James Knox Polk by George Peter Alexander Healy (National Portrait Gallery)

Object number: L/NPG.41.2006 Exhibition label: It is often said that James K. Polk was the first "dark horse" to claim a presidential nomination, and during his White House campaign of 1844, his opponents were fond of sneering, "Who is James Polk?" Once he was in office, however, the question quickly lost its sarcastic bite. A diligent worker who abhorred the thought of time unprofitably spent, Polk set four goals for his presidency-reducing tariffs, creating an independent treasury system, settling the Oregon boundary dispute with Great Britain, and acquiring California. None of the four objectives was easily reached, and gaining California meant going to war with Mexico. By his administration's close, however, all had been accomplished. Unfortunately, Polk's success came at great personal cost. A spent man, he died within four months of retiring to private life. Eleventh president, 1845–1849

The life and career of James K. Polk reflected the country’s westward shift. His path followed the frontier as he moved from his birthplace in North Carolina to Tennessee. Polk, like most Americans in the nineteenth century, favored westward expansion and believed that settlers were destined to move across North America. As president, he acquired more than a million square miles of territory for the United States, in part by fomenting the Mexican-American War. As one of the most consequential presidents in American history, the vast expansion of territory opened up the question of slavery’s future, an issue that sparked conflict during the period leading up to the Civil War. Driven and determined, Polk took office with a limited agenda, accomplished all of it, and left office, as he planned, after only one term.