Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #624303 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

Synopsis
Examines the political career and presidency of James K. Polk, noting his service as Speaker of the House and governor of Tennessee and his role in the disputed Oregon boundary and war on Mexico.

Customer Reviews

Excellent, consice biography of 'Young Hickory'
The genius of the Times' series of presidential biographies is that they can capture the essence of a presidency in an easy-to-read format. Some presidents have benefited from lots of historical attention but there are others that are relatively unknown except to academics (and in Polk's case, fans of the band They Might Be Giants).

Seigenthaler's portrait of Polk is not a loving one but it is respectful, reflecting the sheer scale of his accomplishments in a single term. His prose engages and whilst other short biographies can be stifled by their word counts, he uses his effectively to give a strong impression of Polk both as a man and as a president.

Polk is perhaps best remembered as the first `dark horse' president. Through a strong understanding of the mood of the nation, and the efforts of Andrew Jackson, who was Polk's mentor, he emerged as a consensus candidate on the convention floor on the ninth ballot.

Committing himself to serve just one term, he is said to have laid out four clear goals he wished to achieve by the end of that term. Seigenthaler uses these four commitments later in the biography as a structure to show his achievements in office.

This is an authoritative and balanced account, placing Polk clearly in historical context, showing how he changed America and why he deserves scholarly attention.

The word count for each of these volumes means that titles in the Times' series cannot be definitive works but Seigenthaler should be praised for crafting an excellent introduction to America's eleventh president.