October 15, 2024 • 27 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, official Texas State Historian Monte Monroe, as well as Rachel Halversen and Anne Clare, tell the story of President James K. Polk, and why his one term in office managed to beat out most presidents who served two.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And to get our American Stories podcasts, go to the
iHeartRadio app, to Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Up next to the story of someone who might not
(00:31):
have seen the world but played a huge role in
creating the one we live in today, here's our own
Monte Montgomery. They get us into the story of this
math major turned lawyer turned president. Let's get into the story.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
James K. Polk is probably the greatest president Americans have
never heard of. Here's Rachel halvering at the James K.
Polk home in Columbia, Tennessee with his story.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Polk is very forget at least in a personal sense.
He's not very fun and he's not very scandalous in
the way that Jackson is. Jackson really kind of sucks
all the air out of Tennessee politics. But Polk really
doesn't get enough credit because he's absolutely the most effective
one term president. Most people are shocked to learn that
(01:21):
Polk adds more territory than the Louisiana purchase during his presidency.
Polk is unmatched Dancy Polk is born November two of
seventeen ninety five, and he's born in Meckleburg County, North Carolina.
(01:41):
He is not baptized as a child because you had
to have a confession of faith from both parents, which
is very shocking to you know. His mom, Jane, is
related to John Knox, so she is like the Presbyterian
and is very devout, and it's interesting that she and
up with his father because he's a deis. You certainly
(02:04):
see that Jane influences Polk's religious kind of outlook, though
he also would consider himself I think adis for a
lot of his life. I think one thing to underscore
about Polk's early life is that he's very sick, stuck
in the house, not able to travel much, not able
to do a lot of physical things. And he finally
(02:25):
has surgery for gallstones or bladderstones when he's about sixty
or seventeen. And that's this really terrible account of surgery
where he's given brandy and they cut through his pelvic
floor to remove these stones. So you have to imagine
that he's traumatized by that. But after that his health
does seem to improve. His dad's a Justice of the Peace,
(02:50):
and he's pretty prominent resident here in Columbia. He builds
the first two story brick residence in town. He's fairly wealthy.
He's a land surveyor, owns tons of land. So that's
how the Polks are able to acquire Middle Tennessee and
West Tennessee land. And what's so interesting about Polk is
that he doesn't he's not well traveled. He's very isolated
(03:14):
in this kind of eastern seaboard of the United States.
But that does not stop him from having this huge
vision of what America should be. He adds all this
territory that he never even sees, and so it's interesting
that he so strongly believes in the idea of America
as this kind of power that stretches from sea to
shining sea, but he never goes there. You know. I
(03:41):
always describe Polk as the hand of Jackson. Almost his
entire political career, even into his own presidency, is just
kind of finishing what Jackson started. Tennessee for wealthy white
men at the time was not a big pool, you know,
it wasn't a big state. There weren't that many and
so they're kind of all in each other's spheres of influence.
(04:02):
At the time, James's father was accruing wealth and gaining
prominence as James is growing up, so we assume that
he and Jackson knew each other. Jackson's a very interesting character.
You can see why people admired him at the time
and even today. He is like the self made man, right.
(04:24):
He's orphaned at a really young age. One of his
brothers dies in the Revolutionary War. One of them and
I think his mother both died from smallpox. And we
think that Jackson probably had quite a bit of scarring
from smallpox himself, that he had painters kind of edded
out of his paintings. He's fighting duels, he kills somebody
in a duel, and you know, he doesn't have support.
(04:47):
He moves himself up the ladder, as it were. What
really makes Jackson a national figure is the War of
eighteen twelve and the Battle of New Orleans, and that's
when he brings a bunch of Tennessee ins down to Orleans.
He wins the battle and it's unbelievably decisive against the British,
and he loses very few soldiers and it's just incredible.
(05:07):
But he really gets the love of Tennesseeans then, because
he takes care of his men, really making sure that
they all get there and get home, and so he
really gets the name of like this common man politician
during that time, and the people that serve with him
helped perpetuate this ethos of like, oh man, Andrew Jackson
(05:28):
is for us, and that's how he's catapulted to national politics.
And as James Polk is moving up, I think that
Jackson genuinely sees that Polk is going to be a star.
You know, for all that we say Polk is cold
and he's not effective, he is. We shouldn't under sell
him either, Jackson. You know, in eighteen twenty four, he
(05:50):
runs and he wins the popular vote, and no one
has enough electoral votes, so it goes to the House
of Representatives and John Quincy Adams is kind of so
connected that he's able to sway the House to basically
make him president. People are outraged because Jackson actually has
the support of the people, as they see it, and
(06:11):
instead they get an elite. He's only elected because his
father is a president. Jackson is so in control of
Tennessee politics at that time, even though he loses the
bid for the White House. His mark of approval is
what is needed. That's probably the very biggest thing that
Polk has going for him to make it into Congress. Interestingly,
Polk's first speech in Congress in eighteen twenty four, even
(06:34):
though he doesn't really believe it because you see him
reverse it later, but he gives a speech to abolish
the electoral college because of what happens to Jackson's first
bid for president. So you can see kind of how
unwavering polk support is. Even when Jackson has lost the presidency.
