A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent

Abstract

A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent Robert W. Merry Simon & Schuster, 2009 Robert Merry's lucid new biography of James K. Polk, the eleventh president of the United States who served from 1845 to 1849, combines the virtues of an experienced journalist and perceptive historian. His 35 years as a journalist and publishing executive included several years as a Wall Street Journal correspondent and a long stint as the president and editor-in-chief of Congressional Quarterly. This is his third book that relates to America's place in the world (which, as we will see, is something that a biography of Polk inevitably does). Historians have given Polk a high place among American presidents, but, as Merry notes, he hardly exists today in the American public's memory. We can well surmise that the reason for his obscurity lies in the course American history took after his presidency. Just twelve years after he left the White House, the country was torn by a civil war that arose out of a cauldron of passions and that established, for at least this past century and half, the perception of heroes and villains. Andrew Jackson, James Polk and Millard Fillmore were among the presidents who sought to tame those passions (especially over the burgeoning slavery issue), consciously giving priority to the preservation of American unity as the more important value. Neither pole before the Civil War would honor these peace-keepers' seeming passivity; and after that war the praise inevitably went to the victors and to the cause they had championed. Polk went into office with a commitment to serve only a single four-year term, but during that brief period was able to accomplish each of his four objectives: to settle the dispute with Britain about the gigantic "Oregon" territory (which included not only what is today the state of Oregon but also lands far to the north), to acquire California from Mexico, to institute a "tariff for-revenue-only" (as distinguished from a protective tariff), and to create an "independent treasury" not tied to the banking system. Although it was not within his original aspirations, Polk's tenure also saw the acquisition from Mexico of the immense "New Mexico" province, resulting in a total extension of the United States to include not just Oregon, Washington, Texas and California, but also the present-day states of "New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada..., as well as parts of... Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Wyoming." The term "Manifest Destiny," coined by New York editor John O'Sullivan in 1845, fittingly described this extension of the United States to become a continental power reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The nomination of Polk by the Democratic Party in 1844 resulted from a compromise among the competing factions that had supported formerpresident Martin Van Buren and Senator Lewis Cass. In the ensuing election, Polk narrowly defeated the Whig Party nominee, Senator Henry Clay. Before winning the presidency, Polk had served in the Tennessee legislature, as governor of Tennessee, and fourteen years in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he rose to the top position of Speaker. He was a protege and leading supporter of Andrew Jackson, the two-term president who had towered over the late 1820s and '30s. Polk's extraordinary success as president will gladden the hearts of those commendable souls who value substance over glitter or glibness. Merry describes him as "lacking natural leadership ability," who "inspired neither loyalty nor fear" and could not "manipulate men to his will." He "lacked the easy manner and demeanor that bespoke friendship and camaraderie." What he did have was "analytic skills and zest for bold action," combined with "iron-willed political perseverance" and a conviction that he was a "man of destiny." It would be a mistake to entertain the impression that the early years of the American Republic were an idyllic celebration of the new country's existence. …