moreover, he was rumored to be an infidel. Not exactly puritan material. It wasn't long before third party candidates running on one-issue platforms, such as abolition and prohibition, began to spring up in the Northern states. Even worse, Theodore Ferlinghuysen was turning into a media laughingstock. The pious, long-winded reverend was not helping Clay with his target constituency and was driving off Catholics, drunkards, gamblers, and just about any other sinful group of voters to the Polk camp. By the summer, things were looking grim for Clay and Polk, riding an expansionist wave (the acquisition of Oregon proved to be surprisingly popular in the north, while excitement for Texas in the south was assured) to what looked more and more like a victory.
When the electors met, Polk won easily, 170 - 105. The popular vote was much closer; if the abolitionist votes were added to the Whig total in New York or Pennsylvania, Clay would have been President. Nonetheless, the nation saw the election as a mandate for expansion and manifest destiny. Before Polk even took office, President Tyler had annexed Texas. Tyler signed the annexation into law the night before he left office, infuriating Polk, who had wanted to do it himself. Polk still had more expansion planned, however. In his inaugural address, he made several references to the issue, saying in particular that to expand borders of the United States would be to expand freedom itself. Still, expansion was not the only thing on Polk's agenda. He had also pledged to reduce the tariff and to establish an independent treasury, something to alleviate the economic woes the United States had been experiencing since Old Hickory destroyed the Second Bank of the United States.
Polk achieved three of his goals relatively quickly with the aid of large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. By 1846, he had passed the Independent Treasury Act and a lower tariff. He had also concluded a peace treaty with Great Britain that divided the Oregon Territory between Great Britain and the United States and the 49th parallel, except for Vancouver Island, all of which would remain British. Although Polk had campaigned on gaining all of the Oregon Territory and the British had indicated they would give up none of it, both sides realized that full control could be won only through war and neither side particularly cared for a third Anglo-American war. The matter was settled peacefully. The fact that Polk gained only half of the Oregon Territory and not all of it may well be the farthest he ever strayed from his campaign promises.
With Oregon and Texas under US control, there remained only California for Polk to take before he could call his administration a success. There was the problem, however: California was controlled by Mexico. Polk had earlier sent an envoy to Mexico asking to purchase California plus most of the Mexican territory north of the current border. The Mexicans explained that no Mexican government would be willing to sell over half their country; it would be disastrous to their re-election chances. So, for Polk, only one option remained: war. The pretext for war was found in a dispute over the exact borders of Texas. The Mexicans claimed that Texas ended at the Nuneces river; the Americans claimed it was the Rio Grande, which was well to the former's south. To protect the American territory between the Nuneces and the Rio Grande, Polk sent in the army under the command of General Zachary Taylor. Not unsurprisingly, Taylor was attacked by Mexican forces. Claiming that Mexicans had spilled "American blood on American ground", Polk went to Congress to ask for a declaration of war. The declaration was forced through the House by the Democratic speaker and withstood the opposition of Webster and Calhoun in the Senate. The Mexican-American war had begun.
General Taylor soon won a series of victories in northern Mexico; American forces were meanwhile dispatched to California and New Mexico to claim those areas for the United States. New Mexico surrendered without a single shot being fired; California proved tricky with several rebellions and some interference due to Army/Navy rivalry, but was eventually pacified as well. However, Mexico refused to surrender. Part of the problem was a regime change that Polk had effected earlier. President Herrera of Mexico had been overthrown early in the war, and the Polk administration allowed a former President of Mexico to return from his asylum in Cuba and replace Herrera. His name was Santa Anna. For some reason, it was believed that Santa Anna was willing to negotiate a peace with the United States. Once he was in power, however, this was quickly proven wrong. Perhaps realizing the fact that he could not stay in power if he gave in to America, Santa Anna quickly announced that he would drive the Americans from Mexico and set around raising an army. The latter proved to be Santa Anna's only talent; within a short time he had raised enough forces to make the war much more difficult for the Americans to prosecute.
