James K. Polk – Columbia, TN, December 8, 2012

James K. Polk

Cathy and I found ourselves in the “hook of the Bible Belt,” on our continued pursuit of the U.S. presidents.  Our destination was the only surviving residence of President No. 11, James K. Polk, in Columbia, Tenn.  This house — built by his father in 1816 — is filled with more than a thousand original objects.  Polk lived in the house between the ages of 21 and 27 until he married Sarah in 1824 and moved up the street.   

We flew in from the Washington, D.C., area to Nashville Airport, then rented a car for the one-hour trip to Columbia. It’s a straight shot down Highway 65 and then exit on Highway 99. (The exit is clearly marked for Polk’s home.) The home is in the center of town.

Our first stop was the city visitor center on West 7th Street, directly across from Polk’s home. A lively woman, perhaps in her 60s, was eager to tell us about the area’s history. She announced that Columbia is the Mule Capital of the World. Who knew? The town holds an annual Mule Day celebration in late March to commemorate the mule market that started in the town in the 1840s.

She insisted on telling us that we were in the “hook of the Bible Belt” and that the schools in Maury County are bad because “prayer is no longer allowed” in them and, um, “integration.” Then she recounted how the Civil War was fought not over slavery, but over “metals and state’s rights.”

Polk Home

We peeled ourselves away and scurried across the street to Polk’s home. Tickets are available at the house next door, which also contains a small museum; this is the “Sisters’ House” because two of Polk’s sisters lived there at different times.

Tickets cost $10 per person for a guided tour of the house as well as a stop at the nearby Polk Presidential Hall (a converted church) that displays an exhibit of first lady Sarah Polk.

Another Accidental President

Like John Tyler, Polk was an accidental president. The Democratic nomination of 1844 was supposed to be Martin Van Buren’s, but the Red Fox of Kinderhook made the error of opposing Texas annexation. (Which was at odds with his old mentor, General Andrew Jackson.) Van Buren’s Texas position fatally weakened him and he couldn’t get the two-thirds majority needed to win the Democratic nomination. After eight rounds of voting, during which Van Buren lost votes each time, James K. Polk — former Speaker of the House, governor of Tennessee, and another protégé of Jackson — was put forward as a fresh candidate. To ice the deal, Polk pledged not to seek a second term. During the general election he narrowly beat Henry Clay of Kentucky, the unlucky, perennial Whig candidate.

Polk set an ambitious four-point agenda when he took office. First, acquire the Oregon Territory from the British and extend the United States to the Pacific Ocean. Second, gain California from Mexico. Third, reduce the 1842 tariff to more reasonable levels. And fourth, establish an independent treasury.

He achieved them all. And then he died shortly after leaving office.

Polk was one of the hardest working presidents ever. He thought nothing of working through the night and kept a bed in his office for that purpose. He even worked on Christmas Day. His round-the-clock hands-on approach weakened him and he “enjoyed” the shortest retirement of any of the presidents — 103 days. In his enfeebled state, he was susceptible to the cholera that killed him at the young age of 53.

The Polk Home

Polk 1845

Polk Three Years Later

The two-story brick house is chock full of 1,300 items from Polk’s retirement home — Polk Place — in Nashville. This includes an 1848-era chandelier, a silver water holder (the first thing one did when visitors arrived was to offer them water), a rosewood chair, a solid mahogany table with an eagle carved into the Egyptian marble top, three paintings of wife Sarah, his White House office bed, his books (all with his name inscribed), a bed with acorns carved into the bedposts – the acorn was the family symbol -- a carpet bag (very rare), the president’s coat, an awful painting of Cortez (it was prominently displayed at Polk Place as a joke), and two Polk portraits side by side (painted three years apart, they show his rapid aging – like probably all of the presidents).

Cast-Iron Fountain

The grounds contain a cast-iron fountain and a sundial, also transplanted from the retirement home. Some of the mournful statues on the grounds reminded us of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. On this gray, damp December day it was hard to imagine that in the spring the grounds are brilliant with white azaleas and other flowers.

Polk’s Manifest Destiny

The term “Manifest Destiny” was coined by an anonymous journalist in 1845 who wrote that “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny is to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” It was expansionism, pure and simple, that was characterized by the war with Mexico over Texas and the dispute with Great Britain over Oregon.

