James Polk was seemly unambitious for a man who served in so many public offices. At the onset of the War of 1812, Polk was recovering from an operation for bladder stones. He endured the operation awake with the aid of a few bolstering shots of brandy. He became a lawyer whose first case was to defend his own father for drunken brawling. As a member of the Tennessee legislature, he became a friend and lifelong supporter of Andrew Jackson.
In 1844, the run for President saw a deadlock between incumbent Martin Van Buren and and Henry Clay, the fiery orator of the Whig Party. Polk was seen only as a potential candidate for Vice President. The front runners had disregard on the subject of annexation of Texas and the area of the Northwest known as the Oregon Territory. His old mentor, Andrew Jackson, had ideas of his own about the Manifest Destiny of the United States to grow from coast to coast on the continent. All the years of support in resisting the National Bank and his unending loyalty to the “Old Hero” of New Orleans culminated in Jackson’s endorsement for the Polk presidency. James Polk became the classic example of a “dark Horse” candidate after the democratic convention had tried 8 times to select a candidate.
Although James Polk had not actively sought the presidency , neither could he find reasons to deny it With the blessing from Jackson and other expansionists in the Congress, he attained the office The Oregon Territory was more that the current states of Washington and Oregon. It covered a swatch of prime real estate that went up the west coast all the way to Alaska and included Vancouver Island. Perhaps Polk had learned a lesson from previous wars with Great Britain and did not take the prospect lightly. Despite the urging of the slogan, “54-40 or fight,” referring to the global line of parallel , Polk chose to negotiate for a more conservative 49th parallel. That boundary line holds to this day.
It was a good strategy since the political parley with Mexico, regarding Texas, were “going South”.
Mexico refused to acknowledge the independence of Texas, much less it’s annexation to the United States. Polk brought pressure on the newly elected President of Mexico, Jose Herrera, who could be overthrown if he dared to give in to the US. Things came to a head when Polk’s representatives arrived in Mexico. They bypassed the issues of Texas and instead introduced offers to purchase the Mexican territory of California!
Polk sent US troops to an area near the Rio Grand which was disputed land claimed by the US and Mexico. There is no doubt that he was inciting the conflict in order to achieve his goals.
The ensuing Mexican American War has been recounted in weighty volumes, but the gist of it was that General Santa Anna of Mexico was eventually defeated by General Zachery Taylor and Winfield Scott. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo let the USA acquire a huge territory which became known as the Mexican Cession. Andrew Jackson and his supporters had made a good bet by putting Polk in the White House. With the Texas and Oregon lands combined with the Mexican Cession, the United States had fulfilled it’s Manifest Destiny on the continent. Polk is hardly mentioned among the great Presidents, but in only one term he is remarkable for stating his intended goals and accomplishing them.
