James K. Polk Research Paper

James K. Polk became the 11th president of the United States from 1845-1849. He was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in 1795 and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818 (Freidel). Polk was known as the “dark horse” candidate because he was the underdog and not very well known in the presidential election of 1844 (History). After graduating from the University of North Carolina, Polk began to study law in Nashville, Tennessee and got a job as the clerk of the state senate. Polk moved on to become a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives then became chief legislative lieutenant of Tennessee Governor William Carrolls (Miller). Polk was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1825 and served as speaker of the House from 1835-1839 (History).
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