James K. Polk Manifests A Destiny
Matt Costello 00:00
Even though he does get the declaration of war, not all members of Congress and not the public are entirely convinced that either what has happened or that these boundaries are as the president has framed them.
Colleen Shogan 00:13
In 1844, newspapers across the United States asked a simple question: "Who is James K. Polk?" The Tennessee Democrat, had emerged almost out of nowhere to win his party's presidential nomination. Polk promised an ambitious agenda, one that included admitting Texas into the Union and greater territorial expansion, and he pledged to do it all in a single term. By some measure, Polk was among the most successful presidents in American history. He fulfilled almost all of his campaign promises, but as today's guest, Matthew Costello reminds us, those achievements came at a great cost to the nation. So, what can we learn from Polk's energetic administration? I'm Colleen Shogan, and this is In Pursuit, a podcast that explores lessons from America's past to rate the history of America's future. Episode nine: James K. Polk manifests a destiny. Matt Castello, welcome to In Pursuit.
Matt Costello 01:22
Thank you, Colleen, for having me.
Colleen Shogan 01:23
So, in 1844, newspapers across the United States asked the same question: Who is James K. Polk? So, we'll start with that question: Who is James Polk?
Matt Costello 01:36
Well, a big part of the reason why people were asking that question was because he was a relative unknown beyond his brief tenure as Speaker of the House in Washington. He had come from humble beginnings in North Carolina, later Tennessee, became a state politician, and then he sort of ascended the ranks of the party to ultimately become Speaker of the House. He returns to Tennessee. He wins one race, loses two more, and really sort of was seen as on the decline of a political career. And so, how he somehow manages to become the Democratic presidential candidate in 1844 is really quite astounding. And so, many of his contemporaries at that time, were simply asking, "Who is James K. Polk?" They also sort of meant it as a slight in some ways that nobody knew who he was. He couldn't even win elections in Tennessee, so certainly he was not going to win the presidency. And lo and behold, today we know him as our 11th president of the United States.
Colleen Shogan 02:39
So, it was meant to be derogatory, but then it turned out to actually be something that Polk adopted.
Matt Costello 02:44
Yes, and we've seen this many times in American politics, where one side can create nicknames for another side, or they can create slights and insults, and ultimately, what happens is, you know, the individual and their supporters are able to co-opt it and turn it around and use it to their advantage. And with James K. Polk, of course, the question was, "Who is James K. Polk?" And his supporters, after he won, responded, "He is president of the United States."
Colleen Shogan 03:11
So even before his career in politics, Polk purchased a number of plantations. So talk to us about that early part of his life, what was why did he do that, and what was the role of slavery played in that early part of his career?
Matt Costello 03:32
Well, you know, Polk grew up in North Carolina. You know, when his father passed his way in the 1820s he receives more than two dozen enslaved people from his estate, so you know he had always been around slavery, not only in terms of his childhood and later adult life, but you know he he profited from it, as did his family. It was part of this move to the what they would call the frontier in Tennessee in those days, but that was one way to ascend the social and political ladder. Was not only winning elections, but also acquiring property. And in those days, it was enslaved people. And over time, he marries Sarah Polk. They acquire more people, more land, and ultimately he becomes a member, really sort of of the more affluent slaveholding gentry. He positions himself in you know Tennessee social circles as a benevolent slaveholder, and and then you know beyond all that, you have to keep in mind that it's it's enslaved people that are really providing the means to sustain the Polks, to help their livelihood, to help their economic well-being, and so for James K. Polk, by the time he becomes president of the United States, you know slavery has played a major role in fueling his rise. On the political scene, and it'll play a huge part in his presidency as well.
Colleen Shogan 05:06
When he starts his political career in Tennessee, he becomes a protege of Andrew Jackson. So, how does that happen, and what effect does that end up having on Polk's career?
