Polk, James Knox

Polk, James Knox (1795–1849) 11th president of the United States, born in North Carolinia. Polk, who moved to Tennessee as a child, was admitted to the bar in 1820 and quickly became active in politics, entering the state legislature in 1823. In 1825 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he viewed slavery as an evil to be borne. He opposed high tariffs and supported only limited spending for internal improvements. Polk served as House Speaker for two terms (1835–39). To signal his opposition to the new Whig party, headed by Henry Clay, Polk ran for governor of Tennessee (1837) as a Democrat and won. Reelected in 1839, he lost his bid for a third term in 1843 and lost again in 1845. At the 1844 Democratic presidential nominating convention, Polk won the nomination on the eighth ballot, after an indiscreet comment on the risks of annexing Texas caused Martin Van Buren's candidacy to founder. Polk won the election with less than a majority of the popular vote but an Electoral College majority. Polk's goals as president were to reduce the tariff, to free the Treasury of the influence of private banks, and to annex California and Oregon; he achieved all of these. Perhaps the most important action of Polk's administration was his instigation of the Mexican War (1846–48); his combination of military threats and diplomatic initiatives made almost inevitable the clash that occurred by the Rio Grande River. As a result of the war, the United States annexed the territory that eventually would comprise the states of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, as well as parts of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming.