James K. Polk - American Leader

The State of the Union Address has become a gigantic waste of time. It's a chance for the President to pontificate and for the media to fawn over proposals and ideas. It changes nothing. And a week later, the country is in the same place it was before. But it was not always this way. There once was a time when Presidents were leaders; men of action who chose their course, not by recent polling, but by the strength of their convictions.

In 1844, James K. Polkwas elected President of the United States. The country, and even his own political party, were deeply divided over the issues facing the country. The country was in the middle of financial upheaval and was facing border disputes, and possibly war, with both Mexico and England.

The dispute with the British centered on Oregon. Both British and Americans had explored, claimed, navigated, and settled the area that now makes up Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Predictably, neither nation wanted to give up their claims to rich farm land and acres of resources and navigable rivers. But the American people were in the throws of "Manifest Destiny" and were convinced that America had superior claim to the land. Anything short of the full Americanization of the Oregon Territory was anathema to them.

Meanwhile, Texaswas an independant nation that wanted to join the United States. They had broken away from Mexico earlier, but were still trying to be admitted to the Union. The question of whether or not Texas would be a slave state slowed down their application. But there was also a border issue. Texas, and the United States, felt that the southern border was the Rio Grande. Mexico thought that the Nueces River, to the north, was the boundary. The territory between the Rio Grande and the Nueces was almost uninhabited, but the issue still was in the back of everyone's minds. Mexico opposed the admission of Texas to the U.S., fearing that its northern neighbor was moving to close for comfort. Polk had been elected, in part, by his stated intentions to bring Texas into the Union but Mexico was not going to let that happen quietly.

What is a President to do? If he had taken a poll of the American people...there would have been no clear answer. The people were bitterly divided, and no one wanted a war agaisnt both Mexico and England.

What did President Polk do? The answer will be in the next post. :)