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James K. Polk: The American Presidents Series: The 11th President, 1845-1849 (American Presidents (Times))

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When I read about President James K. Polk's accomplishments in the swift overview history classes in school, I remember wondering why he is not more well-known. He set out four main goals that he would achieve in one term, was successful on each one, kept his promise in not running for President again, retired and died within three months of leaving office as if his life purpose was fulfilled and there was nothing more to give to the country. One cannot ask for anything more from a President. He is always highly listed in presidential rankings, but most Americans have probably never heard of him. Perhaps it is because he only served one term and succeeded and preceded two mediocre administrations (Tyler and Taylor). Serving almost 20 years before the Civil War may have also dimmed his legacy as many American history buffs focus their attention on the war years and those immediately preceding them. Secessionist grumbling, although very much present during Polk's political career, had not yet reached the boiling point. After reading the James Buchanan book of this American Presidents series, I looked forward to learning again about Polk's achievements in Seigenthaler's book.

Like all of the American Presidents series books, this biography is a brief (156 pages of actual text) overview of Polk's career. I do not fault Seigenthaler's work for being short and terse because these books are meant for the busy reader who does not have the time to read massive volumes. I do fault the author for concentrating so much on Polk's congressional career at the expense of what really made him great: his term as the 11th President of the U.S. In this book, Polk does not become President until page 102.

I agree with a previous reviewer. The one thing that sticks out in my mind after reading this book, besides Polk's extreme partisan politics and the control he wielded as President, was the urinary stone (not gallstone) operation he suffered through when 17 that probably left him sterile or impotent (pp. 19-20). On this point, Seigenthaler offers painful detail. For the rest of the book, Seigenthaler moves quickly through events, but the key things covered are how the "corrupt deal" of 1824 (putting John Quincy Adams in office) affected Polk's political aspirations (p. 33), his allegiance to Andrew Jackson in fighting Nicholas Biddle and the Second Bank of the United States (pp. 51-3), and events leading to his nomination for the Presidency. The initial front-runner for the Democratic party, former President Martin Van Buren, did not even want Polk as a VP candidate after Polk lost two gubernatorial bids in Tennessee. Van Buren and Whig candidate Henry Clay made nomination-killing decisions in opposing the annexation of Texas (a very popular cause). Polk was a Jackson disciple with the nickname "Young Hickory," but he was not a complete yes-man. For example, he sided with John C. Calhoun and against Jackson on the issue of state nullification (however, Polk was no secessionist) (p. 48). When he was elected President, Polk made his own choices when it came to the cabinet (actually, he probably favored running the entire administration himself) even when the choices disagreed with the aged Jackson's wishes (p. 112).

After describing how Polk put his cabinet together, Seigenthaler rushes through Polk's main achievements in 40 pages. His four goals were to (1) lower the tariff, (2) create an independent treasury (his Constitutional Treasury Bill would last until 1913 when it was replaced by the Federal Reserve System), (3) acquire Oregon from the British, and (4) acquire California from Mexico. One plus about this book was that I did come away from it with a greater understanding of who Polk was as a person and what motivated him. He was self-righteous almost to the point of humorless. He was a control-freak while in office and extremely partisan. He was highly critical of his generals Scott and Taylor during the war with Mexico, even though they were highly capable and successful, for no other reason than because they were Whigs. He was a strong Unionist and probably would have had a Lincoln-esque legacy if he (rather than Buchanan) were President when secessionist furor was at its height. His relationship with Secretary of State Buchanan is described here better than in the Buchanan biography in this series. The book is very well written but, content-wise, I think Polk's presidential years are found lacking.

When the Democratic party nominated the nation's first dark horse presidential candidate in 1844, the opposition Whig party responded with the cry, "Who is James Polk?" Today, many people unfamiliar with this era of the nation's history might ask the same question. Veteran journalist John Seigenthaler provides the answer in this compact, well-organized biography, the latest entry in the "American Presidents" series.

Of course, the Whigs, and the rest of the country, knew who Polk was, but they were surprised to see him contending for the highest office in the land. As a young man, Polk had risen rapidly from the Tennessee legislature to the US House of Representatives, where he was a powerful and effective speaker. He returned home to run for governor of the state, seeing that position as his eventual springboard to the presidency. He served a single two-year term in the statehouse, but lost the next two elections. Most in the political arena thought Polk's fortunes were in eclipse before his surprising emergence as the Democratic nominee and subsequent victory over Henry Clay in the general election.

Polk promised to serve only one term in the presidency, a pledge that he kept. He also laid out four principal goals for his administration--a lower tariff, restoration of an independent national treasury, and securing Oregon and California for the United States. He accomplished all of these, the most challenging being the acquisition of California, which came at the price of an unpopular war with Mexico.

Historians have consistently rated Polk as among the presidential greats or near-greats. But he has little historical resonance with the public in comparison with outsized figures such as Washington, Jackson, Lincoln and the Roosevelts. Seigenthaler explains this as being a product of Polk's colorless, humorless, driven personality. He quotes extensively from Polk's presidential diary to illustrate the rivalries and jealousies that often seemed to control his thoughts and actions. While he may have been a small man in some ways, Polk accomplished great things, Seigenthaler concludes...and that's why his life and career are worthy of greater acknowledgment today.--William C. Hall

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. is the overall editor of the "American Presidents" series. This features short biographies of American presidents, their backgrounds, their accomplishments (or lack thereof), and their post-presidency lives. The purpose of this series, in Schlesinger's words (Page xvi): "It is the aim of the American Presidents series to present the grand panorama of our chief executives in volumes compact enough for the busy reader, lucid enough for the students, authoritative enough for the scholar."


Nicknamed "Little Hickory," after Andrew Jackson, as his political career matured, James K. Polk is routinely judged to be one of the better American presidents. However, for the most part, he is little known to most Americans. This book provides a basis for understanding why his reputation among historians is so positive. The author, John Siegenthaler, insists that (Pages 1-2): "In the nineteenth century, only Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and Abraham Lincoln would wield the power of the office of chief magistrate as effectively."

The book discusses his family background and his youth. He had some serious medical problems, leading to surgery in a time where surgery was not far from butchery. He was intellectually rigid, not very imaginative, was incapable of thinking outside the box. Yet he was talented and determined to achieve his goals.

Early in his career, "Old Hickory" and Polk became allies. It was a relationship that would redound greatly to Polk's benefit. He was a firm Democrat, in Jackson's tradition. In the 1820s, he was elected to the House of Representatives. After Jackson's accession to the Presidency, Polk served as one of his champions in Congress, eventually becoming Speaker of the House.

Then, he returned to Tennessee to run for Governor. He triumphed. However, after this, his political luck disappeared, as he became a two time loser. In the run-up to the presidential race in 1844, his only desire was to become the Vice-Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. He became the first "dark horse" candidate to be nominated as President (the machinations are worth reading!) and then elected to the highest office in the land. He had promised to serve only one time and listed 4 goals that he intended to achieve, including the admission of Texas into the Union.

After many struggles and much pain, he succeeded. However, the tough years in the White House had an effect on him, and he was dead shortly after his term ended.

This book is a good read; it is relatively brief (156 pages of text); it lays out why he is rated so highly, although one can surely disagree with his positions. I would recommend this highly for what it is--a brief introduction to a person who is rated as one of our better presidents.

James K. Polk promised to do four things as president: Lower tariffs; reinstitute an independent treasury; acquire Oregon from the British; acquire California from Mexico. He did all four. He also promised -- and again delivered on that promise - to serve only one term as president. Shortly after retiring from the presidency, Polk died. The knowledge of his deeds seems to have barely outlived him.

Why has Polk's record been so little studied when compared to the recognition given other accomplished presidents? John Seigenthaler believes that it is in part due to the man's character. He was cold and distant from everyone but his wife; he had no hero-worshippers or sycophants who could burnish his reputation after his death; he left no distinct image of himself that captured the public's imagination. He simply did what he said he was going to do and then he left the stage.

Polk's rise to the presidency was fortuitous. A sickly boy, who at seventeen had life-threatening surgery that probably left him sterile, Polk was a good university student who went into the law and then into politics. From the beginning of his political career, he was a Democrat with strong ties to Andrew Jackson, ties which would serve him well when his political career later took a turn for the worse.

