Thursday, December 25, 2008

JAMES POLK, 11TH PRESIDENT - James Polk was sworn in as the 11th President on March 4, 1845. His was the first inauguration to be reported by telegraph and to be illustrated in a newspaper (The Illustrated London News). Historians have increasingly viewed Polk as a near-great or great President based upon the accomplishments of his presidency, particularly as it related to the territorial expansion of the United States to the Pacific Ocean, leading the United States successfully through the Mexican War, and settling the Oregon question with Great Britain.