Hi everybody. Today. Bye, mommy. It's going to talk about James K. Polk. Thank you, Noah, for introducing James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States. Before becoming president, Polk served as Speaker of the House and then Governor of Tennessee. Unlike the two

presidents before him, Polk was a Democrat. He was also the youngest president to take office so

far at the age of 49. Unlike previous president, John Tyler, who had 15 children with two wives,

Polk was married once and had no children.

James K. Polk loved politics and was inspired by the seventh president of the United States

and fellow Tennessean Andrew Jackson.

The election of 1844 was extremely close with Polk defeating Whig nominee Henry Clay by just about 38,000 votes.

Many believe that third-party candidate James Bernie, who represented the Anti-Slavery Liberty Party,

was able to attract some potential voters of Henry Clay, allowing Polk to rise to victory.

James K. Polk recognized that he didn't receive unanimous support and announced that he would not seek

re-election four years later.

In his inaugural address, James K. Polk announced four goals.

He wanted to create an independent treasury system, lower tariffs, acquire the Oregon territory from Great Britain, and acquire the California Territory from Mexico.

He successfully completed all four goals. In 1846, he established the independent treasury system

that was supposed to manage the money of the United States government and keep it independent of the banking system intended for the United States citizens.

Polk also easily lowered the tariffs on all items except luxury items.

His goals of acquiring the land in the West were a bit more complicated.

Americans had been settling in the Oregon Territory for a long time, but the land truly belonged to both the United States and Great Britain.

The threat of war was enough to get Great Britain to concede the Oregon territory thatory that includes the current states of Oregon,

Washington, and Idaho, and even parts of Wyoming and Montana.

The last goal of acquiring the California territory from Mexico proved to be the toughest.

On May 11, 1846, President Polk demanded that Congress declare war on Mexico

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