His first speech is to talk about kind of undoing that.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And you're listening to the story of a president you
don't know but should. And that's why we love telling
these stories because no one else will. The story of
James Polk the story of manifest destiny. And you've heard
those two words bandied about in some high school history
class years and decades ago. When we come back more
of the remarkable story of the man who helped make
(07:16):
America president, James Polk Here on our American story. Folks,
if you love the stories we tell about this great country,
and especially the stories of America's rich past, know that
all of our stories about American history, from war to innovation,
(07:39):
culture and faith are brought to us by the great
folks at Hillsdale College, a place where students study all
the things that are beautiful in life and all the
things that are good in life. And if you can't
get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their
free and terrific online courses. Go to Hillsdale dot edu
to learn more. And we returned to our American stories
(08:12):
and the story of our eleventh President, James K.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Polk.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
When we last left off, Rachel Helvering of the James K.
Polk Home in Columbia, Tennessee, was telling us about his
early life. James was sickly, couldn't get out of the
house much. It was exposed to the concept of the
West by his father. He was also exposed to Andrew Jackson,
a man who saw the potential in James and took
(08:37):
him under his wing, supporting him politically. James would eventually
become Speaker of the House, but was soon recalled back
to Tennessee to run for governor, something he didn't want
to do. Let's return to the story.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
This must have been the lowest point of Polk's career
because he's in Washington. Sarah Polk is with him. You know,
they never have kids. She's up there living a great life.
They wrint extra rooms and she's hosting parties, and he's
moving his way up in national politics. But Tennessee is
slowly slipping and Jackson no longer has control and the
(09:12):
Whig Party has gained all this momentum. And so Jackson
asks Polk to come back and run on the Democratic
ticket to basically help shore up Tennessee support. And he does,
and I think he only does because Jackson asked him to.
And he does win the first time, and you get
the sense from his letters that he in no way
(09:33):
is loving this run. You know, he and Sarah are corresponding.
She's basically his campaign manager, and you get this sync
that he's doing it out of obligation and not because
he really wants to be the governor of Tennessee. And
he's not successful because he is elected for one term,
but he loses. He runs two more times, and he
(09:54):
loses both times to lean Jimmy Jones, a very talented
orator and kind of comic contrast to James K. Polk
because he's everything James K. Polk is not. He's kind
of glib, and James even make statements about basically like
I'm the serious politician and the one that understands what
needs to be done, and he's not getting elected. The
(10:15):
people aren't seeing that he, in his mind, should be
elected to these offices. We don't know exactly when Sarah
and James met. She was one of the rare women
at the time that was given a very good education
by her father. There's not a lot that we know
about kind of their courtship. We do know that Jackson
(10:37):
very much liked Sarah and kind of pushed Polk towards her,
and we don't really know if it was a love match.
There is a quote that is kind of an oral
tradition that Sarah Childress said she would only marry Polk
if he went on to serve in Congress, which he
does in eighteen twenty five. So I think that Sarah
was probably pretty ambitious too, and she recognized that Polk
(10:59):
was is a rising star, that he was very smart,
but she's very calculated. She's very politically savvy. Polk doesn't
like to really get into a lot of the politics
in a non professional way. You know, he doesn't want
to try and court members of Congress over dinners at
the White House, and Sarah does that, and she organizes
it at all, so she knows kind of what is
(11:21):
needed to give him authority and respect, and she goes
about it. One of the things that Sarah Polk helps establish,
she doesn't establish it, but she helps establish Hail to
the Chief being played when the president comes in, because
she feels like Polk comes into parties and people don't
know that he's there because he doesn't really care to
make an entrance. So she starts having that played every
(11:42):
single time, which is important. It shows her devotion to
Polk's political career.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
But before Sarah could popularize the playing of Hail to
the Chief for her introverted husband, he had to be nominated,
unlikely for someone who had just lost two elections in
his home state, the home state of Andrew Jackson, the Democrat.
But before the days of primaries, anything could happen, and
in eighteen forty four it did.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
The Democratic Convention is going on. He's not even there,
which is interesting, and I don't know that he is
even actively kind of throwing his name in the hat.
But the Democratic Party is extremely divided and they really
can't decide on who they want. This is why really
Polk becomes the dark horse candidate. Is where that term
(12:31):
comes from, because in a lot of ways, he's given
up his career in Washington, the career here in Tennessee
is failing, and he's just kind of not sure what's
going to come after, and he becomes a little bit
of a compromise candidate. This is where his one term
comes from. He says, if you elect me and I
get elected, I'll just serve one term and then you
(12:53):
guys can figure out the Democratic Party can figure out
who they want to replace me, and they go for it,
and he gets to vote. I argue that if somebody
ran with a similar platform today that they would win.
Who doesn't want a president that's going to run one term,
is going to accomplish some really huge goals, and then
(13:15):
it's going to leave office and leave public service, which
is Polk's intention is to he's going to retire, So
he runs on fifty four to forty or fight, which
is to say that we're going to settle this dispute
over the Oregon territory.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Here's zan Clair one of our regular contributors with more
on that.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Multiple countries had sent explorers to the Pacific northwest coast
of North America. These explorers laid claim to territory in
the New World. However, as there weren't markings on property lines,
Britain's and the fledgling United States ended up with overlapping claims.