Matt Costello 05:21
Well, it has a fairly dramatic effect. You know, when you look at American politics in the 1820s, nobody really looms larger than Andrew Jackson. You know, first losing the presidency in 1824, of course, decrying this as the corrupt bargain that that was how John Quincy Adams was able to win, but there is no doubt in 1828 when Jackson wins the presidency, and so those that are aligned and supporting Jackson also fall in line with all the different things that Jackson then promises after the fact. Quite an extensive patronage network, and so when Polk is ascending the ladder in Tennessee state politics, and then later he's elected to Congress. Right around that same time, you know they're both Tennessee gentlemen. They're both slaveholders. They're both members. One is the leader of the Democratic Party. Another one is an up and comer in the Democratic Party, and so they they develop this bond, and in so much so that Jackson was famously called Old Hickory, Polk is nicknamed Young Hickory to sort of signify that relationship between those two, and then probably the parts where Jackson weighs in the most to help lift Polk in his climb is that it's really Jackson's support that helps get Polk the speaker's gavel in 1835. So you know, needless to say, Polk wouldn't have climbed I think as quickly or as rapidly as he did without the patronage of Andrew Jackson.
Colleen Shogan 06:54
Another thing that Andrew Jackson does is that he encourages James Polk to marry Sarah Polk. In your essay for *In Pursuit* you write that Sarah Polk has a tremendous impact on James K. Polk's political career.
Matt Costello 07:12
I mean, you know, we talk a lot about first ladies as, and I think there's this misconception that they're just sort of, you know, hostesses-they are really there more purely for hospitality reasons. But Sarah Polk was a political operator. I mean, she kept up on the news. She read newspapers. She was from a fairly well-educated, affluent background, and she brings all of this into the marriage with James, and and she also asserts more of herself into his political dealings. Now, remember, at this time, you know, women were not expected to be involved in American politics. There was very much this idea of politics is for men and domestic affairs is for women, but Sarah Polk is able to navigate those two worlds really quite seamlessly. She's giving him put on speeches. She's giving him her feedback on policy issues. There's even moments where she's really more or less controlling access to her husband.
Colleen Shogan 08:16
Sounds like she was his chief of staff.
Matt Costello 08:18
Yeah, in some ways, maybe she was
Colleen Shogan 08:20
the first female chief of staff.
Matt Costello 08:23
You could define it that way. Yes, I mean, and I think Sarah Polk is just one example of a litany of examples of not only women who were married to presidents, but also daughters, daughters-in-law, who also played similar roles in shaping and influencing either policy decisions or political positions that I think have long been overlooked.
Colleen Shogan 08:47
And Polk had to accept her role in that. I mean, she could offer her opinion, but it had to be solicited by him. So that indicates that Polk had some different opinions, at least inwardly, for that time period.
Matt Costello 09:04
Yeah, and I think he, you know, I think James K. Polk also realized that there was much greater benefit seeking out Sarah's counsel as opposed to simply going his own way. And I think that was an extension of that longer relationship of his climb of the political ladder, that he had oftentimes turned to Sarah for advice or for her opinions, and so she plays a major role, especially when he's climbing in Tennessee because her family is so well connected; they're known. So she plays a major role in that ascent.
Colleen Shogan 09:40
So he does climb the ladder in Tennessee, and he becomes speaker. But by the early 1840s his career is is hit the skids. So what happens, and how does he get out of it?
Matt Costello 09:53
Yeah, it's it's an excellent question because it seems as though, as the story is going, you know, Polk is on the run. And but it just it doesn't quite materialize that way. He decides to leave Congress to run to be governor of Tennessee, which is quite common. We see that off in the 19th century, where
Colleen Shogan 10:12
we see it today.
Matt Costello 10:12
We see it today, where members of Congress decide, you know what, I'm going to try my luck in my home state. Maybe they'll like me more. And there's
Colleen Shogan 10:19
you know to be a chief executive versus a legislator, there's a lot of reasons,
Matt Costello 10:23
right? I mean, and it also helps build and broaden that experience. And so he goes back to Tennessee. He wins one election, but then in the re-election campaign he loses, and then he runs again and loses a second time. And so really, at this point, you know if if you're not you know part of a current presidential administration you're no longer in Congress you've lost multiple elections I mean you're starting to become stale really you know people start to forget about you or they start thinking of you as incapable of winning and and so I think for Polk, having lost twice in his own home state after being governor, after being speaker of the House, it certainly looked like to many that you know his rise was over.
