The story of a pivotal president who watched over our westward expansion and solidified the dream of Jacksonian democracy James K. Polk was a shrewd and decisive commander in chief, who served as Speaker of the House and governor of Tennessee before taking office in 1845. Shortly after his inauguration, he settled the disputed Oregon boundary and by 1846 had declared war on Mexico for the annexation of Texas and California. The considerably smaller American army never lost a battle. At home, however, Polk suffered a political firestorm of antiwar attacks from many fronts. And yet despite his tremendous accomplishments, he left office an extremely unpopular man, whose stresses had taken such a physical toll that he died within three months of departing Washington. Fellow Tennesseean John Seigenthaler traces the life of this President who, as Truman noted, "said what he intended to do and did it."