Both nations had reasons why they felt their claim was
more legitimate. Britain and the United States had already agreed
(13:55):
to set their borders from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains
along the forty ninth parallel. Why not moderate American voices
asked agree to just keep the same line all the
way to the Pacific. As the debate wore on, some
American voices clamored that a border on the forty ninth
parallel wasn't not enough land anyway.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
So he runs on fifty four to forty your fight,
which is to say that we're gonna settle this dispute
over the Oregon territory.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
In other words, he called for a border that went
up to fifty four degrees forty minutes, which would extend
the United States border all the way north to Alaska
or thereabouts, or else.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
But he basically says he's gonna settle that dispute, that
he's gonna settle the Texas question. He's gonna annex Texas
basically is what he's promised. A lot has happened in Texas.
The Mexicans fight against the Spanish rule and gain kind
of their independence. Very quickly. Out of that, Texas decides
(14:54):
to break away. I like to jokingly say Tennessee is
the mother of Texas, because I think there's thirty Tennesseans
who died the Alabo.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Here's Monty Monroe, the official Texas state historian, with more.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Their grievances centered on the rights to religious freedom, in
other words, you didn't all have to be Catholics, the
right to religious freedom, and the fact that Mexico had
failed to establish an education system. They were interested in
their right to bear arms, their right to a trial
by jury versus a military tribunal, which was called for
(15:33):
in the siete Les. So they make this remarkable break
politically with Mexico.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So it seems like this kind of fight for freedom
that the American people are very invested in, and you've
got Americans from all over steadily pouring into Texas. Sarah
Childress's nephew goes to Texas and helps them write their
declaration of independence when they're breaking off Mexico. So you
can see where people have romanticized the idea of like
(16:04):
a second Revolution and helping somebody else gain their independence.
In a lot of ways, we kind of see it
already as our territory. In Van Buren's presidency, I believe
it's van Buren, the Mexican government basically says if you
annex Texas, were going to immediately go to war. That's
part of the reason presidents and Americans have not acted
on him. But overall, Polk kind of rides that national
(16:28):
support for Texas and annexation and predating Polk, though it
becomes very synonymous with his presidency, is manifest destiny.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
This notion that Americans were God's chosen people and that
they were to spread their culture and religion across the
North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and
Polk capitalized on that sentiment. Pope is ultimately elected, and
(16:58):
he was elected by an overweighting majority, and that mandate,
that electoral mandate gives President Tyler, and you have to
remember at that time sitting presidents remained in office till
March Poke's election, and that mandate allows President Tyler or
(17:19):
encouraged him to prompt Congress to pass a joint resolution
on February the twenty eighth, eighteen forty five simple majority
resolution to annex Texas, and President Tyler promptly signs the
measure on March the first, right before he goes out
(17:40):
of office.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Polk is going to be the one to carry that out.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
And when we come back more of the story of
our eleventh President, James K.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Polk.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
After these messages, and we returned to our American stories
(18:11):
and the final portion of our story on the eleventh
President of the United States, James K.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Polk.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
When we last left off, against all odds, Polk had
been elected president in large measure due to his support
for Manifest Destiny and his promise to serve only one term.
Let's return to the story.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Polk does everything when he takes office. His entire start
to finish term as president is like a marathon that
he treats like a sprint.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Here again, as Monty Monroe, the Texas state historian.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
He claimed that he would bring in Oregon, Texas and
California into the Union in response to these mounting sentiments
in the United States, a so called manifest destiny.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
He is so ambitious, and he is so dedicated. He's
such a workaholic, and he's extremely detail oriented, to the
extent that the people that are working for him and
around him are kind of eye rolling. You know. He
says his favorite day of the year to work is
on Christmas Day because he can get so much done
(19:17):
and nobody bothers him. We have records where he's working
over eighteen hours a day, And he says he wants
to be basically involved in every aspect of government. He
doesn't trust his subordinates to do everything correctly, so he's
going to be involved in everything. He immediately starts going
after all of his goals. Great Britain. He immediately starts
(19:37):
going back and forth with them about our northern border.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Here again is Anne Claire.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
However, once he was in office, President Polk wasn't really
feeling the fight part of his slogan anymore.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
You get the sense that he doesn't actually want to
go to war with Great Britain. He does want to
go to war with Mexico, but I think he knows
that Mexico is attainable, and he really doesn't want to
go back against the British Empire, so he is more
amenable to settle that dispute, which they eventually do with
the forty fifth Parallel and the acquisition of more territory
(20:11):
than just we say Oregon, but it's a big swath
of territory in the West Coast.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
The last president of the Republic of Texas at that
time was doctor Anson Jones. He convenes a constitutional convention.
They draft a state constitution, which Texas voters approved by
a two to one margin in October, and ultimately, in
(20:37):
December of eighteen forty five elections for state officials are held.
Anson Jones becomes the last president of the Republic of Texas.
There's a fear by the Mexican governments of land hunger
of the Americans because of manifest destiny and this desire
to acquire California. The US wanted California for its natural
(20:59):
heart robs. They believed it would make the United States
a strong Pacific power and open Asian markets to the
United States. President Pope knew that Mexico had severe financial problem,
so he since.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Slidel John Slidell, that is the namesake of Slidel Louisiana
and the United States minister to Mexico.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
To try and purchase California, which only had about three
thousand Mexican citizens living there at the time. Slydel met
with the current Mexican president at that time, Jose Herrera,
who stated that Texas was the key issue. If the
US would return Texas to Mexico, Mexico might consider selling
California the US. That didn't happen, and it couldn't happen. Ultimately,
(21:42):
Herrera is overthrown. President Mario Perevis comes in, he refuses
to talk to Slydal. Slydale returns to the US convinced
that military versus diplomatic means was the only way for
the US to achieve its goals, particularly in relation to
the Mexican controlled what would become the American West. When
(22:05):
Polk learned of Slidell's failure, he immediately sends General Zachary
Taylor old ruff and ready to move to the Rio Grand.
Of course, the United States and Texans had always believed
that the real Grand was a southern border because of
Santa Ana. Was forced after the Battle of San Jacento
to retreat below the Real Grand, and it was stipulated
(22:28):
in the Treaty of Alasko. The Mexicans, of course, never
ratified that treaty. So old ruff and ready Zach Taylor,
he goes down and he starts building fortifications on the
Texas side of the Real Grand. Mexico claimed that Taylor's
move was an invasion of Mexican territory, and on October
(22:49):
twenty fourth, President perethis declares a defensive war against the
US and Mexican troops skirmish with Taylor's troops and Taylor
wires pop. That war exists.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
It's not the first war that West Point graduates fight in,
but it is the first kind of big one, and
so you get people like Lee Grant, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson
Davis is fighting. You have all these kind of West
Pointers in this war, and they're getting experienced, and it's
really the first big test of kind of West Point
(23:25):
graduates and how they're going to.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Work following the war. And as a consequence of the
border now being secure, settlement increases dramatically in Texas.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, we gained so much
territory at a very low cost. I mean, fifteen million
dollars even in today's standards, that's a deal. The security
of having kind of all of this territory from sea
to shining Sea is unmatched. And I don't know that
we could have survived as a country without having kind
(24:01):
of the land mass. America's future would have been untenable.
It's kind of similar when we talk about the Civil
War happened, what would have happened if the South had
broken away? I mean, I think America would have been
over and I think this is a similar situation. It's
hard to think of another future for America that wouldn't
have involved kind of this land presence and command. The
(24:24):
gold Rush is announced right at the end of his presidency,
and you can see him kind of realizing that it's
like it's going to change the course of the country,
and it also kind of validates him and his ideas
of westward expansion before he leaves office and then eventually
dies that he knows, like, okay, it was worth it,
because look, we've already uncovered these natural resources in the
(24:47):
land that we kind of fought and argued over. So
I don't think he created the wild West, but I
think he made it part of the United States. You know,
we had no term limits then until after FDR served
for a long time, most presidents did not go past
two terms, which is what George Washington said. So it's
(25:08):
kind of an honor system that you'll retire after so long.
But I think because Polk is so young, that he
wanted to be clear. He wasn't going to move in
and stay forever. You know, he wasn't going to sit
in that office until he died. And then you get
the sense very much as he's wrapping up his presidency
he is ready to retire. He's exhausted, and so he
kind of throws all that he has into this one
(25:29):
term and then he's thinking he's going to come back
home and kind of live this quiet life. I don't
think he would have liked a quiet life, but you know,
he at least is kind of saying, oh, man, I
can't wait to come home and relax. So you get
the sense that he was also happy to be done
after his one term. It is the shortest retirement of
(25:51):
any president. Right around one hundred days, there'd been this
huge flood in Middle Tennessee, and all the wells had flooded,
and all this dirty water has permeated all over and
so people are dying of cholera like crazy. And all
this to say, he's varied with no ceremony essentially the
first time. Now Sarah does dig him up and have
(26:12):
him reburied maybe six months after he dies, and she
gets William Strickland, who's like one of the most prominent
architects at the time. He's in National building the state capitol,
and so she commissions him and he builds a grand
tomb and at that point they have kind of the
more grand funeral that we would associate with a presidential funeral.
(26:34):
Sarah sees that as being really important because her husband
was the president. They have a procession through Nashville and
re enter him on the grounds of Polk Place, their
house right on the front lawn. Honestly, I mean it's
almost just by the road. Because Sarah wants him to
kind of get that attention. And that's really the rest
of her life is devoted to kind of perpetuating the
(26:55):
legacy of James.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
And a special thanks to Rachel, who works at the
Polk Home in Columbia, Tennessee. Monte Monroe, the Texas State historian,
and Anne Claire, who's a regular contributor. And what a
story about a man with ambition and one term promises
to do one big thing, and that is a sure
America's ownership of land from coast to coast. The story
(27:20):
of James K. Polk, our eleventh president. Here on our
American story.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
And to get our American Stories podcasts, go to the
iHeartRadio app, to Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Up next to the story of someone who might not
(00:31):
have seen the world but played a huge role in
creating the one we live in today, here's our own
Monte Montgomery. They get us into the story of this
math major turned lawyer turned president. Let's get into the story.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
James K. Polk is probably the greatest president Americans have
never heard of. Here's Rachel halvering at the James K.
