Lot 3 Easton Press JAMES K POLK matched set JACKSONIAN~PRESIDENCY~CONTINENTALIST

Description: Matching set, acquired together. Tight, flat, square, sharp books with 22K gold inlay and edge treatment with very minor blemishes. Marker ribbons are without fraying. All 3 books have silk moire end pages, which were dropped in later printings. All three collectors' notes are included. Shelf transfer on the bottom edge. We have cleaned and conditioned these books. Winner of the Bancroft Prize, 1967. Volume One of the first new study in a generation of America's most underrated president and a full account of Polk's pre-presidential career.Since Polk was immersed in so many of the major political developments of the day -- the rise of popular democracy, the conflicts over the national bank and other crucial issues of Jackson's administrations -- his biography is also a history of his generation's political experience. With a sure hand Professor Sellers brings out Polk's character -- his ambition, his determination, his faith in the electorate -- and the nature of his friends, his enemies, and the times in which he moved.Polk began his career in the Tennessee legislature, served seven terms in the national House of Representatives (two as speaker), and then won the governorship of Tennessee as a stepping stone to the vice presidency and ultimately, he dared hope, the presidency. By portraying in absorbing detail the complex of motives and ambitions from which the major events in Tennessee and Washington were woven during these years, the author has given real life to the historian's generalizations about the Jacksonian epoch. Writing in the Saturday Review, Charles M. Wiltse described the first volume of James K. Polk as "at once an important contribution to American political history, a fascinating study of the interaction of state and national policies, and an illuminating delineation of the pre-Presidential career of one of our least-known Presidents." This new volume of Professor Sellers' biography begins in 1843, when Polk had just suffered his second defeat for re-election to the governorship of Tennessee. From this low point Polk looked forward to the Democratic nominating convention of 1844, where he ardently sought the vice presidential nomination but came out with the presidency instead.The first eighteen months of the Polk administration turned out to be one of the most important periods in the history of the United States. Texas was annexed after a ten-year period of independence, the thirty-year dispute with Great Britain over Oregon was settled, and the war with Mexico that was shortly to result in the annexation of California and the Southwest was begun. These months also included the first session of twenty-ninth Congress, which did more in the way of important domestic legislation than any other Congress of the nineteenth century. *** James K. Polk was one of the strongest and most active presidents ever to occupy the office. In the nineteenth century only Jefferson, Jackson, and Lincoln matched his overall leadership and domination of national government. Bergeron's crisp, insightful narrative shows how and why Polk achieved such stature and yet failed to attract the kind of popular support or retrospective recognition granted other presidential luminaries.A native of North Carolina, Polk prepared for the presidency by honing his leadership skills as a seven-term congressman, speaker of the house, and governor of Tennessee. Bergeron's summary and analysis of those years shed light on the foundations of the presidency that followed. He provides fresh new perspectives on Polk's relationship with his cabinet, his skirmishes with Congress over domestic economic legislation, and the curse of presidential patronage.But perhaps the most fascinating portions of this study are devoted to Polk's role as the western expansionist. By the end of his term, the United States had acquired enormous territories in the Southwest and far West. Bergeron demonstrates that Polk adroitly used both war and diplomacy to acquire and protect these lands. When the annexation of Texas led to the outbreak of war with Mexico, Polk was forced to become commander-in-chief of the American forces. In contrast, the potentially explosive dispute with Great Britain over Oregon's borders was settled through purely diplomatic means. Norman A. Graebner, in America's Top Ten Presidents, declares, "Polk's achievements in diplomacy were among the most remarkable in American history."Drawing upon a careful review of the extensive literature on our eleventh president, as well as Polk's personal diary, Bergeron has written a significant and balanced reassessment of the Polk presidency. In the process, he has also created a revealing portrait of a complex man who led the nation with imperial determination tempered with compassion, generosity, and even humor.

Price: 85.58 USD

Location: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

End Time: 2024-11-26T19:37:08.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD