Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America

Walter R. Borneman

reviewed June 2016

From time to time, when historians are asked to rank the U.S. Presidents from best to worst, James Polk generally gets a very favorable, high ranking. Surprised? I’m betting most have never even heard of him. After reading this wonderful biography, I’m a bit puzzled that the nation’s 11th Commander in Chief has basically faded into obscurity.

In fact, biographies of the lesser known presidents who served their country more than one century ago can be very hard to come by. I was surprised to find such a well-crafted memoir on Polk. This really was a great account of his life.

James Polk, to my knowledge, is the only U.S. President to campaign with the promise that he wouldn’t serve more than one term. He faithfully kept that promise. Sadly, less than two months after he left the office, he was dead. History tells us that the strain of such a job took its toll. It’s quite sad, especially when the author leads us to believe that had Polk decided to run for another term, he probably would have easily won.

What people most remember about Polk is that he commanded the country during The Mexican War. Expansionism was also running high shortly before he took office. Yes, he was the one that officially annexed the Texas territory (no longer a part of Mexico at the time), yet the wheels were already set in motion by his predecessor, John Tyler. There is California, however, as well as much of the New Mexico territory. We’re led to believe that these areas weren’t taken from Mexico per se, but were inhabited by citizens that wanted to join the U.S., so there definitely was an incentive to annex these territories.

War is inevitable, and a good bulk of this book deals with the comings and goings of the generals, the politics, and the battles. In fact, it’s the Mexican War that gives this book it’s subtitle. Apparently, Polk’s “transforming” the presidency is when he basically fudges on the part of the constitution that says that only Congress can declare war. Instead, Polk uses executive power to push the country in the direction that he wants it to go. Yes, this has happened in the future, but it doesn’t seem like an event that ‘transforms’ anything. In fact, it’s only briefly alluded to in this bio.

With only one four year term, there isn’t that much else that occurs during his presidency that warrants much excitement. We do see politics at its worst. Well, not really. Politics has always been politics. We constantly read about men in power that are finagling things to get some sort of desired outcome that will, somehow, elevate them into a position in power. I’ve said this many times reviewing books on U.S. Presidents from the 18th and 19th centuries – nothing has really changed. Things are just more “instant” now than they ever have been thanks to 24-hour news access and social media.

This was a good solid book. I felt that all parts of James Polk’s life were covered, yet the author never got bogged down with minutia. I’ll definitely read his other works at some point.

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