Book Review- James K. Polk by John Seigenthaler

Being from Knoxville, I've always been intrigued that the state of Tennessee was the home state to three U.S. Presidents in a relatively brief span of time in the mid-1800's (Andrew Jackson, James Polk and Andrew Johnson). Much has been written of Jackson, he of the fiery temper and strong and effective, although often divisive, leadership. On the opposite spectrum is Johnson, who achieved the Presidency by default upon Abraham Lincoln's assassination, who twice faced impeachment charges and is generally regarded as one this country's worst Presidents. And then there is Polk.

Serving as President in the span between Jackson and Lincoln, Polk is included in a group of former Chief Executives whom are not highly noted in history (others include Tyler, Pierce, Fillmore, Buchanan). Many are lowly regarded for their poor leadership, yet Polk's accomplishments stand out in comparison. The back cover notes by author John Seigenthaler provide a brief snapshot of Polk's presidency:

"James Knox Polk surely is history's most underappreciated president. Few Americans have any awareness that in four years he engineered the annexation of Texas, bluffed the British out of Oregon, waged war with Mexico to take California and New Mexico, enlarged the country's land mass by a third and made the United States a continental nation. To read his presidential diary is to be retrospectively introduced to a chief magistrate who was tough-minded, strong-willed, egocentric, sometimes petty, usually predictable, often duplicitous, and always partisan. He served but one term by his own choice, pledging as a candidate that he would not seek reelection. He kept his word. A complete workaholic, he left office worn and ill and went home to Nashville to recover his health. It hardly seems fair that three months after leaving the White House he was dead".

Upon reading Seigenthaler's concise yet quite detailed account of Polk's life, my impressions of Polk include the following: he was very driven; he was probably too beholden to Andrew Jackson; he was an ultra-partisan politician; his ability to keep a detailed journal/diary while President was impressive; he was probably not highly likable; he was obviously quite effective. Seigenthaler is fair in his presentation of both Polk's qualities as well as his weaknesses.

Seigenthaler includes notes throughout the book, a detailed bibliography and a chronological history of Polk's life. This was an excellent book that I can highly recommend if you are interested in learning more about the 11th President of the United States. Based on this work, I will also be likely to read other works by Seigenthaler.