Polk home in Columbia, Tennessee with his story.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Polk is very forget at least in a personal sense.
He's not very fun and he's not very scandalous in
the way that Jackson is. Jackson really kind of sucks
all the air out of Tennessee politics. But Polk really
doesn't get enough credit because he's absolutely the most effective
one term president. Most people are shocked to learn that
(01:21):
Polk adds more territory than the Louisiana purchase during his presidency.
Polk is unmatched Dancy Polk is born November two of
seventeen ninety five, and he's born in Meckleburg County, North Carolina.
(01:41):
He is not baptized as a child because you had
to have a confession of faith from both parents, which
is very shocking to you know. His mom, Jane, is
related to John Knox, so she is like the Presbyterian
and is very devout, and it's interesting that she and
up with his father because he's a deis. You certainly
(02:04):
see that Jane influences Polk's religious kind of outlook, though
he also would consider himself I think adis for a
lot of his life. I think one thing to underscore
about Polk's early life is that he's very sick, stuck
in the house, not able to travel much, not able
to do a lot of physical things. And he finally
(02:25):
has surgery for gallstones or bladderstones when he's about sixty
or seventeen. And that's this really terrible account of surgery
where he's given brandy and they cut through his pelvic
floor to remove these stones. So you have to imagine
that he's traumatized by that. But after that his health
does seem to improve. His dad's a Justice of the Peace,
(02:50):
and he's pretty prominent resident here in Columbia. He builds
the first two story brick residence in town. He's fairly wealthy.
He's a land surveyor, owns tons of land. So that's
how the Polks are able to acquire Middle Tennessee and
West Tennessee land. And what's so interesting about Polk is
that he doesn't he's not well traveled. He's very isolated
(03:14):
in this kind of eastern seaboard of the United States.
But that does not stop him from having this huge
vision of what America should be. He adds all this
territory that he never even sees, and so it's interesting
that he so strongly believes in the idea of America
as this kind of power that stretches from sea to
shining sea, but he never goes there. You know. I
(03:41):
always describe Polk as the hand of Jackson. Almost his
entire political career, even into his own presidency, is just
kind of finishing what Jackson started. Tennessee for wealthy white
men at the time was not a big pool, you know,
it wasn't a big state. There weren't that many and
so they're kind of all in each other's spheres of influence.
(04:02):
At the time, James's father was accruing wealth and gaining
prominence as James is growing up, so we assume that
he and Jackson knew each other. Jackson's a very interesting character.
You can see why people admired him at the time
and even today. He is like the self made man, right.
(04:24):
He's orphaned at a really young age. One of his
brothers dies in the Revolutionary War. One of them and
I think his mother both died from smallpox. And we
think that Jackson probably had quite a bit of scarring
from smallpox himself, that he had painters kind of edded
out of his paintings. He's fighting duels, he kills somebody
in a duel, and you know, he doesn't have support.
(04:47):
He moves himself up the ladder, as it were. What
really makes Jackson a national figure is the War of
eighteen twelve and the Battle of New Orleans, and that's
when he brings a bunch of Tennessee ins down to Orleans.
He wins the battle and it's unbelievably decisive against the British,
and he loses very few soldiers and it's just incredible.
(05:07):
But he really gets the love of Tennesseeans then, because
he takes care of his men, really making sure that
they all get there and get home, and so he
really gets the name of like this common man politician
during that time, and the people that serve with him
helped perpetuate this ethos of like, oh man, Andrew Jackson
(05:28):
is for us, and that's how he's catapulted to national politics.
And as James Polk is moving up, I think that
Jackson genuinely sees that Polk is going to be a star.
You know, for all that we say Polk is cold
and he's not effective, he is. We shouldn't under sell
him either, Jackson. You know, in eighteen twenty four, he
(05:50):
runs and he wins the popular vote, and no one
has enough electoral votes, so it goes to the House
of Representatives and John Quincy Adams is kind of so
connected that he's able to sway the House to basically
make him president. People are outraged because Jackson actually has
the support of the people, as they see it, and
(06:11):
instead they get an elite. He's only elected because his
father is a president. Jackson is so in control of
Tennessee politics at that time, even though he loses the
bid for the White House. His mark of approval is
what is needed. That's probably the very biggest thing that
Polk has going for him to make it into Congress. Interestingly,
Polk's first speech in Congress in eighteen twenty four, even
(06:34):
though he doesn't really believe it because you see him
reverse it later, but he gives a speech to abolish
the electoral college because of what happens to Jackson's first
bid for president. So you can see kind of how
unwavering polk support is. Even when Jackson has lost the presidency.
His first speech is to talk about kind of undoing that.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And you're listening to the story of a president you
don't know but should. And that's why we love telling
these stories because no one else will. The story of
James Polk the story of manifest destiny. And you've heard
those two words bandied about in some high school history
class years and decades ago. When we come back more
of the remarkable story of the man who helped make
(07:16):
America president, James Polk Here on our American story. Folks,
if you love the stories we tell about this great country,
and especially the stories of America's rich past, know that
all of our stories about American history, from war to innovation,
(07:39):
culture and faith are brought to us by the great
folks at Hillsdale College, a place where students study all
the things that are beautiful in life and all the
things that are good in life. And if you can't
get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their
free and terrific online courses. Go to Hillsdale dot edu
to learn more. And we returned to our American stories
(08:12):
and the story of our eleventh President, James K.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Polk.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
When we last left off, Rachel Helvering of the James K.
Polk Home in Columbia, Tennessee, was telling us about his
early life. James was sickly, couldn't get out of the
house much. It was exposed to the concept of the
West by his father. He was also exposed to Andrew Jackson,
a man who saw the potential in James and took
(08:37):
him under his wing, supporting him politically. James would eventually
become Speaker of the House, but was soon recalled back
to Tennessee to run for governor, something he didn't want
to do. Let's return to the story.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
This must have been the lowest point of Polk's career
because he's in Washington. Sarah Polk is with him. You know,
they never have kids. She's up there living a great life.
They wrint extra rooms and she's hosting parties, and he's
moving his way up in national politics. But Tennessee is
slowly slipping and Jackson no longer has control and the
(09:12):
Whig Party has gained all this momentum. And so Jackson
asks Polk to come back and run on the Democratic
ticket to basically help shore up Tennessee support. And he does,
and I think he only does because Jackson asked him to.
And he does win the first time, and you get
the sense from his letters that he in no way
(09:33):
is loving this run. You know, he and Sarah are corresponding.
She's basically his campaign manager, and you get this sync
that he's doing it out of obligation and not because
he really wants to be the governor of Tennessee. And
he's not successful because he is elected for one term,
but he loses. He runs two more times, and he
(09:54):
loses both times to lean Jimmy Jones, a very talented
orator and kind of comic contrast to James K. Polk
because he's everything James K. Polk is not. He's kind
of glib, and James even make statements about basically like
I'm the serious politician and the one that understands what
needs to be done, and he's not getting elected. The
(10:15):
people aren't seeing that he, in his mind, should be
elected to these offices. We don't know exactly when Sarah
and James met. She was one of the rare women
at the time that was given a very good education
by her father. There's not a lot that we know
about kind of their courtship. We do know that Jackson
(10:37):
very much liked Sarah and kind of pushed Polk towards her,
and we don't really know if it was a love match.
There is a quote that is kind of an oral
tradition that Sarah Childress said she would only marry Polk
if he went on to serve in Congress, which he
does in eighteen twenty five. So I think that Sarah
was probably pretty ambitious too, and she recognized that Polk
(10:59):
was is a rising star, that he was very smart,
but she's very calculated. She's very politically savvy. Polk doesn't
like to really get into a lot of the politics
in a non professional way. You know, he doesn't want
to try and court members of Congress over dinners at
the White House, and Sarah does that, and she organizes
it at all, so she knows kind of what is
(11:21):
needed to give him authority and respect, and she goes
about it. One of the things that Sarah Polk helps establish,
she doesn't establish it, but she helps establish Hail to
the Chief being played when the president comes in, because
she feels like Polk comes into parties and people don't
know that he's there because he doesn't really care to
make an entrance. So she starts having that played every
(11:42):
single time, which is important. It shows her devotion to
Polk's political career.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
But before Sarah could popularize the playing of Hail to
the Chief for her introverted husband, he had to be nominated,
unlikely for someone who had just lost two elections in
his home state, the home state of Andrew Jackson, the Democrat.
But before the days of primaries, anything could happen, and
in eighteen forty four it did.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
The Democratic Convention is going on. He's not even there,
which is interesting, and I don't know that he is
even actively kind of throwing his name in the hat.
But the Democratic Party is extremely divided and they really
can't decide on who they want. This is why really
Polk becomes the dark horse candidate. Is where that term
(12:31):
comes from, because in a lot of ways, he's given
up his career in Washington, the career here in Tennessee
is failing, and he's just kind of not sure what's
going to come after, and he becomes a little bit
of a compromise candidate. This is where his one term
comes from. He says, if you elect me and I
get elected, I'll just serve one term and then you
(12:53):
guys can figure out the Democratic Party can figure out
who they want to replace me, and they go for it,
and he gets to vote. I argue that if somebody
ran with a similar platform today that they would win.
Who doesn't want a president that's going to run one term,
is going to accomplish some really huge goals, and then
(13:15):
it's going to leave office and leave public service, which
is Polk's intention is to he's going to retire, So
he runs on fifty four to forty or fight, which
is to say that we're going to settle this dispute
over the Oregon territory.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
Here's zan Clair one of our regular contributors with more
on that.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Multiple countries had sent explorers to the Pacific northwest coast
of North America. These explorers laid claim to territory in
the New World. However, as there weren't markings on property lines,
Britain's and the fledgling United States ended up with overlapping claims.
