After leaving the House of Representatives, Polk returned to Tennessee to become governor for a few years then was a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for Vice President in 1844. The public liked the idea of expanding westward (known as “Manifest Destiny”), and Polk was nominated on the ninth ballot …show more content…
Polk became the nation’s first “dark horse” candidate in 1844 when he was nominated for the Democratic Party (History). The main political party at the time that rivaled the Democrats was the Whig Party and their nomination for president was Henry Clay. The Whigs used the slogan “Who is James K. Polk?” because he was not well known (Freidel). Polk supported the annexation of Texas and wanted to negotiate with the British to take control of the Northwest states (Washington, Idaho, and Oregon). Polk was a slave owner but had an idea to add Texas as a slave state and Oregon as a free state to the Union. This kept the House of Representatives balanced (Miller). This idea allowed Polk to keep support from the South and gain some support from the North (Freidel). After the votes were counted, Polk had beaten Clay 1,338,464 to 1,300,094 in the popular vote