Seigenthaler, a native Tennessean, is at his best when describing the relationship between the two Tennesseans, Polk and Jackson. At first, Polk was no one's choice for the Presidency in 1948. He had failed in his last two elections. But through his connection to Jackson, careful maneuvering, and the careless errors of the frontrunners, Polk emerged as the winner. Surprisingly, once elected, he acted as if he was his own man, taking little consideration of the views of men (including Jackson) who helped elect him.

I knew of Polk's reputation and some of his accomplishments before this book, but I had never read a biography of the man. This is a good introduction - it's well-written and long enough to hit on all the highlights of Polk's life without committing yourself to a full biography.

Seigenthaler's book on James K. Polk is a brief, but highly informative biography on one of our nation's most obscure, yet accomplished presidents. Polk didn't possess the stature of Washington, the eloquence of Lincoln, or the charisma or magnetic personality attributed to the Roosevelts, but he acted and did what he set out to do.

The author traces Polk's early years in rural North Carolina, which were important years in that he was early on shaped by his family's strong adherence to Jeffersonian Republicanism. While his family shared this common political outlook, they weren't as unified in terms of religion, his mother was a devout Presbyterian, but his father and grandfather had their own views after some confrontations with their minister, topics that are discussed by the author. Polk himself wasn't baptized until near the very end of his life.

Like other presidents born in North Carolina, Polk moved west to Tennessee. He became a serious student and excelled at UNC-Chapel Hill. He began a public service career that became quite impressive, serving in Tennessee's state legislature, the U.S. House of Representatives, also serving as Speaker of the House, governor of Tennessee, and U.S. President for one term, which was a pledge he imposed on himself and indeed kept.

Polk's religion was politics, as Seigenthaler stated, and his political idol was Andrew Jackson. Polk steadfastly supported Old Hickory throughout his political career, appropriately earning the nickname Young Hickory. But he also learned from his mentor's mistakes. Polk appeared dead politically by 1844. He had lost two bids for governor and failed to deliver Tennessee's electoral votes to the Van Buren ticket in 1840. But by the time of the Democratic Convention, with skillful political maneuvering, Polk emerged as the "Dark Horse" candidate, was nominated and went on to defeat Henry Clay in the general election, albeit by a very narrow margin.

Polk established a set of goals that he completed by the end of his four years as president and they were: establishing an independent treasury, settling the Oregon boundary dispute with Great Britain, lowering the tariffs, and acquiring California. He accomplished all these goals. Because of this impressive record, many historians have ranked Polk as a near-great president. But the acquisition of California and much of the Southwest through war fought with Mexico has left a major stain on Polk's legacy.

The Mexican-American War is certainly subject to fair criticism, let's face it, it was all about taking more land, and if that meant war, so be it. The war's consequences, which would inevitably involve the question of slavery and that institution's extension, were all part of a ticking time bomb that would explode a decade later. Blaming Polk to an extent is fair, but we must also understand the time period, the obsession with westward expansion, Manifest Destiny as it has been called, a term which Polk epitomizes better than any other president. Polk was also a slaveholder, though he wasn't as rabid as others like John C. Calhoun. Polk was a creature of his time.

Polk's personality has also led many to consider him unpalatable. He was an austere man, could be petty, stubborn, arrogant and excessively partisan, traits that don't usually win admiration, but do demonstrate his humanness. He was however free from personal scandal, at least as far as I know. He was unquestionably a workhorse, and others during the time noticed how he looked aged beyond his years. He died only months after retiring.

I've gone on too long, but I highly recommend this book. I personally thought it was a little too short in areas, but overall a good biography of a relatively obscure president who accomplished quite a bit in only one term, though not free from controversy.

This is a great political biography. It is well written and easy to read while really getting across the facts and details. This book really got the spirit and life of Polk across while still really getting the political issues of the time and making them understandable to any reader. Definitely a book to read if you are interested in Polk, the Presidency or this political era.

The American Presidents' series has offered many a good mini-biography of most of our presidents. I've read a number of them but this one about James K. Polk by John Siegenthaler, is one of the more curious. A good political romp it is, but much is left out.