Both nations had reasons why they felt their claim was
more legitimate. Britain and the United States had already agreed
(13:55):
to set their borders from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains
along the forty ninth parallel. Why not moderate American voices
asked agree to just keep the same line all the
way to the Pacific. As the debate wore on, some
American voices clamored that a border on the forty ninth
parallel wasn't not enough land anyway.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
So he runs on fifty four to forty your fight,
which is to say that we're gonna settle this dispute
over the Oregon territory.
Speaker 4 (14:22):
In other words, he called for a border that went
up to fifty four degrees forty minutes, which would extend
the United States border all the way north to Alaska
or thereabouts, or else.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
But he basically says he's gonna settle that dispute, that
he's gonna settle the Texas question. He's gonna annex Texas
basically is what he's promised. A lot has happened in Texas.
The Mexicans fight against the Spanish rule and gain kind
of their independence. Very quickly. Out of that, Texas decides
(14:54):
to break away. I like to jokingly say Tennessee is
the mother of Texas, because I think there's thirty Tennesseans
who died the Alabo.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Here's Monty Monroe, the official Texas state historian, with more.
Speaker 5 (15:09):
Their grievances centered on the rights to religious freedom, in
other words, you didn't all have to be Catholics, the
right to religious freedom, and the fact that Mexico had
failed to establish an education system. They were interested in
their right to bear arms, their right to a trial
by jury versus a military tribunal, which was called for
(15:33):
in the siete Les. So they make this remarkable break
politically with Mexico.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So it seems like this kind of fight for freedom
that the American people are very invested in, and you've
got Americans from all over steadily pouring into Texas. Sarah
Childress's nephew goes to Texas and helps them write their
declaration of independence when they're breaking off Mexico. So you
can see where people have romanticized the idea of like
(16:04):
a second Revolution and helping somebody else gain their independence.
In a lot of ways, we kind of see it
already as our territory. In Van Buren's presidency, I believe
it's van Buren, the Mexican government basically says if you
annex Texas, were going to immediately go to war. That's
part of the reason presidents and Americans have not acted
on him. But overall, Polk kind of rides that national
(16:28):
support for Texas and annexation and predating Polk, though it
becomes very synonymous with his presidency, is manifest destiny.
Speaker 5 (16:37):
This notion that Americans were God's chosen people and that
they were to spread their culture and religion across the
North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and
Polk capitalized on that sentiment. Pope is ultimately elected, and
(16:58):
he was elected by an overweighting majority, and that mandate,
that electoral mandate gives President Tyler, and you have to
remember at that time sitting presidents remained in office till
March Poke's election, and that mandate allows President Tyler or
(17:19):
encouraged him to prompt Congress to pass a joint resolution
on February the twenty eighth, eighteen forty five simple majority
resolution to annex Texas, and President Tyler promptly signs the
measure on March the first, right before he goes out
(17:40):
of office.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Polk is going to be the one to carry that out.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
And when we come back more of the story of
our eleventh President, James K.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Polk.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
After these messages, and we returned to our American stories
(18:11):
and the final portion of our story on the eleventh
President of the United States, James K.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Polk.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
When we last left off, against all odds, Polk had
been elected president in large measure due to his support
for Manifest Destiny and his promise to serve only one term.
Let's return to the story.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Polk does everything when he takes office. His entire start
to finish term as president is like a marathon that
he treats like a sprint.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Here again, as Monty Monroe, the Texas state historian.
Speaker 5 (18:43):
He claimed that he would bring in Oregon, Texas and
California into the Union in response to these mounting sentiments
in the United States, a so called manifest destiny.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
He is so ambitious, and he is so dedicated. He's
such a workaholic, and he's extremely detail oriented, to the
extent that the people that are working for him and
around him are kind of eye rolling. You know. He
says his favorite day of the year to work is
on Christmas Day because he can get so much done
(19:17):
and nobody bothers him. We have records where he's working
over eighteen hours a day, And he says he wants
to be basically involved in every aspect of government. He
doesn't trust his subordinates to do everything correctly, so he's
going to be involved in everything. He immediately starts going
after all of his goals. Great Britain. He immediately starts
(19:37):
going back and forth with them about our northern border.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Here again is Anne Claire.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
However, once he was in office, President Polk wasn't really
feeling the fight part of his slogan anymore.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
You get the sense that he doesn't actually want to
go to war with Great Britain. He does want to
go to war with Mexico, but I think he knows
that Mexico is attainable, and he really doesn't want to
go back against the British Empire, so he is more
amenable to settle that dispute, which they eventually do with
the forty fifth Parallel and the acquisition of more territory
(20:11):
than just we say Oregon, but it's a big swath
of territory in the West Coast.
Speaker 5 (20:16):
The last president of the Republic of Texas at that
time was doctor Anson Jones. He convenes a constitutional convention.
They draft a state constitution, which Texas voters approved by
a two to one margin in October, and ultimately, in
(20:37):
December of eighteen forty five elections for state officials are held.
Anson Jones becomes the last president of the Republic of Texas.
