James Knox Polk was born on November 2 1795 and died June 15 1849. He was the eleventh president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1845 until March 4, 1849. He was born in North Carolina but spent most of his life in Tennessee. Before becoming president, Polk served as speaker of the house from 1835 until 1839 when he resigned to run for Governor of Tennessee. He served as governor of Tennessee from 1839 until 1841. Polk is considered the last “strong” pre-civil war president. Polk is noted for his foreign policy successes. First he threatened Britain with thoughts of war, then backed out and split the ownership of the Northwest with Britain. Polk lowered the tariff and established a treasury system that lasted until 1913. He was known as a “dark horse” candidate in 1844, he was the first president who retired after one term and did not seek re-election.
Polk was a democrat committed to Manifest Destiny or geographic expansion. He was responsible for the nation’s second largest expansion of territory. He secured the Oregon territory which consisted of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. In 1845 Polk sent John Slidell to Mexico in an effort to work out a deal with the Mexican government to purchase California and New Mexico. This attempt only caused conflicts with Mexico who was still upset with their loss of Texas. Polk declared war on Mexico after they refused to accept Slidell into the country for negotiations yet again. The war was ended in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty halved Mexico and added 1.2 million square miles of territory.
Polk’s cabinet consisted of George M. Dallas as vice president, James Buchanan as Secretary of State, Robert J. Walker as Secretary of Treasury, William L. Marcy as Secretary of War, Cave Johnson as Postmaster General, the position of Attorney General was served by three different men, John Y. Mason, Nathan Clifford, and Isaac Toucey, and the position of Secretary of the Navy was filled by...