Polk, underrated or even unknown by most Americans, had an agenda upon taking office and was largely successful by its conclusion. His acquisition of the Oregon Territory, California and geographic spoils from the Mexican War have been known to Americans (from history classes)for years and Siegenthaler takes time to explore and explain how and why these were important to the United States and how President Polk, often singlehandedly, had to win over friends and foes to his side. Polk left the United States a much larger country when his term was over and he deserves much of the credit.

What makes Siegenthaler's look at Polk fascinating is the number of presidents, past and future, whom Polk knew. John Quincy Adams, whose presidency came from political "fixing" loomed large early on in Polk's life. Andrew Jackson, the one closest to Polk and his political mentor, figures much in this book, as he should. Martin Van Buren, a rival for many years, is prominent in Polk's life and even the hapless John Tyler, who fancied a full term on his own, garners Polk's attention. Polk had no use for the hero of the Mexican War, Zachary Taylor, whose political ambitions got in the way of his military successes, in the eyes of our eleventh president. Even Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson had connections with the Polk presidency and lastly, Harry Truman weighed in on Polk one hundred years later, commending him as a near-great president.

What this book lacks is much of the personal Polk. It was understood that he was humorless and rigid, but beyond that Polk never seems to come to life in this volume, nor does his wife, the vivacious Sarah Childress Polk. It's too bad, because it would have given us a better balance to a president who, while not necessarily misunderstood, is nonetheless reduced because of personality peculiarities. Siegenthaler's attempts at discerning President Polk are noble, but fall short of the mark.

This is a concise and factual biography of James K. Polk, 11th President of the US. Seigenthaler is interested only in the life and career of Polk, not in the "age" in which he lived, which is why the book is only 200 pages long, and why there is not a lot of speculation or "background" in it.

Polk was born in 1795 in North Carolina, though he moved with his family to Tennessee at the age of ten. Sickly as a youth, he underwent a painful and dangerous operation to remove gallstones when he was 17 (whether this caused impotency which left him and his wife childless is speculation). Classically educated at the University of North Carolina, he later studied law with the idea of entering politics. He was elected to the Tennessee legislature in 1823 and served in Congress from 1825-1839. A Democrat, he resigned from Congress in 1839 to become governor of Tennessee, though he lost to the Whigs after serving only one term. A dark-horse candidate at the Democratic national convention in Baltimore in 1844, he was nominated and ran for President against Henry Clay, winning election after a nasty personal campaign was waged by both candidates.

Territorial expansion was the major issue of the campaign and Polk's presidency. The Mexican War took place in 1846, and Polk wanted to annex Texas immediately; with US forces victorious and the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the US acquired half-a-million square miles of new territory. During his presidency the Oregon boundary dispute was also settled.

Polk was President for only one term, which was his intention; many historians rank him the best of the one-term Presidents. Shortly after leaving the White House, he toured the Gulf Coast states, probably contracting cholera in New Orleans; always sickly and tiring quickly throughout his life, he never recovered from this disease and died at his home in Nashville in June 1849.

Seigenthaler obviously admires his subject, though he doesn't idolize him. Polk seems not to have been a very creative or curious man (John Q. Adams said he had "no wit, no literature, no elegance, no philosophy ..."), but applied himself fervantly to whatever was at hand, giving his all according to his abilities; most impressive to Seigenthaler was Polk's ability to learn from his mistakes. This is a worthy addition to the American Presidents Series, and is an excellent source for anyone interested in Polk. Highly recommended.

Between the presidencies of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, there was a line of mostly undistinguished presidents. There was one who stood out; James Knox Polk. He wasn't charismatic and he had his weaknesses. He was humorless, partisan, carried grudges, and had an ego which made it hard for him to delegate responsibility. Hailing from Tennessee, he was a protegee of Andrew Jackson. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives but left the House to run for governor of Tennessee. He was elected but lost his bid for re-election. He tried again and was again defeated. From this position of political weakness, he ascended to the presidency. The favorites were the Whig, Henry Clay and the Democrat, former president Martin Van Buren. Both however, made a fatal mistake; they came out against the annexation of Texas. That cost Van Buren the nominaion and led ultimately to the Democratic convention turning to Polk as a dark horse candidate.

