James K. Polk: A Biographical Companion

(Hardback)

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Description

James K. Polk's ranks as one of America's most successful presidents, yet he remains unfamiliar to most modern Americans. The first "dark horse" candidate, he served from 1845 to 1849 as the nation's eleventh president. Polk achieved each of his major goals as president, including acquiring California and settling the dispute with Great Britain over the Oregon territory. Most of the area that today compriss the southwetsern United States was obtained by Polk as a result of winning the Mexican-American war. This work provides easy access to his life, career and times for students writing papers and the general public curious about this important president. Organized according to topics, each entry details the significance of the topic to Polk's public and personal life and places it in historical context. The work includes a chronology of important events, a sampling of key writings by Polk, pertinent documents, and an annotated list of print and nonprint sources.

Reviews

"[I]n the only encyclopedic works devoted to these presidents entries for people, events, and concepts are presented in an accessible A-Z format. Authoritative...these attractive volumes would work for students at the high-school level and up." [Combined review of Andrew Johnson and James Polk in the Biographical Companions series] - Booklist

Author Bio

Mark E. Byrnes is associate professor of political science at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN.