Thomas J. Watson

Serendipitously, mere days before Polk intended to make his request to Congress, he received word that Mexican forces had crossed the Rio Grande area and killed eleven American troops. As negotiations continued to prove fruitless, Polk prepared to ask Congress for a declaration of war. In January 1846, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to lead his troops into the area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande—territory that was claimed by both Texas and Mexico. Although Slidell was prepared to offer up to $40 million, the Mexicans, angered by the annexation of Texas, refused to bargain.

In 1845, Polk had sent a diplomat, John Slidell, to Mexico to negotiate the purchase of California and New Mexico. The President turned his attention to the acquisition of California, and in this case, he was prepared to go to war if necessary (see the Mexican-American War). The portion of Oregon acquired by the United States would later form the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and parts of the states of Montana and Wyoming. Although there were many who still clamored for the whole of Oregon, the treaty was approved by the Senate.

The treaty divided the Oregon Country between the two countries along the 49th parallel. Polk preferred to accept a compromise offered by the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Aberdeen, and ratified the Oregon Treaty. Though he had campaigned on the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight," Polk was not prepared to wage war with the British, especially when the acceptance of Texas into the Union had already made Mexico a hostile power. Since 1818, Oregon had been under the joint occupation and control of Britain and the United States; Polk, however, demanded sovereignty over the whole territory.

Polk also sought to address the Oregon boundary dispute. This move, however, angered Mexico, which had offered Texas its independence on the condition that it should not attach itself to any other nation. The Republic of Texas did not accept the offer until later in the year, after Polk entered office; it officially became a part of the Union only on December 29, 1845. Tyler had acted quickly because he feared British designs on Texas.

President Tyler urged Congress to pass a joint resolution admitting Texas to the Union; Congress complied on February 28, 1845. Before Polk entered office, his predecessor, John Tyler, interpreted his victory as a mandate for the annexation of Texas. The Independent Treasury Act, however, incurred the displeasure of many pro-bank Democrats. After Polk re-established it, the Independent Treasury continued to remain in existence until 1920.

The Independent Treasury, created by the Democrats in 1840, had been abolished by the Whigs in 1841. In the same year, Polk also approved an enactment restoring the Independent Treasury system, under which government funds were held in the Treasury, rather than in banks or other financial institutions. Polk's actions were popular in the South and West; however, they earned him the contempt of many protectionists in the Northeast. The new law abandoned ad valorem tariffs; instead, rates were made independent of the monetary value of the product.

Walker, the Secretary of the Treasury), which represented a substantial reduction of the high Whig-backed Tariff of 1842. Congress approved the Walker Tariff (named after Robert J. In 1846, Polk proceeded to carry out his domestic agenda, but at the cost of much discontent in his own party. In just four years, he would oversee the accomplishment of all his objectives.

Resolved to serve only one term, Polk acted swiftly to fulfill his campaign promises. Polk set four clearly defined goals for his administration: the re-establishment of the independent treasury, the reduction of tariffs, the settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute, and the acquisition of California from Mexico. When he took office on March 4, 1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest man to assume the presidency up to his time. Polk was the first, and as of 2005 the only, former Speaker of the House of Representatives to be elected President.

Dallas, became Vice President. Polk's fellow Democrat, George M. Polk won the popular vote by a margin of over 38,000, and took the Electoral College with 170 votes to Clay's 105. Birney.

Polk won the crucial state of New York, where Clay lost supporters to the third-party candidate James G. In the election, Polk won in the South and West, while Clay drew support in the Northeast. Polk's consistent support for westward expansion—in the words of John O'Sullivan, the "Manifest Destiny" of the United States—proved beneficial to his campaign. His campaign slogan became "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight.".

Polk again vigorously championed the cause of expansion, forcefully suggesting that the United States acquire the entire territory, whose northern boundary was the parallel 54°40'. Another significant campaign issue, also relating to westward expansion, involved control of the Oregon Country, then under the joint occupation of the United States and the United Kingdom. Polk was a strong proponent of immediate annexation, while Clay seemed more equivocal and vacillating. The question of the annexation of Texas, which was at the forefront during the Democratic Convention, once again dominated the campaign.

Tyler, however, had become estranged from his party, and did not seek a second term; Polk's Whig opponent was, instead, Henry Clay of Kentucky. The Whig incumbent, John Tyler, had become President when William Henry Harrison died a month after assuming office. I have never sought it, nor should I feel at liberty to decline it, if conferred upon me by the voluntary suffrages of my fellow citizens.". When advised of his nomination letter, Polk replied: "It has been well observed that the office of President of the United States should neither be sought nor declined.

Polk?". Despite having served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, he was relatively unknown, leading many Whigs to snipe, "Who is James K. The eighth ballot was also indecisive, but on the ninth, the convention unanimously nominated Polk, who had by then obtained Van Buren's endorsement. After six more ballots, when it became clear that Van Buren would not win the required majority, Polk was put forth as a "dark horse" candidate.

