In 1844, James K. Polk became the first dark horse candidate to win the presidency, beating Henry Clay. Polk promised that he would be a one-term president. Challenges: James K. Polk was an avowed ...

James K. Polk’s final night as president of the United States was an all-nighter. "The 11th President had spent the previous evening with Congress trying to pass some final appropriation bills ...

His was, no doubt, the most accomplished presidency in the 64 years between George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s. And where Washington and Lincoln had arrived at moments freighted with destiny ...

James K. Polk, the original "dark horse" candidate ... Polk was the last strong president before Lincoln, and he achieved most of the stated domestic goals of the Democratic Party, namely ...

On August 10, 1846, the U.S. Senate passed the act organizing the Smithsonian Institution, which was signed into law by President James K. Polk. Congress authorized acceptance of the Smithson bequest ...

Worth, during the Mexican-American War.1855. Library of Congress. In 1844, President James K. Polk ran on a Democratic platform that supported manifest destiny, the idea that Americans were ...

The slogan of James K. Polk’s supporters in the 1844 presidential campaign was “54° 40′ or Fight,” referring to their desire to take a substantial slice of what would eventually become ...

"54-40 or Fight" was the slogan of supporters James K. Polk in the 1844 presidential campaign, referring to their desire to take a substantial slice of what would eventually become ...