Polk laid out his vision for Texas statehood in his inaugural speech. He regarded the question of annexation “as belonging exclusively to the United States and the Republic of Texas” and that “foreign nations (i.e., Mexico) have no right to interfere with them or to take exceptions to their reunion.” However, after the annexation of Texas, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with the U.S. The Mexicans wanted their boundary to extend to the Nueces River while the U.S. desired a border on the Rio Grande, 150 miles south. When Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande in 1846, Congress declared war on Mexico.

In parallel with the war, Polk was working with Congress to authorize payments to Mexico for new territory including $25 million for California and $5 million for New Mexico. In addition, he and Congress worked on a fund to reimburse U.S. citizens’ claims against Mexico. However, these payments would be authorized only if Mexico accepted the Rio Grande boundary.

Meanwhile, the war continued.

U.S. troops occupied portions of Mexico — the first invasion of foreign soil since Andrew Jackson Spanish Florida in 1818.

Many Whigs viewed the war as illegal and pressed to end it. Polk countered by saying these Whigs were giving “aid and comfort” to Mexico. Others, including a single-term Congressman named Abraham Lincoln, opposed Polk’s handling of the war.

Others advocated for the annexation of Mexico. In fact, Polk started to favor this idea. One of those opposing this idea was John Calhoun, the powerful pro-slavery Senator from South Carolina. He opposed annexation to avoid incorporating “an Indian race” into the “government of the white man” (Merry, 2009). Calhoun was apparently an equal opportunity bigot.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war in 1848 and established the Rio Grande as the Texas border. The overall cost of the war was high—$100 million. This included payments of $15 million for what is now California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah as well as portions of Wyoming and Colorado. It also included $3 million to cover the claims of U.S. citizens against the Mexican government. This was less than originally proposed, but the U.S. was annoyed with Mexico for unnecessarily prolonging the war. But the highest cost was in lives: 14,000 Americans and 25,000 Mexican were killed. (The Mexican-American War was also the stage on which the next President, General Zachary Taylor, would become nationally known as a brilliant tactician who succeeded against much larger Mexican forces.)

While the war with Mexico was raging, Polk was also negotiating the annexation of the Oregon Territory with Great Britain. Some U.S. expansionists pushed for an extreme northern border to Oregon at 54°40′ and coined the phrase “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight.” However, Polk did not want to fight two wars at the same time, especially against a super power like Great Britain. A treaty signed in 1846 established the border on the 49th parallel. The Oregon Territory yielded the states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington and parts of Montana and Wyoming.

The 600,000 square miles of new territory gained from Mexico and Great Britain greatly expanded the United States into nearly the shape it has now—at least for the lower 48 states.

The territorial expansion and the future of slavery were intertwined. As part of the peace treaty with Mexico, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot wanted to exclude slavery from any new territories acquired by the U.S. This became known as the “Wilmot Proviso” and was the cause of vicious debate in Congress. It did not pass, but would later be revived on the inexorable road to the Civil War. (Nobody then knew the price of the coming war, although John Calhoun as early as 1848 was threatening a “bitter and bloody war” if the enslaved were freed.)

Polk achieved his other two initiatives as well. He established an independent treasury under Federal custodianship. His design would last until 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created.

In addition, Polk successfully cut tariffs and saw immediate results. Tariffs under President Tyler brought in about $23 million per year but Polk’s lower tariffs brought in about $32 million annually as trade increased.

Sarah Polk Exhibit

Sarah Polk

After the tour of Polk’s house, we were escorted to a former church nearby to see the Sarah Polk exhibit. The exhibit includes her dresses, a bodice, a fan, her headpiece, and her grade school song book.

Tight Waist

Although we had understood that Julia Tyler was the first to have Hail to the Chief played for the President, it seemed that Sarah was the first to create the protocol of having it played anytime the President entered a room. It is said that she did not want Polk to enter a room unnoticed. Her grade school music book, open to this song, was on display proving her familiarity with this old Scottish anthem.

Sarah Polk was a strong partner to the President, unafraid to talk politics with anybody. She hosted White House receptions twice a week, no invitations required. The only restrictions were that the guests were expected to remain civil toward one another — unlike in the House and Senate chambers — and that dancing was not allowed.

