Rachel Helvering, Executive Director of The President James K. Polk Home and Museum, joins host Adam Camac to discuss the life and legacy of President James K. Polk. The show notes page for this episode can be found at placesandprofiles.com/18.
1:20 - The guest’s background and connection to President James K. Polk, why the guest has an interest in President Polk
2:41 - Early life and family background of President Polk, his upbringing, how he initially finds his way into politics
6:14 - How President Polk’s wife Sarah compliments him and how she is able to later help her husband’s political career
8:34 - Polk’s political career prior to becoming president
11:39 - Relationship between Andrew Jackson and James K. Polk, how Jackson served as a mentor to Polk, what this relationship meant in the context of the Democratic Party at the time
14:14 - Polk’s time as Governor of Tennessee
16:30 - Polk’s pivot to his unlikely 1844 presidential campaign
18:35 - Polk’s unlikely path to surprising victories for the Democratic nomination and in the general election, the role the issue of Texas annexation played in Polk’s victory
22:15 - How the boundaries of the United States changed during Polk’s presidency with Texas, Oregon, and the Mexican Cession
25:56 - Polk’s approach to slavery as a politician, Polk’s personal connections to slavery
28:59 - What to know about the four years of Polk’s presidency
32:57 - How Sarah Polk transformed the position of First Lady and made it into what it is today, how unusual and different she was as First Lady
35:56 - How the stature of the United States on the global stage changed and how the United States was viewed from abroad during Polk’s presidency
38:01 - How historians in general view Polk’s presidency and how they compare him to other presidents
40:21 - Why Polk died so quickly after leaving the White House, goals he might have had that he never had the opportunity to achieve after leaving office, what happened to Sarah during the remaining 42 years of her life after her husband passed away
45:15 - Anything we missed about the Polks and their significance
46:14 - Recommended and related resources
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