POLK 



4737 



POLK 





As a man, Polk was a thinker and a student. 

 He was tenacious of the opinions which he had 

 formed, and was not easily moved by argu- 

 ment or public clamor. His private life was 

 simple, and his home circle provided most of 

 his amusements. George Dallas, Vice-Presi- 

 dent while Polk was President, described him 

 as 



Temperate, but not unsocial ; Industrious, but 

 : punctual, but patient; moral, without 

 austerity ; devotional, though not bigoted. 



George Bancroft, a member of his Cabinet, 

 wrote about Polk thirty-eight years after his 

 death, as follows: 



Prudent, farslghted. bold, exceeding any Demo- 

 crat of his day in his undeviatingly correct ex- 

 position of democratic principles ; and in short, as 

 I think, judging of him as I knew him, and judg- 

 ing of him by the results of his administration, 

 one of the very foremost of our public men, and 

 one of the very best, most honest and most suc- 

 cessful Presidents the country ever had. 



His Boyhood and Youth. James Knox Polk 

 was born on November 2, 1795, in Mecklen- 

 burg County, North Carolina. The Polks, who 

 originally spelled their name Pollock, were of 

 In>h origin. Samuel Polk, in the fourth Ameri- 

 can generation of the family, was a North Caro- 

 lina fanner of more than average intelligence. 

 In 1806 he removed with his family to the fer- 

 . alley of the Duck River, a tributary of 

 tli. Tennessee. There he made a new home in 

 M-ction which was included a year later in 

 tin- county of Maury, Tennessee. Samuel 

 Polk, in addition to working on his farm, also 

 worked from time to time as a surveyor. Of 

 re to him was his son James 

 ho was eleven years old when the 

 ;y moved to Trim- SM . Vung James not 

 assisted in the management of the farm, 

 but often accompanied his father on the latter's 



inn trips. 



James was a studious boy, went to school for 

 several years, and from 1813 to 1815 was in 



ire of a ]<: tor. In thr lal 



he be sophomore class of the Uni- 



versity of North Carolina. At the university 

 he was no less studious and industrious than he 

 had been at home. When he was graduated in 

 1818 he was without cju.>n..ti the best scholar 

 in his class in t Ml and the classics, and 



was chosen to it in salutatory. It 



is interesting that his alma mater, many years 

 \vh.n he was President of the United 

 States, ga\- lu m the honorary degree of LL.D. 

 His Career as a Lawyer. In 1819 Polk en- 

 tin Jaw office of Felix Grundy, then the 



m 



foremost lawyer in Tennessee. After a year 

 he was admitted to the bar, and at once estab- 

 lished himself in independent practice at Co- 

 lumbia, the county seat of Maury County. 

 His success was immediate, and with occasional 

 breaks caused by his political activities, Polk 

 continued to practice until his election in 1839 

 to the governorship of Tennessee. At one time 

 his law partner was Gideon J. Pillow, later 

 known as a Confederate general. 



As a Lawmaker. Polk's high reputation at 

 the bar was both a cause and a result of his 

 activity in political affairs. He early began to 

 expound the principles of the Democratic party. 

 and soon won the nickname "Napoleon of the 

 Stump." His speeches were argumentative 

 rather than rhetorical that is, they convinced 

 his hearers by clear reasoning and simplicity of 

 statement. After a brief service as chief clerk 

 of the state house of representatives, Polk 

 served a term in that body (1823-1825). There 

 his reputation was further enhanced by his 

 keenness in debate, his tact, and perhaps above 

 all, his industry. One of the laws which he 

 introduced and helped to pass prohibited the 

 practice of dueling; unlike most of the promi- 

 nent men of his day, he was never involved, 

 either as principal or as second, in a duel. 



When Polk first took his seat in the Fed- 

 eral House of Representatives in 1825, he was 

 one of the youngest members of that body. 

 After two years he was placed on the impor- 

 tant Committee on Foreign Affairs, and shortly 

 afterward was given a place on the Ways and 

 us Committee. As a member of the latter 

 committee, he prepared, in 1833, a minority re- 

 port unfavorable to the Bank of the United 

 States, an action which led to much criticism 

 from his constituents. During the long contro- 

 versy over the Bank, and in fact during the 

 whole of Jackson's two terms, Polk was one of 

 tin- President's leading supporters. In 1835 the 

 House elected him Speaker. He remained m 

 t hi- position until 1839, four years during which 

 partisan feeling ran higher than it had ever 

 run. 



During Folk's first session as Speaker 

 more appeals were taken from his parliamen- 

 tary deciMon- than were ev r known before, 

 but his rulings were almost invariably sus- 

 1 I'v th. House. There is, too, the testi- 

 mony of John Quincy Adams, who said that 

 th.- Speaker, although opposed to the antislav- 

 doctrines of Adams and his friend.--. 



<> him "every kindness and courtesy 

 imaginable." 



