James K. Polk

The meteoric rise of James K. Polk through the ranks of Tennessee politics was due in part to the tutelage of Andrew Jackson. Old Hickory saw in the young Polk a protege cut from the same frontier cloth as himself with a determination and focus held by few others. Born in North Carolina, his parents came to Tennessee when it was but a wild frontier land. Polks grit and determination to excel moved him quickly from his education in Murfreesboro to teh halls of power in Nashville and on to Washington, D.C. When the party deadlocked on a candidate for President in 1844, they looked to former Speaker of the House Polk as a dark horse candidate. Polk faced an uphill battle against the Whig candidate Henry Clay. The election was close with but 39,000 votes seperating them in the popular vote. Polk had promised he would serve but one term and he determined to make a mark with his four point platform. Polk retired to his Nashville home in 1849 a broken and ailing man. He died but three months after his retirement from office. His body was buried in the front yard of Polk Place but would be removed to the state capital grounds where it presently sits atop the hill overlooking the city.