There's a fear by the Mexican governments of land hunger
of the Americans because of manifest destiny and this desire
to acquire California. The US wanted California for its natural
(20:59):
heart robs. They believed it would make the United States
a strong Pacific power and open Asian markets to the
United States. President Pope knew that Mexico had severe financial problem,
so he since.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Slidel John Slidell, that is the namesake of Slidel Louisiana
and the United States minister to Mexico.
Speaker 5 (21:18):
To try and purchase California, which only had about three
thousand Mexican citizens living there at the time. Slydel met
with the current Mexican president at that time, Jose Herrera,
who stated that Texas was the key issue. If the
US would return Texas to Mexico, Mexico might consider selling
California the US. That didn't happen, and it couldn't happen. Ultimately,
(21:42):
Herrera is overthrown. President Mario Perevis comes in, he refuses
to talk to Slydal. Slydale returns to the US convinced
that military versus diplomatic means was the only way for
the US to achieve its goals, particularly in relation to
the Mexican controlled what would become the American West. When
(22:05):
Polk learned of Slidell's failure, he immediately sends General Zachary
Taylor old ruff and ready to move to the Rio Grand.
Of course, the United States and Texans had always believed
that the real Grand was a southern border because of
Santa Ana. Was forced after the Battle of San Jacento
to retreat below the Real Grand, and it was stipulated
(22:28):
in the Treaty of Alasko. The Mexicans, of course, never
ratified that treaty. So old ruff and ready Zach Taylor,
he goes down and he starts building fortifications on the
Texas side of the Real Grand. Mexico claimed that Taylor's
move was an invasion of Mexican territory, and on October
(22:49):
twenty fourth, President perethis declares a defensive war against the
US and Mexican troops skirmish with Taylor's troops and Taylor
wires pop. That war exists.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
It's not the first war that West Point graduates fight in,
but it is the first kind of big one, and
so you get people like Lee Grant, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson
Davis is fighting. You have all these kind of West
Pointers in this war, and they're getting experienced, and it's
really the first big test of kind of West Point
(23:25):
graduates and how they're going to.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
Work following the war. And as a consequence of the
border now being secure, settlement increases dramatically in Texas.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
With the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, we gained so much
territory at a very low cost. I mean, fifteen million
dollars even in today's standards, that's a deal. The security
of having kind of all of this territory from sea
to shining Sea is unmatched. And I don't know that
we could have survived as a country without having kind
(24:01):
of the land mass. America's future would have been untenable.
It's kind of similar when we talk about the Civil
War happened, what would have happened if the South had
broken away? I mean, I think America would have been
over and I think this is a similar situation. It's
hard to think of another future for America that wouldn't
have involved kind of this land presence and command. The
(24:24):
gold Rush is announced right at the end of his presidency,
and you can see him kind of realizing that it's
like it's going to change the course of the country,
and it also kind of validates him and his ideas
of westward expansion before he leaves office and then eventually
dies that he knows, like, okay, it was worth it,
because look, we've already uncovered these natural resources in the
(24:47):
land that we kind of fought and argued over. So
I don't think he created the wild West, but I
think he made it part of the United States. You know,
we had no term limits then until after FDR served
for a long time, most presidents did not go past
two terms, which is what George Washington said. So it's
(25:08):
kind of an honor system that you'll retire after so long.
But I think because Polk is so young, that he
wanted to be clear. He wasn't going to move in
and stay forever. You know, he wasn't going to sit
in that office until he died. And then you get
the sense very much as he's wrapping up his presidency
he is ready to retire. He's exhausted, and so he
kind of throws all that he has into this one
(25:29):
term and then he's thinking he's going to come back
home and kind of live this quiet life. I don't
think he would have liked a quiet life, but you know,
he at least is kind of saying, oh, man, I
can't wait to come home and relax. So you get
the sense that he was also happy to be done
after his one term. It is the shortest retirement of
(25:51):
any president. Right around one hundred days, there'd been this
huge flood in Middle Tennessee, and all the wells had flooded,
and all this dirty water has permeated all over and
so people are dying of cholera like crazy. And all
this to say, he's varied with no ceremony essentially the
first time. Now Sarah does dig him up and have
(26:12):
him reburied maybe six months after he dies, and she
gets William Strickland, who's like one of the most prominent
architects at the time. He's in National building the state capitol,
and so she commissions him and he builds a grand
tomb and at that point they have kind of the
more grand funeral that we would associate with a presidential funeral.
(26:34):
Sarah sees that as being really important because her husband
was the president. They have a procession through Nashville and
re enter him on the grounds of Polk Place, their
house right on the front lawn. Honestly, I mean it's
almost just by the road. Because Sarah wants him to
kind of get that attention. And that's really the rest
of her life is devoted to kind of perpetuating the
(26:55):
legacy of James.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
And a special thanks to Rachel, who works at the
Polk Home in Columbia, Tennessee. Monte Monroe, the Texas State historian,
and Anne Claire, who's a regular contributor. And what a
story about a man with ambition and one term promises
to do one big thing, and that is a sure
America's ownership of land from coast to coast. The story
(27:20):
of James K. Polk, our eleventh president. Here on our
American story.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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