Lived

November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849

Home State

Tennessee

Party

Democratic

Vice President

George M. Dallas

James K. Polk was a 'dark horse' Democratic nominee who accomplished every major goal of his single term: tariff reduction, restoration of the Independent Treasury, acquisition of Oregon, and seizure of the American Southwest. The Mexican–American War added California, Nevada, Utah, and much of Arizona and New Mexico, but it reopened the slavery question and set the nation on the road to civil war. Polk expanded the United States from coast to coast and then kept his promise to serve only one term, dying shortly after leaving office. Tennessee lawyer, U.S. Representative and Speaker of the House, Governor of Tennessee.

University of North Carolina, 1818.

Settled the Oregon boundary with Britain at the 49th parallel. Acquired California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming through the Mexican Cession. Established the Department of the Interior and reduced the tariff. Signed the Walker Tariff (1846), the Independent Treasury Act (1846, re-establishing the system), and the act creating the Department of the Interior (1849).

Provoked the Mexican–American War over the disputed Texas boundary; opposition in Congress, including a young Representative Lincoln, denounced the war as manufactured. The new territories reopened the slavery question and set the country on the road to civil war.