Customer Reviews

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Overall an interesting and well-written book on the political life of President James K. Polk. The primary focus of the book and Polk's presidency was foreign policy, specifically the expansion of the United States, both through shrewd negotiation and gamesmanship (with Great Britain to acquire the Oregon Territory) and a dubious, but ultimately successful war to acquire the territory from Texas to the Pacific Ocean (the Mexican War). Borneman makes a good case that Polk was one of our most successful and significant presidents, but I would have liked to learn more about Polk the man beyond the fact that he was often in poor health and was a micro-manager. I would also have liked more about First Lady Sarah Polk. Besides Polk, the book also introduces the reader to an interesting cast of supporting players such as President John Tyler, Polk's ever-changeable Secretary of State James Buchanan, and the pompous and self-serving Gideon Pillow. One final quibble: Maybe this is just me, but I found Borneman's habit of referring to people by their nicknames ("Old Hickory", "Red Fox", "Old Rough and Ready", etc.) kind of irritating, but still a good read.

This biography recounts the life of James K. Polk, our eleventh president and the strongest president in the quarter-century between the presidencies of Jackson and Lincoln.

Polk was Andrew Jackson's protégé, and the book traces Polk's path through the House of Representatives to the Tennessee governorship. In the cliffhanger election of 1844, Polk became the youngest elected president to that point in American history. Polk served as chief executive during a time when railroads and the telegraph were rapidly changing America, when there was lively debate over westward expansion, when the conflict over slavery was slowly heating up, and when settlers were heading west on the Oregon Trail.

The book demonstrates how American politics of the 1840s had many similarities to the politics of today. Then as now, politicians jockeyed for their party's presidential nomination years in advance, there were third-party spoilers, and there were even campaign biographies of the candidates published in the presidential election year. Polk's experience also shows that the presidency had already become a taxing, all-consuming job even by middle of the nineteenth century.

The book outlines the border disputes and negotiations with Britain and Mexico concerning Oregon and the Southwest--had some of the negotiations turned out differently, our country's total land area could have been much larger or much smaller than it is today. Polk also wanted to purchase Cuba from Spain.

A brief history of the Mexican War is included, and the book relates how during this period the power to declare war migrated from Congress (where it had been during the War of 1812) to the presidency.

Polk's legacy is marred by his position on slavery, but his territorial acquisitions make him one of the most consequential presidents of the nineteenth century.

While I would recommend "Polk" to all fans of the period I would caution that it seems to lack a little in the life of the man. While I doubt that this is the fault of the biographer since outside of his presidential diary - Polk did not leave a large written record. Borneman deicated less than 20 pages to Polk's early life, and hardly mentions his times growing up in Pineville, N.C. - my question is this because there is little known or was it left out to help the book flow?

Having mentioned this fault, I do find the book to be both readable and entertaining. In fact, Broneman has written one of the best political accounts of the turmaoil that lasted between the end of Jackson's term and the end of Polk's.

My final tally - if you are looking for a biography that is an equal of "John Adams" you may be disappoined, but if you are looking for an interesting overview of the 1830's and 1840's.. you probably have found the very best possible book!

Score "B+"

One of the main contentions of Walter R. Borneman in "Polk" is that the "Dark Horse" label does not truly apply to James K. Polk. In agreeing with this statement, one might only contend that history's retrospective review of Polk's presidency often trivializes his accomplishments. Thus, he may be seen as a "dark horse" in the pantheon of great presidents.

In comparison to other biographies on Polk, this may be the most complete. As I suspect other readers did, I felt I learned a great deal reading this book. At times the dialogue becomes too engulfed in military speak, but this is a forgiveable offense. Westward expansion did engage the United States in significant conflict. As a result, much of the text during Polk's presidency is focused in the conflict.

James K. Polk only sought one term as president. Unlike Borneman, some biographers have recorded this as a boastful and perhaps arrogant belief that Polk could accomplish all he wanted in one term. In fact, Polk was simultaneously appeasing the whigs that wanted a one term limit and the democrats to support him in the hopes that they could win the White House in four years. Polk expressed four goals for his presidential term: reduce the tariff, establish an independent treasury, acquire the Oregon territory, and acquire New Mexico and California from Mexico. Although Texas was a central focus of Polk's campaign, it would be admitted to the Union only weeks before Polk took office.

Polk was unpopular among certain colleagues. For this reason, the legacy of Polk is somewhat forgotten. Living only 103 days after leaving the White House also did not help to highlight his legacy. More than 150 years after Polk's death, people are awakening to Polk's importance in American history. The biography penned by Walter R. Borneman is commendable in moving toward this progress. It may be the best written, most thorough biography of Polk available.

I didn't know squat about James Polk and now I do. Isn't that the point.

The period between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln is by far the least studied period of my "historical hobby." I picked this book up on a business trip in Canada and read it in a week.

First, it is an easy read. It goes into just enough detail to keep you interested but not too much detail to cause you to lose interest. Second, the book is not long for no reason. I've read a lot of biographers and many times I think authors want to write a 900+ page account of someone just because they think people will think it is better or more complete if it is 900+ pages instead of 300+.

I couldn't disagree more. This book was the perfect length. Polk was a one-term President who didn't serve in congress during critical legislation. The big thing about Polk was American expansionism and the author treats that in very fine fashion.

I really enjoyed this book completely and would recommend it to anyone wanting a solid account of Polk the man and Polk the President. If you are a "Polk" lover than maybe you should read something more detailed but for a guy like me it was perfect.

This book by Walter Borneman is very much political history. There is no character analysis of Polk, and very few anecdotes that provide a window into the personality of the man and/or his wife.

If you choose to read this book, what you'll get is an interesting account of James Polk the politician, as well as the major political issues of his time. Most of the book deals with Polk's presidency, and Borneman does a very thorough job. At times the author spends a great deal of time on issues related to but not directly dealing with Polk, which can cause the reader to get lost. But if you're looking for a very sound treatment of this interesting period of American history, as well as one of the most underrated presidents our country has had, then this book will get the job done.

Borneman's book is generally an easy read. It's pro-Polk, and I felt like he gave Polk a pass on some issues for which he probably deserved more criticism (slavery), but it's hardly a Polk love fest. It's reasonably balanced, and it's got a nice conclusion in which Borneman argues Polk's merits. There should be more books of this caliber on presidents not named Lincoln, Roosevelt, Washington, Jefferson or Kennedy.

Polk
The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America
By Walter R. Borneman


If asked to name those who have served as President of the United States, few average Americans would be able to offer more than a handful of names. Among those least likely to be named is that of James Knox Polk our eleventh president. Yet, in a 1948 poll of leading historians conducted by the late Arthur Schlesinger, Polk ranked tenth in a list of twenty-nine. Why, one wonders, would a former president rank so highly among historians, while remaining comparatively unknown to the average American? In his new biography of Polk, historian Walter R. Borneman (1812 The War That Forged A Nation and The French and Indian War) takes a fresh look at Polk, the man and his presidency.
The period between the administrations of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln has sometimes been seen as something of a drought, lacking a forceful, dynamic president. Yet as Borneman skillfully points out, Polk proved, by far, to be the strongest of the pre-Civil War presidents, greatly expanding the executive powers of the office and acquiring a huge chunk of territory for the U.S. Interestingly enough he accomplished all of this as a one-term president, having vowed at the outset not to run for reelection.
The author's captivating style illuminates Polk's life and his not inconsiderable accomplishments as president. It was Polk who, in 1844, finally settled the long disputed Oregon question that brought the present states of Oregon and Washington into the Union and in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War it was Polk's political adroitness (through the Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo) that also added California and virtually all of the Southwest. Thus, with the exception of a small strip of extreme southern Arizona and New Mexico (added five years later in 1853 with the Gadsden Purchase), Polk completed the formation of the contiguous United States. No president since Thomas Jefferson added as much territory to the U.S. as Polk: more than a million square miles of territory. Polk also played an active role in bringing Texas into the Union.

Polk The Man Who Transformed the Presidency is an insightful and beautifully written biography that will doubtless move Polk from the shadows of history into the forefront of those chief executives who have had a dramatic impact on the development of the United States.

There have been many well written reviews on this book that make valid points. Having just finished the book I will share my thoughts in a brief manner.