Van Buren won a simple majority on the convention's first ballot, but did not attain the two-thirds supermajority required for nomination. Van Buren opposed the annexation, but in doing so lost the support of many Democrats, including Andrew Jackson. The primary point of political contention involved the Republic of Texas, which, after declaring independence from Mexico in 1836, had asked to join the United States. The leading contender for the presidential nomination was former President Van Buren; other candidates included Lewis Cass and James Buchanan.

As the Democratic convention began on May 27, 1844, Polk hoped for the vice-presidential nomination. He challenged Jones in 1843, but was defeated once again. Jones, in 1841. Polk lost his own gubernatorial re-election bid to a Whig, James C.

In the presidential election of 1840, Van Buren was overwhelmingly defeated by a popular Whig, William Henry Harrison. Though he revitalized Democrats in Tennessee, his victory could not put a stop to the political decline of the Democratic Party elsewhere in the nation. Leaving Congress in 1839, Polk became a candidate in the Tennessee gubernatorial election, defeating fellow Democrat Newton Cannon by about 2,500 votes. In 1838, the political situation in Tennessee—where, in 1835, Democrats had lost the governorship for the first time in their party's history—convinced Polk not to seek another term in the House of Representatives.

Van Buren's term was a period of heated political rivalry between the Democrats and the Whigs, with the latter often subjecting Polk to insults, invective, and challenges to duels. Soon after Polk became Speaker in 1835, Jackson left office, to be succeeded by fellow Democrat Martin Van Buren. As Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, he lent his support to the President in the conflict over the National Bank. This behavior earned him the nickname "Young Hickory," an allusion to Andrew Jackson's sobriquet, "Old Hickory." After Jackson defeated Adams in the presidential election of 1828, Polk rose in prominence, becoming the leader of the pro-Administration faction in Congress.

In Congress, Polk was a firm supporter of Jacksonian principles; he opposed the Second Bank of the United States, favored gold and silver over paper money, and preferred agricultural interests over industrial ones. In his first speech, Polk expressed his belief that the House's decision to choose Adams was a violation of the will of the people; he even proposed (unsuccessfully) that the Electoral College be abolished. Crawford) had obtained a majority of the electoral vote, allowing the House of Representatives to select the victor. Though Jackson had won the popular vote, neither he nor any of the other candidates (John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and William H.

Polk succeeded, but Jackson was defeated. In 1824, Jackson ran for President, while Polk campaigned for the House of Representatives. Polk became a supporter and close friend of Andrew Jackson, then the leading politician of Tennessee. Polk's oratory became popular, earning him the nickname "Napoleon of the Stump." He courted Sarah Childress, and they married on January 1, 1824.

The first public office he held was that of Chief Clerk of the Senate of Tennessee (1821–1823); he resigned the position in order to run his successful campaign for the state legislature. Polk was brought up as a Jeffersonian Democrat, for his father and grandfather were strong supporters of Thomas Jefferson. Polk was admitted to the bar in 1820, and established his own practice in Columbia. He graduated in 1818, returning to Nashville to study law under Felix Grundy.

After less than three years at the school, he left Tennessee to enroll in the University of North Carolina. He later attended a school in Murfreesboro, where he met his future wife, Sarah Childress. His formal education began at the age of 18, when he joined a religious school near his home. Polk was only educated informally during his childhood.

Polk survived the risky surgery, enjoying better health during the rest of his life. Ephraim McDowell conducted an operation to remove his gallstones. In 1812, his father took him to Kentucky, where the then-famous surgeon Dr. During his childhood, Polk suffered from poor health.

The family grew prosperous, with Samuel Polk becoming one of the leading gentlemen of the area. In 1806, the Polk family moved to Tennessee, settling near Duck River in what is now called Maury County. His father, Samuel Polk, was a farmer and surveyor of Scots-Irish descent, and related to Scottish nobility; his mother, Jane Polk (née Knox) was a descendant of the Scottish religious reformer John Knox. Polk, the first of ten children, was born on his family's 250 acre (1 km²) farm in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

. Naval Academy and the Washington Monument, and the issuance of the first postage stamps in the United States. He also oversaw the opening of the U.S. His term is remembered for the largest expansion of the nation's boundaries since the Louisiana Purchase, through the negotiated establishment of the Oregon Territory and the acquisition of 1.2 million square miles (3,100,000 km²) through the Mexican-American War.

He is noted for his expansionist beliefs, for his pledge to serve only one term, and for becoming the first "dark horse" (a candidate who unexpectedly gains the party nomination) to win the presidency. He is (as of 2005) the only former Speaker of the House to become President. A Democrat, Polk served as Speaker of the House (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841) prior to becoming president. Polk was born in North Carolina, but mostly lived in and represented the state of Tennessee.

James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the eleventh President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1845 to March 4, 1849. Wisconsin – May 29, 1848. Iowa – December 28, 1846. Texas – December 29, 1845.

Robert Cooper Grier (1846). Levi Woodbury (1845).