Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America | Walter R. Borneman

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America | Walter R. Borneman | Polk: The Man Who Transformed Presidency and America

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Polk: The Man Who ...

	Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America Walter R. Borneman Random House, 2008 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In Polk, Walter R. Borneman gives us the first complete and authoritative biography of a president often overshadowed in image but seldom outdone in accomplishment.

James K. Polk occupied the White House for only four years, from 1845 to 1849, but he is rightly recognized as the last strong pre-Civil War president. His pledge to serve a single term, which many thought would immediately consign him to lame-duck status, enabled Polk to rise above electoral politics and to outflank his adversaries.

Thus Polk plotted and attained a formidable agenda: He fought for and won tariff reductions, reestablished an independent Treasury, and most notably, brought Texas into the Union, bluffed Great Britain out of the lion?s share of Oregon, and wrested California and much of the Southwest from Mexico. On reflection, these successes seem even more impressive, given the contentious political environment of the time.

In tracing Polk?s life and career?his early childhood in a prominent frontier family, his meteoric rise in public office and storied turn in the House of Representatives, the dramatic plunge of his career fortunes early in the post-Jacksonian period, and his political rebirth prior to the 1844 campaign season?Borneman dispels conventional views of Polk as a dark horse or an accidental president. Instead, we see Polk as he was?a decisive, if not partisan, statesman whose near doubling of America?s boundaries and expansive broadening of executive powers redefined the country at large, as well as the nature of its highest office.

Along with Polk, this is also the story of Andrew Jackson, Polk?s longtime political patron; Henry Clay, Polk?s ambitious rival; ex-president Martin Van Buren, who lusted to return to the White House; Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, who shared Polk?s commitment to territorial expansion but came to quarrel with him over the means; Polk?s fellow Tennessee politicos Davy Crockett and Sam Houston; and a principled young Whig from Illinois named Abraham Lincoln, who goaded Polk about misleading the nation into war with Mexico.

Proving the eternal truth of the adage ?The more things change, the more they stay the same,? especially in terms of presidential politics, Borneman also provides engrossing blow-by-blow tales of punishing campaigns, audacious third-party spoilers, and the often comical lengths political fixers will go to reach a highly fickle electorate.

In this unprecedented, long-overdue warts-and-all biography, we are reminded anew of the true meaning of presidential accomplishment and resolve.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

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Superb Biography of Polk

As the book's subtitle suggests, this is an account of a President who had an enormous impact on the contiguous 48 states. He was a brilliant visionary and leader. The author has done an excellent job of research and tied it all together into an enjoyable, fascinating account of a critical period in US history.

Polk: The Man Who Transformed Presidency and America

This book was well-written and easy to read. The subject was engrossing, so it was hard to put down. He did this all without demonstrating political prejudice, too. I will read it again.

Obscurity and Greatness

James K Polk was barely a generation removed from our Founding Fathers when it is taken into account that he was mentored by Andrew Jackson and had John Quincy Adams in the House of Representatives during his Presidency.

When one considers that Abraham Lincoln also served in the House during his Presidency, and Ulysses S. Grant served in his army, the shadow that Polk cast over 19th century politics becomes huge.

Conventional wisdom has been that between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, there was a tremendous vacuum of Presidential leadership. This book moves a long way toward debunking this notion. In fact, James Polk is arguably the greatest one-term President this country has seen.

Rarely has a President moved into this position with such a clear and well defined set of objectives and stayed so focused on carrying them out.

Polk's continuation of Manifest Destiny, and his no holds barred tactics of achieving land expansion puts him in a pantheon and league with the few Presidents who have achieved greatness in their tenures. When we now look at our map, it has Polk's clear stamp on it.

This book must have been difficult for the author to write, in that there was little written about Polk, in light of the Civil War, and his story has been lost to obscurity. In that he has been deceased for 160 years, there are few sources to get an accurate gauge of his personality, or his actions, other than what is recorded.

Still, this book brings him to life, and paints a clear picture of the political times.

For the afficionado of the Presidency, and its inhabitants, it is a must read story.

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Best Polk Bio but missing some personality

If you want to read about great or near-great US presidents, you of course should include James Polk on your list, especially since he is the least-known of the group. Polk served just one term - he said he would only serve one term and he never changed his mind - but that one term was packed with an agenda. He nearly doubled the size of the United States. If it hadn't been for Polk, the Pacific Northwest might today be a part of Canada and California might still be a part of Mexico. He was, compared to many presidents during those times, a strong executive. Borneman's book is currently the best biography on Polk, although I wish it had covered more of Polk's character and personal life... Interestingly, I reread what Harry Truman had to say about Polk in an interview from the book, "Plain Speaking." Truman was old and cantankerous at the time but he included Polk as one of five weak presidents leading up to the Civil War. Truman didn't fully specify why he felt Polk was "weak." He acknowledged the expanded territory. He said Mrs. Polk was a very strong-minded woman "who wouldn't allow any dancing or card-playing in the White House, and they say there was times she got it in her head that she herself was President." You don't get this lively perspective from Borneman, for better or for worse.

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Enjoyable

This book was easy and enjoyable to read. Before I read this, I knew little about Polk or his times, and I came out knowing a lot about the times and quite a bit about Polk. My only concern is that most of the book focuses on Polk's foreign affairs, the independent treasury and lowering tarriffs are only briefly mentioned. Also, I find that very little information is given on the man himself, the book completely glosses over his years as governor, his years in the House and his years as the Speaker of the House. Other than these concerns, this book was enjoyable.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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