James K. (James Knox) Polk

Born in North Carolina in 1795 and raised in Tennessee, James K. Polk studied at the University of North Carolina, became a lawyer, and rose through politics as a close ally of Andrew Jackson. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives, including a term as Speaker, and later became governor of Tennessee before winning the presidency in 1844 as a surprise Democratic nominee.

Polk was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He is best known for pursuing territorial expansion with unusual determination: during his presidency, the United States annexed Texas, settled the Oregon boundary dispute with Britain, and fought the Mexican-American War, after which the nation gained a vast stretch of western land under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

He promised to serve only one term and kept that promise. Polk left office in March 1849 and died just a few months later, in June 1849. Historians often remember him as one of the most effective presidents at achieving his stated aims, even as the consequences of that expansion remain deeply controversial.