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Appreciating Polk's Presidency

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By BOB D'ANGELO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 15, 2008

"Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America," by Walter R. Borneman (Random House, $30).

Here is an absorbing look at a president who was powerful in his day but whose achievements have gone relatively unappreciated.

Walter R. Borneman humanizes the 11th president in "Polk." James Knox Polk may have been a protege of Andrew Jackson, but he also came into the presidency with some definite goals.

A compromise candidate who emerged from the 1844 Democratic convention, Polk sought an independent treasury and lower tariffs, aspired to settle the boundary of the Oregon territory with Great Britain and wanted to buy California and the New Mexico territory.

His ambition also extended to Texas, where he wanted to establish the border at the Rio Grande.

Drawing upon several sources and relying heavily on Polk's diary, Borneman paints a picture of an ambitious but scrupulous president, who achieved all of his goals and kept his promise to be a one-term president. Historians place him on the cusp of our greatest presidents, while others believe Polk should be included among them.

Borneman shows why Polk was the strongest chief executive between Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, a leader who effectively transferred more power to the presidency and away from the legislative branch.

Borneman sketches out the factions who tried to tug at Polk during his tenure: his alliance gone sour with Sen. Thomas Hart Benton, his mistrust of generals Winfield Scott and Zachary Taylor (who were looked upon as presidential timber by the rival Whig party) and his battles with his Secretary of State (and future president) James Buchanan.

Polk knew how to work the levers of government, and he excelled at every level: in Congress, as governor of Tennessee and finally as president.

It's a fascinating study of a master politician and effective statesman.

Bob D'Angelo is a Tribune sports copy editor.

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