The Museum

Van Buren's Time has Passed

Back at the Sisters’ House, we visited the small museum. We were first invited to watch a short video, which was a particular challenge since we were sleep-deprived from our 5:15 a.m. rise to catch our flight. We lost Cathy in the first five minutes. The museum also contains daguerreotypes of Polk and his cabinet. There is also 1844 campaign memorabilia including a newspaper political cartoon representing Polk and Clay as fighting cocks. Looking on is a sullen Van Buren: “They rejected me. Let them both to their champion.”

Other Notables

Polk’s other achievements and activities include:

• Signing the bill authorizing Smithsonian in 1846. (Recall that our hero, Congressman John Quincy Adams, was pivotal in getting Congress to reinstate the funds from Smithson’s bequest to its original intent.)

• Attending the ceremony for laying the cornerstone of a great new monument to George Washington on July 4, 1848. (This is, of course, the Washington Monument we see every time we go downtown or drive on the George Washington Parkway on the Virginia side of the Potomac.)

• It is worth noting the fiscal conservancy of Polk. In his inauguration speech, Polk said that “Ours was intended to be a plain and frugal government, and I shall regard it to be my duty to recommend to Congress and…to enforce by all means within my power, the strictest economy in the expenditure of the public money which may be compatible with the public interest.” He went on to say that “a national debt has become almost an institution of European monarchies” but would not be tolerated in the United States. He noted that the war debts from the Revolution and the War of 1812 had been paid off. As president, he vetoed a $1.5 million River and Harbor Bill for infrastructure.

Columbia

Downtown Columbia

After our tour of the house, we walked a couple blocks down the street to Columbia's town square, a quaint downtown of brick buildings and wide pedestrian walkways. Scattered restaurants and stores filled the space, in between the unfortunate "for lease" signs. We stopped in at a family-owned health-product store, which was fairly busy with customers looking through shelves full of vitamins, supplements and healthy foods.

Then we strolled back to the car for a late lunch of barbecue -- because Cathy insists on eating barbecue when she's in Tennessee. Our friend at the visitor center recommended Nolens Barbecue, a hole in the wall along a busy highway lined with strip malls and car dealerships. Nolens actually has three locations in Columbia but nowhere else.

Despite the ambience (or maybe because of the lack of it -- you can usually find tasty eats in hole-in-the-wall joints), it didn't disappoint.

Barbecue!

Nolens is housed in a nondescript brick building, with not much decoration on the interior -- although they did have some Christmas decorations hanging.

The menu, written on a chalkboard, featured sandwiches and platters full of barbecue -- pork, chicken, turkey, brisket.

Cathy ordered a pulled chicken sandwich, while Tom went with the bigger platter, which included cole slaw and cornbread (most of which Cathy ate -- yum!) We asked for extra barbecue sauce, which had a vinegar base and a nice kick. And while we thought we had more than enough, with our extra little plastic container of barbecue sauce, we sucked up every last drop of the sauce.

A Side Trip


Tennessee State Capitol During the Holiday Season




James & Sarah's Final Rest

 On our way back to the airport, we detoured into Music City — Nashville. The Greek Revival state capitol building is perched on the highest part of the town overlooking Centennial Park. On the grounds lies the final resting place of President Polk. The inscription on his tomb reads: “The beauty of virtue was illustrated in his life. The evidence of Christianity was exemplified in his death.”



A Good Catch

 As we drove down the street from the capitol, Cathy yelled, “Stop!” We had stumbled upon the sign commemorating the original site of Polk Place on Vine Street. Polk lived in this house for 103 days before he died. Sarah lived in this house another 42 years. Our guide in Columbia had told us that Sarah Polk never really got over his death and wore black for the rest of her life. After 87 years of life, Sarah joined him.

References

Current, R., Williams, T.H., Freidel, F. 1975. American History: A Survey, Fourth Edition, Volume I: To 1877. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Merry, R. 2009. A Country of Vast Designs. James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent. Simon & Shuster, NY.

Ricccards, M.  1995.  The Ferocious Engine of Democracy.  Volume One From the Origins through William McKinley.  Madison Books,  Lanham, MD.

Smith, C. 2005. Presidents: Every Question Answered. Metro Books. New York, NY.

http://www.u-s-history.com/