Dr. Hartnell's Nutty the A.D.D. Squirrel
  • Home
  • All About Nutty
  • Nutty's Chapters
  • Ch. 1: How'd We Get Here?
    • Ch. 1: Table of Contents
    • Ch. 1: Summary
    • Why study history?
    • Is history a lie?
    • Geography 101
    • Ancient History: Dirt-476
    • Collapse & Rebirth: 476-1650
    • Colonialism: 1400-1763
    • Revolutions: 1763-1918
    • America: 1775-1900
  • Ch. 2: America 2.0
    • Ch. 2: Table of Contents
    • Ch. 2: Summary
    • Imperialism: 1850-1914
    • Immigration: 1492-Now
    • Reform: 1877-1920
  • Ch. 3: Ka-Boom to Bust
    • Ch. 3: Table of Contents
    • Ch. 3: Summary
    • America: 1914-1939
  • Ch. 4: King America
    • Ch. 4: Table of Contents
    • Ch. 4: Summary
    • America: 1939-1960
  • Ch. 5: The American Overhaul
    • Ch. 5: Table of Contents
    • Ch. 5: Summary
    • America: 1960-1975
  • Ch. 6: The U.S. of Awesome
    • Ch. 6: Table of Contents
    • Ch. 6: Summary
    • America: 1975-Now
  • Nutty's Nuts
  • References
Picture

Scramblin' thru... the U.S. Presidents

Picture

Picture

"Young Hickory"
"Napoleon of the Stump"
"Mr. Manifest Destiny"
"One 'n' Done"

Picture

Personal Information


Picture
November 2, 1795
Mecklenburg County,
North Carolina
Picture
June 15, 1849
(age 53)
Nashville, Tennessee
Picture
Cause of Death:
Cholera

Picture
Height: 5'8"
Picture
Weight: 174 lbs.
Picture
Presbyterian
& Methodist

Picture
Level: College
(Univ. of North Carolina)
Picture
Married: Once
(Sarah, 1824)
Picture
Biological Kids: 0

Picture
Wrote:
2 books
Picture
Career BEFORE Presidency:
U.S. Congressman, lawyer, Governor of Tennessee
Picture
Career AFTER Presidency:
Died 103 days after leaving office

Picture

Presidential Information


Picture
Began: March 4, 1845
(age 49) 
Picture
Ended: March 4, 1849
(age 53)
Picture
# Months Served: 48
(1 full term)

Picture
# Vice Presidents: 1
(George M. Dallas)
Picture
Political Affiliation:
Democratic
Picture
Salary:
$25,000/year

Picture

Election Information


Election of 1844

Picture
[Click map for a larger version.]
Picture
[Click chart for a larger version.]

Picture

A Presidential Life in Review


Picture
Click on the banner above to go to the James K. Polk homepage at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. Click on the buttons below for in-depth information about Polk's Presidency.
A life in brief
Life before the presidency
Campaigns & elections
Domestic Affairs
Foreign Affairs
Key events in office
How Americans Lived
Life after the presidency
family life
Impact & legacy
Picture
James K. Polk served as the 11th U.S. President from 1845 to 1849. During his tenure, America's territory grew by more than one-third and extended across the continent for the first time. Before his Presidency, Polk served in the Tennessee legislature and the U.S. Congress; in 1839 he became Governor of Tennessee. A Democrat who was unknown outside of political circles, Polk won the Election of 1844 as the dark horse candidate. As President, he reduced tariffs, reformed the National Banking System, and settled a boundary dispute with Britain that secured the Oregon Territory for the U.S. Polk also led the nation into the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), in which the U.S. acquired California and much of the present-day Southwest. Polk kept his campaign promise to be a one-term President and did not seek reelection. Soon after leaving the White House, however, he died at age 53. Source: The History Channel
Picture

Picture

Historical Rankings


Picture
Picture

Click here to learn more about the C-SPAN Survey

Picture

Picture

James K. Polk Fun Facts


Picture
Picture
A week before he died, Polk (who had been Presbyterian) was baptized a Methodist.

Picture
Gas lights were installed in the White House while Polk was a resident.

Picture
Polk survived a gallstone operation at age 17... without anethesia or antiseptics. Those medical practices were not used at the time.

Picture
The first annual White House Thanksgiving dinner was hosted by Polk's wife, Sarah.

Picture
Polk's wife, Sarah, was a devout Presbyterian. She banned dancing, card-playing, and  alcoholic beverages in the White House.

Picture
News of Polk's nomination was widely disseminated using the telegraph, the first time that this had been done.

Picture
When he took office on March 4, 1845, Polk became the youngest President to be elected at 49 years of age. (Franklin Pierce, age 48, became the "youngest" in 1853. Ulysses Grant, age 46, replaced Pierce as the youngest elected President in 1869. Following the assassination of William McKinley in 1901, Teddy Roosevelt took office at 42, but, this was because he was Vice President. The youngest elected President is JFK, who was sworn into office on January 20, 1961 at age 43.) However, Polk had the shortest retirement of any President. He lived for just three months after leaving office, dying in 1849 from cholera contracted while on a Presidential "Farewell Tour" of the South.  His wife, Sarah, lived 40 years after he died. Both are now buried in a tomb in Nashville, Tennessee.

Picture
Polk loved horses and learned to ride before he could walk.

Picture
One of Polk's campaign promises was that he promised not to run for a second term. He kept that promise and did not run in the Election of 1848 (which was won by Zachary Taylor). This made him the first President to voluntarily retire after one term. 

Picture
Polk's mother, Jane, was descended directly from a brother of John Knox, the leader of the Scottish Reformation and founder of the Presbyterian Church. 

Picture
Polk backed the immediate annexation of Texas, which had broken away from Mexico in 1836 to become its own country.  As anticipated, a border dispute between Texas and Mexico resulted in the Mexican-American War (1836-1848). The war was a resounding success for the U.S., and with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo came all of the modern U.S. Southwest, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming

Picture
Polk brokered a deal with Britain for the Oregon Territory, which, at that time, included all the Pacific Northwest, from California to the southern part of modern Alaska. The deal effectively divided the territory between the two countries, helping to create the modern day states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and giving territory in Canada to Britain. 

Picture

Presidential Portraits


Picture
Polk + Time Monkey = Go On... [Click picture for a larger version.]
Picture
President Polk took the Wild West... all by himself. [Click picture for a larger version.]
Picture
A very select few of you will get this James K. Polk reference... and you get a high five. [Click picture for a larger version.]

Picture

Presidential Signature


Picture

Picture

Previous President

Picture
[Click picture to visit the previous President.]

Next President

Picture
[Click picture to visit the next President.]

Click here to return to the U.S. Presidential Index