Meanwhile, back home, Polk was having political problems due to the war. Despite constant opposition from northerners who claimed the war was being executed only to gain slave territory, the war was very popular. However, most of the glory from the war was won not by Polk but by General Taylor. General Taylor, unfortunately, was a Whig. This was unacceptable to Polk and other powerful Democrats. Taylor was already being mentioned as a possible Whig candidate for President in 1848. Taylor had to be sidelined. Unfortunately, the other great general in America's arsenal was Winfield Scott -- another Whig. Polk toyed with the idea of creating a new position in the army that would outrank both Scott and Taylor and fill that position with a good Democrat. Unfortunately, there were no good Democratic generals to fill that position and virtually every prominent Democrat in Congress came to Polk and talked up their own military prowess in an attempt to win the spot. Polk may have been partisan, but he wisely chose to keep legislators out of the military and stick with his current generals, however Whiggish they were. When it came time to open a second front in the war by invading Mexico from the sea at Veracruz, Winfield Scott got the job.
Polk was born in Kecklenburg Country, North Carolina, in 1795. His early life provided no omens that he would grow up to be a man denounced as a warmonger. He was a frail child beset with numerous health problems, most notably severe gallstones, which he had surgically removed -- with no anasthesia or sterilization. His family moving from the somewhat civilized North Carolina to the far more frontier-like land of Tennessee certainly did not help in this regard, although it would be a fateful choice for Polk's future political career. For now, Polk, being an excellent student, decided to leave his family's new home and return to his native land to enter the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he again excelled in his studies. After graduation, he returned to Tennessee to study law. He was admitted to the Tennessee state bar in 1820. Polk's initial legal career was rather short; by 1823 he could be found running for the Tennessee state House of Representatives, to which he was elected. He then turned to his second love, Sarah Childress, a woman he met during his studies in North Carolina. James and Sarah were married in 1824. The now-married Polk served in the Tennessee state legislature until 1825. During this short period, he made a second fateful decision. At that time, US Senators were still selected by state legislatures, and, as such, Polk had a vote when Tennessee was deciding who its next Senator would be. Among the candidates was Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson, a former general and war hero (and Congressman from James K. Polk's district) who had run for President in 1824 and won a plurality of both the popular and electoral votes only to be defeated by John Quincy Adams in the House of Representatives. Jackson and his supporters were determined to win the Presidency in 1828 and viewed a Senate seat as useful towards that end. Polk became a strong supporter and admirer of Jackson, who won the seat, only to resign it later to campaign for President, who in turn began to notice and trust Polk. Appropriately enough, Polk ran for Jackson's old US House or Representatives seat and won, earning himself a useful connection to the General, as well as the nickname "Young Hickory". Young Hickory did not disappoint; he became one of Jackson's top congressional allies, especially as Speaker of the House of Representatives, a position he was elected to four times. Polk was instrumental in Jackson's war against the Bank of the United States and countless other minor issues. He showed an outstanding ability to use procedure to his advantage and could both terrify and convince audiences with his strong, austere oratory. By all accounts, he was on his way to becoming a political superstar. By 1839, Polk, seeking a more executive role, ran for Governor of Tennessee and won. Then, however, Whiggery struck. With a great economic crisis which the public blamed on President Martin Van Buren and with William Henry Harrison's ultra-populist campaign, being a Democrat was no longer the "in" thing, even in Jackson's home state. Polk lost his re-election bid in 1841 as well as an 1843 grudge match. It appeared that Young Hickory had been overhyped and that he was finished politically.
Polk still had hope, however. He was mentioned in many circles as a possible Vice-Presiential candidate for the Democratic Party in 1844. With the hopes of being nominated for the #2 slot, Polk attended the 1844 Democratic Convention in Baltimore. The most likely Presidential nominee was Martin Van Buren. Despite his crushing defeat in 1840, the abate of the economic recession and his replacement by John Tyler as the public's favorite Presidential punching bag made Martin Van Buren a viable option once again. His legendary machine-building skills would certainly be useful against Henry Clay, the formidable Whig nominee viewed as the front-runner. However, Van Buren, a northerner, had become much less pro-slavery during his four years of civilian life; so much so, in fact, that he was commonly referred to as an abolitionist. At the very least, he opposed American expansion into Texas and the West, an issue often linked with slavery, as it was believed that slaveowners wanted expansion because it could result in the creation of several new slave states. There were other candidates, of course; James Buchanan, a handsome bachelor from Pennsylvania who represented the moderate wing of the party, Lewis Cass, a general who fit into the "war hero" type that was often nominated during this time, and George M. Dallas, yet another Pennsylvanian (just like today, Pennsylvania was a state rich in electoral votes), but they were not given much of a chance against the name recognition and political talent of Van Buren. That changed drastically shortly before the convention. From his seat of informal power at The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson, the founder of the Democratic Party, sensed that expansionism, especially the acquisition of Texas and California, was growing in popularity. Jackson was worried at the fact that the leading Democratic candidate was the anti-expansionist Van Buren. Accordingly, Jackson announced, without naming anyone in particular, that a pro-expansion Democratic nominee would be best. This hurt Van Buren. While he still commanded a slight majority when the convention met to vote for a nominee, he could not match the 2/3 majority necessary to secure nomination. None of the delegates voting for Cass, Dallas, or Buchanan were willing to vote for Van Buren, and, conversely, none of the delegates supporting Van Buren were willing to change their vote to Cass, Dallas, or Buchanan. After several ballots of deadlock, the major candidates began to realize that none of them could win. It was time to move into the second tier of candidates. On the eight ballot, James K. Polk was put forward for President. On the ninth ballot, he received a majority. George M. Dallas was nominated for the #2 spot that Polk had previously hoped for. The Democratic Party quickly adopted a pro-expansionist platform calling for the annexation of Texas, the occupation of the Oregon Territory (which went as far north as 54°40', which is today part of Canada), and the acquisition of California. From Baltimore, with the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!", the Polk campaign rolled out.
The Whigs were rather amused that the famous Henry Clay would be pitted against such a relative unknown. As every schoolchild knows, they adopted the mocking slogan "Who is James K. Polk?". However, Henry Clay soon ran into troubles of his own. With an expansionist southerner as his opponent, Clay should have been the darling of the northern anti-slavery vote, the so-called "conscience Whigs" who opposed the peculiar institution as well as things such as drinking, gambling, and being Catholic on the grounds of their strong Protestantism. To court this crowd, the Whigs picked as their Vice-Presidential candidate Theodore Ferlinghuysen, a New Jersey minister and prohibition activist. There was one problem however: Clay himself. Clay was a slaveholder and a notorious gambler and drinker. Moreover, he was rumored to be an infidel. Not exactly puritan material. It wasn't long before third party candidates running on one-issue platforms, such as abolition and prohibition, began to spring up in the Northern states. Even worse, Theodore Ferlinghuysen was turning into a media laughingstock. The pious, long-winded reverend was not helping Clay with his target constituency and was driving off Catholics, drunkards, gamblers, and just about any other sinful group of voters to the Polk camp. By the summer, things were looking grim for Clay and Polk, riding an expansionist wave (the acquisition of Oregon proved to be surprisingly popular in the north, while excitement for Texas in the south was assured) to what looked more and more like a victory.
When the electors met, Polk won easily, 170 - 105. The popular vote was much closer; if the abolitionist votes were added to the Whig total in New York or Pennsylvania, Clay would have been President. Nonetheless, the nation saw the election as a mandate for expansion and manifest destiny. Before Polk even took office, President Tyler had annexed Texas. Tyler signed the annexation into law the night before he left office, infuriating Polk, who had wanted to do it himself. Polk still had more expansion planned, however. In his inaugural address, he made several references to the issue, saying in particular that to expand borders of the United States would be to expand freedom itself. Still, expansion was not the only thing on Polk's agenda. He had also pledged to reduce the tariff and to establish an independent treasury, something to alleviate the economic woes the United States had been experiencing since Old Hickory destroyed the Second Bank of the United States.
