Owner Comments:
Eleventh President
Lived: November 2, 1795 - June 15, 1849
Term: 1845-1849
Spouse: Sarah Childress Polk
Quote: “I cannot adequately express the horror I feel for a man who can be so base as to veil his hypocrisy under the cloak of religion and state the base falsehood he has done.”
Historical Information:
- Supported the annexation resolution signed by Tyler to bring Texas into the union, swearing to defend Texas with a border at the Rio Grande.
- Immediately sent the army to Texas under Zachary Taylor and set the stage for the Mexican-American War. This allowed him to fulfill his goal of taking California and it’s Harbors from Mexico.
- Negotiated the division of the Oregon Country, which had been under joint occupancy with the UK since the acceptance of the Treaty of 1818, mostly at the 49th parallel (which is mostly what the US had wanted in the first place).