Before reading this book I did not know much about Polk and truly how influential and great a President he was. I enjoyed gaining a better understanding of how he expanded the power of the President, how Texas, California, Oregon, etc (Utah, Washington, Arizona, eventually) become part of the United States and how crucial a role Polk played.

I knew we fought a war with Mexico but enjoyed reading what lead to war and what were the sticking points. I found it even more interesting to read the names of future Civial War generals and figures that were fighting under the same banner but were destined to fight against each other.

In my opinion Polk is underrated in they minds of Americans in general. Scholars and historians might know better and give him his credit due in shaping our country but the layman does not. I think anyone that reads this book will come away with an understanding that much is owed to Polks presidency.

I'm on a quest to read a biography about every American President (yes, I'm a history nerd) and my latest conquest was James K. Polk. Someone passed along some information on this book and Polk was someone I didn't know much about, so I thought I would give it a try.

Overall, the book was just okay. At times, it felt like the story got bogged down in details, without giving me a good grasp on the type of person Polk was. In particular, I felt like the accounts of the Mexican-American War were pretty tedious. I'll admit, I'm not much of a military historian and there may be people out there that find different military movements and strategy interesting, but it just ain't me. By focusing so much on the military stuff, the book and the story really moved away from Polk - in fact, if that part were trimmed down or simplified, the book could have been shorter without losing any of the insight provided into Polk's presidency.

I did glean a few key take-aways from this book:

- Polk was the last "big" Jackson protegé.
- Polk had four clear goals for his time as President and was able to achieve all of them in just one term. In fact, he announced at the start of his term that he wouldn't serve two and was still able to make all of his goals happen. This is really unusual.
- Polk was a bit of a micro-manager as President.

And while I took these things away and still remember them, they stuck with me more because the author repeated these points multiple times than because the story truly demonstrated them.

With biographies like this one, I enjoy learning about the influential people in the main character's life - with Polk it was Jackson and Polk's wife, Sarah. I have a good grip on Jackson because of my own previous reading and because Borneman highlighted their relationship quite a bit. However, I really would have liked to learn more about Polk's wife. From the little bit of information included in the book, it sounds like they had an incredibly strong and loving relationship. Borneman provides an epilogue focused entirely on Sarah, but mentions very little about her in the rest of the book. Supposedly Polk's last words were, "I love you, Sarah, for all eternity, I love you." A pretty powerful statement, but even after reading the book, I don't understand why those were his last words!

I like my history and biographies to tell a story and the good ones do. I feel like this book kind of lost sight of the story in favor of the details.

Bottom Line: A decent start, but I feel like I need to read at least one other book about Polk before I can really "get" him. Three stars.

James Polk, I learned from Walter Borneman, set four objectives for his presidency and achieved them. Two of those objectives resulted in a 38% increase in US land mass, fulfilling the manifest destiny yearnings of his era. Polk ranks high among historians but is unknown among the general population. Andrew Jackson, his mentor, accomplished a lot less and lives on in the national consciousness and the $20 bill.

This book won't bring Polk's legacy forward, but for those who are interested it does a good job of defining his presidency. The book shows how Polk met the constraints any manager meets, the biggest of which are people problems. A century before Peter Drucker, Polk demonstrates the ability to set a goal and focus.

Borneman does little to define Polk's character or personality. You do not feel you know Polk, nor any other key people of this time. One example is that while Sarah Polk's name appears here and there and is defined in 2 page summary at the end, the reader really doesn't see what that role is. Is she an assistant or hostess? Confidante or an advisor? What did she influence and how?

Polk's cabinet and army included not just rivals but contenders for his position. Each had a reason to minimize his achievements and with Polk's death, so soon after his presidency, this has to be a big factor in halting his influence and historical presence. Polk had no heir carry his flame. He had no wealth to found a university or hospital. There was no big constituency with an interest in preserving his name.

If his presidency were to be viewed today, among the general public, Polk might still not achieve the status the historians accord him. Americans, proud of their coast to coast country, might not approve of Polk's means of achieving it. Also Polk was not only a slave owner, but also was a preserver of the status quo on this issue.

This book can serve as a basis for later works. Its author puts forward a lot of important material. Borneman didn't inspire my interest in Polk, (and irritated me with nick names - "Old Bullion", "Rough and Ready", "The Red Fox") but he did pique my interest in this less heralded period of American history.