In the two standard sets of American biographies namely, the American Statesmen Series and the American Crisis Biographies the name of James K. Polk does not appear in the list of titles. Evidently the editor of the first set did not consider Mr. Polk to have been a statesman worthy of serious consideration, and the editor of the second set seems to have been unaware that Polk had played a conspicuous part in any of the crises of American history. Although it is not my purpose to criticize the selection made by these editors, I believe that the character and success of Polk spolitical career entitled him to a place in either series. I believe that the following pages will show Mr. Polk to have been a conatructive statesman a statesman possessed of vision, sound judgment, and unusual executive ability. Surely he was a crisis President. He extended our national boundaries to the Pacific Ocean and determined the political destinies of the future population of the vast area lying west of theL ouisiana Purchase. His request for an appropriation with which to conduct negotiations with Mexico called forth theW ilmot Proviso; and this proviso precipitated the irrepressible conflict, which was one of the greatest crises in American history. When nominated for the Presidency in 1844, Polk was neither unknown nor inexperienced in national affairs. He had been selected to conduct Jackson sbank war in the House of Bepresentatives, and he had performed this task to the entire satisfaction of the President and theD emocratic party.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don"t occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books" Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings.