James K. Polk: A Clear and Unquestionable Destiny by Thomas Leonard.

Introduction

James k Polk, the eleventh president of the United States, remains as controversial a figure today as he was during his lifetime. His policies concerning the slaves and his annexation of the Mexican territories have earned him a negative reputation from the historical perspective. One of the youngest presidents coming to the presidency, his era marked tremendous territorial expansion; the likes were not seen previously in the American history. He also had to deal with a country that was bitterly divided on the issue of the new territories and whether or not an expansionist role was required of the republic or not.

Discussion

The book at first explains the polk's background life. If we examine that in the context that he was brought up in, we will see most of what he was to become in later life, was due to his early and formative years. He was lonely form the start. According to the author he was a loner presbytarian, who might not have been baptized, due to his father's refusal to believe in the dogmatic principles of the presbytarian church. He was sick during his childhood and had to go through a major operation to remove stones from his bladder

In the year 1825, at a young age of 29 he ran for the us House of Representatives, from the 6th congressional district of Tennessee. After his win, he moved to Washington dc. It was here that he first mentioned his ideas of abolishing the Electoral College, and instead having the people vote and directly chooses the president. In the congress, he was in principle with the Jacksonian principles of lower state intervention, the reigning in of big banks and the wider interpretation of the constitution. In short he wanted the government control to be effective but at the levels that don't make the cabinet too large to manage. During this time in dc, his Anglophobia also became to be well known too. A landmark came in his career till then, when he became the speaker of the house in the year1835.

His years in Washington came to a temporary end, when he returned back to Nashville and successfully campaigned and won the governorship in the year 1839. In the year 1844, he decided to run for presidency. During the run, the issue of texas being refused entry into the union came to be a bone of contention between different groups of the Democratic Party. Allege part of the democrats wanted that texas (which had declared its independence from Mexico) become a part of the us. Van buren, and the faction behind him, however, opposed the idea and in doing so lost many votes. This however ensured polk's win and he won, after the democratic party chose to give him their support.

There was a bit of compromise in his election, as he promised to be president for one term, so that the party could elect a new one in the 4 years ...