Polk achieved three of his goals relatively quickly with the aid of large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. By 1846, he had passed the Independent Treasury Act and a lower tariff. He had also concluded a peace treaty with Great Britain that divided the Oregon Territory between Great Britain and the United States and the 49th parallel, except for Vancouver Island, all of which would remain British. Although Polk had campaigned on gaining all of the Oregon Territory and the British had indicated they would give up none of it, both sides realized that full control could be won only through war and neither side particularly cared for a third Anglo-American war. The matter was settled peacefully. The fact that Polk gained only half of the Oregon Territory and not all of it may well be the farthest he ever strayed from his campaign promises.
With Oregon and Texas under US control, there remained only California for Polk to take before he could call his administration a success. There was the problem, however: California was controlled by Mexico. Polk had earlier sent an envoy to Mexico asking to purchase California plus most of the Mexican territory north of the current border. The Mexicans explained that no Mexican government would be willing to sell over half their country; it would be disastrous to their re-election chances. So, for Polk, only one option remained: war. The pretext for war was found in a dispute over the exact borders of Texas. The Mexicans claimed that Texas ended at the Nuneces river; the Americans claimed it was the Rio Grande, which was well to the former's south. To protect the American territory between the Nuneces and the Rio Grande, Polk sent in the army under the command of General Zachary Taylor. Not unsurprisingly, Taylor was attacked by Mexican forces. Claiming that Mexicans had spilled "American blood on American ground", Polk went to Congress to ask for a declaration of war. The declaration was forced through the House by the Democratic speaker and withstood the opposition of Webster and Calhoun in the Senate. The Mexican-American war had begun.
General Taylor soon won a series of victories in northern Mexico; American forces were meanwhile dispatched to California and New Mexico to claim those areas for the United States. New Mexico surrendered without a single shot being fired; California proved tricky with several rebellions and some interference due to Army/Navy rivalry, but was eventually pacified as well. However, Mexico refused to surrender. Part of the problem was a regime change that Polk had effected earlier. President Herrera of Mexico had been overthrown early in the war, and the Polk administration allowed a former President of Mexico to return from his asylum in Cuba and replace Herrera. His name was Santa Anna. For some reason, it was believed that Santa Anna was willing to negotiate a peace with the United States. Once he was in power, however, this was quickly proven wrong. Perhaps realizing the fact that he could not stay in power if he gave in to America, Santa Anna quickly announced that he would drive the Americans from Mexico and set around raising an army. The latter proved to be Santa Anna's only talent; within a short time he had raised enough forces to make the war much more difficult for the Americans to prosecute.
Meanwhile, back home, Polk was having political problems due to the war. Despite constant opposition from northerners who claimed the war was being executed only to gain slave territory, the war was very popular. However, most of the glory from the war was won not by Polk but by General Taylor. General Taylor, unfortunately, was a Whig. This was unacceptable to Polk and other powerful Democrats. Taylor was already being mentioned as a possible Whig candidate for President in 1848. Taylor had to be sidelined. Unfortunately, the other great general in America's arsenal was Winfield Scott -- another Whig. Polk toyed with the idea of creating a new position in the army that would outrank both Scott and Taylor and fill that position with a good Democrat. Unfortunately, there were no good Democratic generals to fill that position and virtually every prominent Democrat in Congress came to Polk and talked up their own military prowess in an attempt to win the spot. Polk may have been partisan, but he wisely chose to keep legislators out of the military and stick with his current generals, however Whiggish they were. When it came time to open a second front in the war by invading Mexico from the sea at Veracruz, Winfield Scott got the job.