He defeated perennial candidate Clay and set four goals, all of which he achieved. He was against the national bank and instead was for a strong federal treasury. Secondly, he wanted to resolve the divisive tariff issue and, to the consternation of many northerners, lowered tariffs. Third, he wanted to acquire the Oregon territory and, in the famous fiftyfour forty or fight showdown with Britain, he aquired it up to the 49th parallel. Finally, he wanted to acquire California. After using a territorial dispute with Mexico as to the border of Texas as an excuse to go to war, he reached that goal as part of the settlement after the war ended.

He was the president of manifest destiny. He made the United States a continental nation. His achievements rank him among the top ten or so presidents. However, the acquisition of territory from Mexico was achieved through an unpopular war. Abraham Lincoln, who was a congressman at the time, among many others, opposed this war. Also, the reason the post Jackson presidents were so weak and undistinguished is because they did little to help resolve issues regarding slavery and, instead led us on a course towards disunion and Civil War. Polk was no better on this issue. Indeed, he claimed to believe slavery was an evil but he never made any strong statement to that effect. By his own choice, he was a one term prsident so, he had nothing to lose politically but, he showed very little leadership on this issue which was dividing the nation.

Author John Seigenthaler did a remarkable job in this short biography. There were many complex political issues in Polk's career. The nation was divided between Jacksonian Democrats and Whigs. There were numerous political machinations involved in Polk's advancing his political career, and Seigenthaler, in relatively few pages, manages to get into the heart of these issues. The American President Series is an excellent group of short presidential biographies, and this effort by Seigenthaler is one of the best of this fine series.

If James K. Polk hadn't very unexpectedly become president of the United States in 1845, nobody today would have heard of him. The accomplishments he is remembered for -- the annexation of Texas, the acquiring of Oregon Territory from Britain, the War with Mexico and resultant annexation of New Mexico and California -- he was able to accomplish only BECAUSE he became president. So why does John Seigenthaler devote less than forty of 156 pages of text to Polk's presidency in his book, JAMES K. POLK?

JAMES K. POLK is one of "The American Presidents" series which are supposed to concentrate on the PRESIDENCIES of the chief executives, not the whole lives of the men themselves. Admitted, exploring the biographical and historical background and the process by which particular individuals are able to win the White House over the opposition of many other contenders is essential to understanding the presidencies they spawn -- doubly so in Polk's case as America's first "dark horse" president. But the other equally short contributions to this series are quite capable of covering such material in the first thirty or forty pages of text, leaving the remaining one hundred plus to discuss the presidency itself. Given the constraints of this series and the incredible presidency that was to be Polk's, it is Seigenthaler's DUTY to do the same.

I bought this book to learn how a president, whom I knew very little about, was able in four short years to create, for better or worse, a United States that finally spread "from sea to shinning sea". Thirty some pages is nowhere near enough text to discuss the complications that Polk had to deal with in his War with Mexico alone, particularly when Polk thought he could annex California WITHOUT going to war. Seigenthaler hardly mentions the problems that the obstinate Democrat Polk had with his two equally headstrong Whig generals, Taylor and Scott, or the increasingly fierce opposition he faced as the war dragged on and on. Ditto for the Oregon Territory dispute with the British. He devotes more text to Polk's establishing an independent Treasury and lowering the import tariffs, but these achievements pale in comparison to the previous two

Seigenthaler wastes far more text telling the story of how the washed-up ex-governor from Tennessee hoping for the vice-presidential candidacy, won the 1844 Democratic Party's presidential nomination instead when neither of the two top contenders could secure a majority. Then Seigenthaler proceeds with an almost equally long description of the campaign itself -- during which Polk did NOT make public campaign promises to annex California and gain the Oregon border treaty with England, but merely promised to accept the annexation of Texas and serve only one term. The "four goals" that he had for his presidency he first confided to his secretary of the navy AFTER becoming president (check out pp. 102, 3).

Imagine a book of some one hundred fifty pages about another rather obscure ex-congressman from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln that devotes less than forty to his presidency and barely mentions the Civil War. Change the main character and you've got John Seigenthaler's JAMES K. POLK.