the man who transformed the presidency and America Borneman, Walter R. 1952- creator text bibliography biography nyu New York Random House c2008 2008 1st ed. monographic eng

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xxiii, 422 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cm. The first complete biography of a president often overshadowed in image but seldom outdone in accomplishment. James K. Polk's pledge to serve a single term, which many thought would make him a lame duck, enabled him to rise above electoral politics and to outflank his adversaries. Thus he plotted and attained a formidable agenda: He fought for and won tariff reductions, reestablished an independent Treasury, and most notably, brought Texas into the Union, bluffed Great Britain out of the lion's share of Oregon, and wrested California and much of the Southwest from Mexico. In tracing Polk's life and career, author Borneman dispels conventional views of Polk as an accidental president. Instead, we see Polk as he was--a decisive, if not partisan, statesman whose near doubling of America's boundaries and expansive broadening of executive powers redefined the country at large, as well as the nature of its highest office. Walter R. Borneman. Includes bibliographical references (p. [396]-404) and index. n-us--- Polk, James K. (James Knox) 1795-1849 Presidents United States Biography United States Politics and government 1845-1849 E417 .B67 2008 973.6/1092 B 9781400065608 (alk. paper) 1400065607 (alk. paper) 2007014040 DLC 070412 20250710104819.0 123232239