US President James Polk (1845-1849) elicits strong opinions from those aware of his record. They either love him for his effectiveness and performance or hate him for his difficult personality and the Mexican War. So-called “Young Hickory,” styling himself after “Old Hickory” Andrew Jackson, Polk set out to be a one-term president and to accomplish four specific goals outlined in his inaugural. He accomplished all of them and died a few months after leaving the presidency. In this book, fellow Tennessean John Seigenthaler describes the events of his life and presidency in a short biography.

This book brings readers back to a prior era, when Whigs and Democrats battled for power and at the beginning of when slavery became the dominant national issue. Like now, American politics was deeply polarizing. Henry Clay, whom Polk defeated, proposed the “American System” for internal improvements. Polk instead sought to extend the country coast-to-coast in a fulfillment of “Manifest Destiny.” Seigenthaler describes and illustrates all of these historical with eloquence and discernment.

To accomplish two goals, Polk acquired both Oregon Territory from the British and the American Southwest forcibly from Mexico. For another goal, he also reduced a tariff against Northern industry. Finally, he disbanded the National Bank and instituted an economic system that stayed in place until the Great Depression. His supporters point to this efficient track record of success to support his case for the upper tier of presidents. Seigenthaler tends to stick to this narrative and not become sidetracked by negative critiques of the president.

However, Polk kept a personal diary full of his vision about the day’s affairs. Many a historian has lambasted this diary. It’s full of personality quirks and pettiness that do not put him in a great light. Seigenthaler generally stays away from the diary as a dominant source and instead focuses on Polk’s accomplishments. As such, this account positions Seigenthaler as more of an apologist than a critic. Polk’s admirers in his (and my) home state of Tennessee can thus appreciate this friendly account. Love Polk or hate Polk, Seigenthaler lays it out in this accessible, short, and carefully worded volume. ( )

I just finished reading James K. Polk by John Seigenthaler. This is a book for serious history buffs. President Polk, IMHO was a "near great" President, in the same pantheon as Harry S. Truman, Donald Trump, Andrew Jackson, and John Adams. He was not "great" in the tradition of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan. He was definitely not in the cellar inhabited by Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Millard Fillmore Franklin D. Roosevelt or Richard Nixon.

Speaking of James Buchanan, he looms rather large in this book. He was Polk's Secretary of State. The book concludes that Polk was largely his own Secretary of State since Buchanan appears to play the role of incompetent buffoon much as he did later as President.

Seigenthaler concludes that Polk ranks as a "near great" for the reason that he was clear on what he intended to accomplish and largely executed the punchlist. These included the creation of an independent treasury, the annexation of California and what is now New Mexico, the confirmation of Texas's permanency in the Union, and (partially) the annexation of the "Oregon Country", an area jointly administered with Great Britain including present-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and part of Montana (the book mistakenly referred to that as part of Wyoming, but in fact it was Montana west of the Continental Divide). Why do I put Donald Trump in this list? He also was clear about his agenda and largely accomplished what he set out to do. His character flaws of course detracted from his legacy. History will decide where he stands.

I was selectively recommend this book. As the author points out, unlike Jackson President Polk was colorless and humorless. The author honestly points that he was blatantly partisan. While the book is not a "hagiography" it is clear that he admires the subject. Nothing wrong with that. ( )

This short work is a part of the American Presidents series of short biographies of our nation’s chief executives, and while I understand the concept, and can make allowance for the comparative obscurity of the subject in this case, 150 pages is simply not much book.

I wouldn’t recommend the American Presidents series for Presidents such as Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, either Roosevelt or most of the Presidents in the 20th century. However, for many of the 19th century Presidents, 200 pages of material will contain about all the material you need to know about Presidents such as Pierce, Tyler, Buchanan, Arthur, Garfield, Van Buren, Fillmore, Hayes, etc. And while James K. Polk is routinely listed among the top ten best U. S. Presidents, he is certainly the most obscure to be so highly rated.

Polk’s legacy is bolstered by the territorial expansion of the country through the Mexican-American War and the acquisition of the Oregon Territory during his presidency. In addition, Polk instituted a low tariff policy and constructed a federal monetary structure which presaged what became the Federal Reserve System. He was fortunate in his timing, in that the stresses and fractures which ultimately led to the U. S. Civil War were not yet at a level that made the later presidencies of Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan virtually impossible to navigate.

The presidency of James K. Polk involved issues which were vital to American history on several fronts. As such, it is probably deserving of more than a 150 page biography, but given his relative obscurity, and the fact that he served a single term (by choice), this seems like a perfectly reasonable treatment. ( )

St. Barts 2018 #6 - I have always had a fascination with the US Presidency going back to at least 2nd grade, and when my travels take me somewhere near any Presidential point of interest, i make the necessary detours and visit when time allows. I was able to visit the Polk Homestead in Columbia, TN and was duly interested in the information there, and bought this at the local bookstore in Columbia to further my knowledge of this often forgotten leader. All Presidencies are unbelievably interesting to me, and this one was no different. Polk campaigned as a one-term President and kept to his word.....mapped out exactly what he hoped to accomplish in 4 broad goals, and strangely enough did exactly that. As part of the American Presidency Series of books, Seigenthaler's book is a nice overview of early life, political landscape leading up to and through the term, and a good smattering of the significant accomplishments and/or failures during Polk's time in office. It is not a smothering detailed day by day, blow by blow recounting, and thus it is fast-moving and very readable. More of us should read history, because there are events in this book that by just changing some dates and a few words, could be an accounting of current political goings-on......and frankly, today seems much more mild, yet our society wails that what goes on today is 'absolutely the worst ever'. Books like this give great context to the political wrangling of today, and to me highlight that the political wrangling, which is by design, is the thing that saves us and finds us still here thriving and functioning as a nation 240+ years later. Enjoyed this very much and will probably seek out others in this series, especially of those more off-beat, rarely mentioned holders of our highest office. ( )

Very readable account of a consequential, virtually forgotten presidency. What I liked best were the details of Polk's dealings with James Buchanan. (Seigenthaler paints a clearer portrait of this future terrible president than I derived from the book on Buchanan in this series, as a matter of fact.) As for Polk, he emerges as an irascible and stubborn workaholic who managed to achieve the objectives he set for himself at the beginning of his presidency through a combination of relentless determination, brilliant generals, and dumb luck.

My one complaint is that Seigenthaler is so committed to making the case that Polk was a successful president who "got results" that he spends too little time considering whether those "results" (e.g. the annexation of Texas) were actually commendable. When he does invoke one of Polk's critics (such as Thoreau) his tone is patronizing. ( )