James Knox Polk

Moved to Tennessee in 1806 with his parents, who settled in what later became Maury County; attended the common schools and was tutored privately; graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1818; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1820 and commenced practice in Columbia, Tennessee; chief clerk of the State senate (1821-1823); member of the State House of Representatives (1823-1825); elected to the 19th Congress; reelected as a Jacksonian to the 20th through 24th Congresses and as a Democrat to the 25th Congress (4 Mar 1825 - 3 Mar 1839); chairman, Committee on Ways and Means (23rd Congress); Speaker of the House of Representatives (7 Dec 1835 - 3 Mar 1839); did not seek renomination in 1838 having become a candidate for Governor; Governor of the State of Tennessee (14 Oct 1839 - 15 Oct 1841); elected as a Democrat as President of the United States in 1844; administration was marked by large territorial gains; annexation of Texas (19 Feb 1846); two-year war with Mexico (1846-1847); acquired territories in the Southwest and far West (California); passed Walker Tariff Act (1846) to lower import duties; Oregon compromise (1846) established the international frontier at the 49th parallel; declined to be a candidate for renomination; died three months after the expiration of presidential term.