Colleen Shogan 11:12
So it's 1844. What's going on in the country? What are the major debates that the United States is facing?
Matt Costello 11:19
Well, other there's a few things. One of the biggest issues that's facing the United States is the annexation of Texas. Now, this had gone on, you know, for the last decade or so, but in a series of different conflicts and wars and competing land claims, you had at different points an independent Republic of Texas, and then a push for Texas statehood to be admitting to the Union, while all happening at the same time as the rise of abolitionist sentiment is happening. More and more people who are opposed to slavery see this as a real problem, because if you admit a state like Texas as a slave state, in theory, based on the Missouri Compromise, there should be a free state admitted to offset the inclusion of a balance rule,
Colleen Shogan 12:05
right?
Matt Costello 12:05
Correct. But if you don't have that balance, there's obviously a concern that now Congress will be further imbalanced towards states that permit slavery, and that this will really change the dynamics of how Congress works, and so that is sort of the biggest pressing issue. It's something that envelopes Martin Van Buren towards the end of his administration. He, of course, steps forward as the favored candidate initially of the Democratic Party in 1844, but here we are in 1844. He had opposed annexation of Texas, and so that you know members of the Democratic Party, particularly those from the South and the West, do not see Van Buren as their preferred candidate of choice.
Colleen Shogan 12:51
You know, if you take a history course or a political science course on the presidency, you will learn that James K. Polk is the first dark horse candidate for the presidency in American history. What does that mean?
Matt Costello 13:06
Well, it's the origins of the term actually go back to horse racing, and the idea there was to to call someone a dark horse was essentially a horse that when you were betting you didn't anticipate them to win the race, right? So this is the underdog. You know, we have we have a slew of different terms to describe this individual or person or sports team today, but dark horse was really more of a race betting term, and then it gets applied to James K. Polk, and it's and then sort of there's a subsequent slew of presidents that come through that achieve a similar status. These candidates who really sort of come out of nowhere, or they come from smaller states, that people really, you know, the the party insiders did not anticipate them capturing the nomination, and so because James K. Polk is so unexpected, this is why they refer to him as the dark horse candidate,
Colleen Shogan 14:02
and he's able to secure the nomination at the party convention.
Matt Costello 14:05
Yes, you know it wasn't something that, and I also should say that he he himself isn't really securing the nomination. I mean, he gets a big push from people who have connections to Andrew Jackson, and when Jackson makes it clear that his favorite candidate is Polk as opposed to Van Buren, while you know, sort of the dominoes fall into place, and then all of a sudden, you know, this twice election losing governor from Tennessee is now the Democratic Party's nominee for the election of 1844.
Colleen Shogan 14:39
What does he promise to do if he's elected president?
Matt Costello 14:43
Well, he makes several key promises, and it makes sense that this platform would resonate with the Democratic Party, particularly in the South and in the West. The big one is that he really wants to settle the annexation of Texas. Now, as we get closer. To him taking office, this will be something that Congress does with outgoing President John Tyler, but the annexation of Texas and pushing for forward on Texas statehood-that's a big one. He wants to acquire more territory in the West, specifically California.
Colleen Shogan 15:16
Is this the Manifest Destiny?
Matt Costello 15:18
Yes, and Manifest Destiny-I should say that this idea of expansionism is not a new one. It's been going on for you know you could argue centuries really in North America with colonists and settlers and then later Americans further going west and pushing Native Americans really off their lands and out of the way to acquire more territory, and with Polk, he really sees the future of the United States out west, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. And so, between the Texas question, acquiring more territory in the West, which includes California, settling the dispute with Great Britain and Oregon Territory, he also wants to establish a separate, independent treasury, and he wants to reduce tariffs. So it's sort of a mix of different economic agenda items, but also, you know, he sees expansion as critical to the future of the United States, and he makes these promises. And you know, say what you will about James K. Polk, he he gets them all enacted. He gets them all done in one term.
Colleen Shogan 16:27
And he also promises only to serve one term. Now, why would he do that?
Matt Costello 16:31
It's a great question. You know, most politicians would not campaign and say I'm because you're
Colleen Shogan 16:39
immediately a lame duck,
Matt Costello 16:40
right? If I'm elected, I will. You know, I only serve one term, and these are the things I will do. It was shockingly honest. You couldn't tell if he was actually being genuine about these things, or you know, was it just he was he was hoping to get sort of like this, almost like he's a disinterested leader. He's only going to serve the this amount of time, do this amount of things, and then leave. And so, you know, it's it's a remarkable statement because it's not one that I think politicians certainly would make today. But you know, Polk is a relatively young man. He also believes that he can get these things done in a single term.
Colleen Shogan 17:17
He's only in his 40s when he's elected, correct?
Matt Costello 17:19
Yeah, I believe he's 49 when you say. I mean, at this point in time, he's the youngest person to serve as president of the United States.
Colleen Shogan 17:25
He's like the John Kennedy of the 1840s.
Matt Costello 17:28
Yeah, and you know, and I think much like Kennedy, he also talked of this vision of of progress. Now, very different visions of progress, right?
Colleen Shogan 17:37
Different vision.
Matt Costello 17:38
But in Polk's time, you know, the progress for the United States of America was creating a continental nation, and you know, really sort of pushing the British or settling the British question more in the Northwest, acquiring additional territory from Mexico, and really sort of securing this expansion of territory to open up further economic opportunities for Americans, and so you know, I think most people thought there's no way he's only going to serve one time. I'm sure he'll find a way to turn. But how would he get
Colleen Shogan 18:10
all this done? Right, right, right. And how and
Matt Costello 18:11
how could he honestly do all these really major economic and foreign policy things? But he's able to do it in four years, which is pretty remarkable.
Colleen Shogan 18:21
So, explain to us the contest in the border between Texas, the United States, and Mexico, and what does Polk do to provoke really a war that ends up leading to the expansion that you're talking about?
Matt Costello 18:40
So, I mentioned earlier that President John Tyler, you know, agrees to the resolution by Congress to the annexation of of Texas. The problem is is that the United States and Mexico have different ideas of where that boundary ultimately ends, and because this isn't agreed upon in a treaty, instead what you have is two sovereign countries disagreeing about exactly where one ends and the other begins.
Colleen Shogan 19:07
That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Matt Costello 19:08
It really is, and you know Polk does attempt through diplomatic means first to try to get Mexico to agree to those terms. He he does send an ambassador to Mexico City to try to see if there's any kind of negotiation that could happen, but ultimately, you know, Mexico doesn't recognize that boundary. And what Pope decides to do next is quite-I mean, it was controversial even in his own time, but certainly controversial today. He decides to order American troops into the contested territory.
Colleen Shogan 19:43
It's contested, but he says it's
Matt Costello 19:45
he says it's American soil, right?
Colleen Shogan 19:47
Right.
Matt Costello 19:47
He says, you know, we annexed this territory, and the outer boundary of the United States of America is now the Rio Grande River. Mexico doesn't see it that way. Is they say that actually it's a little bit further north in the Nueces River, so we have a disagreement about exactly where these two sovereign nations end, and so because Polk then sends troops into that territory, Mexico interprets it as an invasion, and they attack, and there's a skirmish, and pretty soon Polk is asking Congress for a declaration of war against Mexico
Colleen Shogan 20:25
Because American blood has been shed on American soil.
Matt Costello 20:28
Yep, and he sees it now as a it is a war of defense, a war of patriotism, a war to protect the United States. Now, not it's
Colleen Shogan 20:39
almost a total reframe,
Matt Costello 20:41
and you know what? And not everybody, not everybody sees it the way. You know, even though he does get the declaration of war, not all members of Congress and not the public are entirely convinced that either what has happened or that these boundaries are as the president has framed them,
Colleen Shogan 20:58
including Abraham Lincoln.
Matt Costello 21:00
Yeah, and you know this is you know Lincoln is serving in Congress at the time, and he continuously keeps putting up a resolution, which famously today we call the Spot Resolution, and it's it's it's not about you know getting a spot out of clothing; it's more about show me the exact spot where American blood was spilled on American soil. Nobody's contesting that American blood was spilled, but Lincoln's point is show us the spot on American soil, because Lincoln knows this is contested territory, and that really Polk has provoked this escalation of a conflict by sending American troops into contested territory.
Colleen Shogan 21:43
One of the things that fascinates me about Polk is that I could argue, just like we, I mentioned that Sarah Polk could be considered the first chief of staff. I think that James Polk could be considered the first director of the Office of Management and Budget because he does an extraordinary thing when he's president, he lowers the tariff, so he lowers taxes. The tariff is really equates to what taxation is in the United States at that point in time. He lowers the taxes, and he also wages a fairly expensive war, Mexican War, but he manages to do that through this really effective control of the budget,
Matt Costello 22:24
Polk is able to actually partially pay for the war through you know issuing of bonds. So this idea that the government could issue bonds and pay back those bonds with interest at a later date-it was sort of a creative way to get around sort of the typical congressional appropriations process. Now, further on, Congress does appropriate money for the war, but this is a way to sort of initially get around these things. And what's fascinating about this is that it's something that we get accustomed to seeing presidents do time and time again in instances of war, because not you know Congress isn't always immediately on board. I mean, they might agree and issue a declaration of war, but you know the appropriations don't always immediately hit that quickly. And so he creates this precedent that presidents can have greater flexibility when it comes to things like appropriations and funding, especially in a moment of crisis, conflict, or war.
Colleen Shogan 23:23
When I was in graduate school, I wrote a short paper on centralization and politicization in the 19th century, and I found in Polk's diaries what he would do. He stayed in Washington D.C. in the summer, which absolutely no one did. No, and I think people would not appreciate that the budgeting process in the United States was not centralized in any way the way that it is that we appreciate today. So he would call all of these different bureau chiefs into his office, and it was very hot. It was you know 80-590, degrees, no air conditioning. You know, and he would make them stand in front of him, in the in the White House, and they were not allowed to sit. No, he was allowed to sit, but they were not allowed to sit. And he would make them. He would go through their budget line by line and make them justify every line in their budget, until many of them just simply gave up and said, "Okay, I'll accept the cuts that you want to make." So once again, this was another way in which he was able to lower the tariff and also finance the war.
Matt Costello 24:36
Well, yeah, and that story reminds me of you know some biographers have referred to Polk as almost like a work, what we think of today as like a workaholic. I mean, he was somebody who was was up early. He he didn't take breaks. Is this part of sort of you know growing up? You know, he was much more sickly as a child. He had a lot of illnesses, and so was this more like he was really trying to. Take advantage of the time he had while he had it, but you know he worked long hours. He did not shy away from getting into exactly as you described, getting into the weeds, whether it was a policy position, whether it was appropriations. I mean, he really, you know, would dive into these things, and you know, and it makes also in my mind a lot of sense that if, on one hand, you know, you're trying to rally support for a war that is controversial, while at the same time fulfill another promise to say reduce the tariff, well, you're going to have to look at government spending. I mean, that's you can't wage war and be spending money there without making reductions somewhere else.
Colleen Shogan 25:46
And Polk doesn't last too long after his presidency is done. He he dies a few months later. Is that right?
Matt Costello 25:53
Yeah. I mean, it's you know they leave the White House in 1849. I believe they go down to New Orleans, and then they go up the Mississippi River back to Tennessee. But it's fascinating. You look at Polk's diary, and he talks about sort of coming across all these different outbreaks of cholera, and you know other waterborne illness outbreaks, and ultimately it is you know it's cholera that he contracts and he ends up dying. It's only a few months after he leaves the presidency.
Colleen Shogan 26:26
So, if you look at James K. Polk's presidency, you could say, as we've gone over in this discussion, a lot of successes in that he fulfilled the promises that he made when he campaigned, or when he was at least the nominee for president. But what were the long-term ramifications or effects of some of his decisions?
Matt Costello 26:49
Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, if if we were looking at this purely in terms of a leader who sets an agenda, makes promises, and he keeps them, one could argue that James K. Polk was probably one of our more successful presidents. However, he's not really remembered that way today. So why is that? Well, a big part of it is because of what comes after Polk. Now he doesn't live very long, like we talked about. But it's interesting, though. Sarah Polk lives for many years, and you know she lives to see the Civil War, and she lives to see really sort of the consequences of some of these policy decisions, and you know what I argue in the essay is that you know Polk accelerates the road to the Civil War, and that these decisions, the expansion of the United States, continuing to add new territory without having a real solution about slavery in the West, continues to add fuel to this fire. And because you know, while we can say that Polk is you know partly responsible for that road, none of his successors are really able to steer the country out of it, and ultimately, what we have is a civil war. We have two warring sides. Ultimately, more than 600,000 Americans will lose their lives in the civil war, and and even then, I mean, you feel the ramifications of the Civil War well beyond the time that it happens, and so I think you know, yes, Polk was successful in you know negotiating the treaty with Great Britain and settling the Oregon Territory. He acquired California, which you know you could argue was a very valuable acquisition for the United States in the long term. Just when you're thinking about things like the gold rush and World War II and having to send troops, I mean, there's a lot just with acquiring California. But you know, it's it's a move that ultimately will create tremendous strain with the country of Mexico. It displaces Native Americans even further, not only from having them been moved once west of the Mississippi, but now further crowded into reservations and Indian Territory, and ultimately it really hardens politics around the issue of slavery and its expansion. And because those things happen as a result of this expansion during the Mexican American War, we ultimately end up with a war.
Colleen Shogan 29:27
In Pursuit is trying to find relevant lessons in our nation's history. So when we look at James K. Polk, what can we learn from his leadership and his presidency that would be relevant to us today.
Matt Costello 29:42
Well, a few things. I think one, there is something to appreciate and admire about Polk, in that he was a dark horse candidate. Nobody expected him, or maybe nobody really truly valued him in that capacity. But not only was he able to capture the nomination, but he was able to lay out a very clear agenda and accomplish an agenda, and that's that's you know there's value in that. At the same time, you know I think we also have to acknowledge that we shouldn't measure presidential success solely on who wins elections and whether or not they achieve the agenda items that they set out or the promises that they make. You know, success of a presidency is much more than that, and oftentimes we think of the presidency in those terms, which is very short term. It's very contemporary, and then when we start to think more about James K. Polk's impact beyond, say, 1849, when he dies, what we see is that there were devastating, tragic consequences for some of his policy decisions. He didn't live long enough to actually see some of these things, and ultimately, you can't help but feel as though his actions or inactions at times helped contribute to setting this country on the road to civil war.
Colleen Shogan 31:14
Matt Costello, thank you so much for joining us today in on In Pursuit.
Matt Costello 31:18
Thank you for having me.
Colleen Shogan 31:20
To read Matthew Costello's essay on James Polk and to enjoy other great In Pursuit essays and podcasts, visit in pursuit.org. In Pursuit with Colleen Shogan is a podcast by More Perfect. The series is written and produced by Jim Ambuske. Production services provided by Stand Together. Our theme music is Kleos by Charlie Ryan. Audio mixing by Curt Dahl of CD Squared. Please rate and review the show on your favorite podcast app, and tell us which Americans inspire you.
