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To their shock, many American-history readers who loved biographies of Adams, Lincoln, or Jackson will find among their 2009 holiday gifts a biography of—there's no disguising it—James K. Polk. If this happens to you, do not panic.
I've long had him in the #2 slot behind Abe on the list of most accomplished presidents.
He stated clearly what he would do if elected, he did it all, he kept his promise to limit himself to a single term, and he worked himself to death in the four years he was on the job.
I find little room for complaint about such an executive.
The Overlooked President? He's always left off the list. John Hanson served as President while the country was operating under the Articles of Confederation. Who could be more overlooked than that?
Calvin Coolidge comes to mind. Balanced the budget, kept his mouth shut, and turned down a 2nd term that was his for the asking.
"He did not do anything because he was not supposed to do anything."
The only reason I might not give any particular honors to Coolidge is that it has been said he saw what was coming, i.e., the Depression. And seeing the economic collapse off in the distance, that could easily have been at least part of his reason for the famous declaration, "I do not choose to run for President in 1928." He simply didn't want to be the man in the White House when the Depression hit, choosing to leave it to someone else.
Years back there was a Final Jeopardy question to name two of the four Presidents that had four-letter surnames (was before the second Bush). When the answers were done (Bush, Ford, Taft, Polk) my husband at the time said, "I didn't know we had a President named Polk."
Then he started to laugh, because while in the Army he had been stationed at Fort Polk, LA.
Years back there was a Final Jeopardy question to name two of the four Presidents that had four-letter surnames (was before the second Bush). When the answers were done (Bush, Ford, Taft, Polk) my husband at the time said, "I didn't know we had a President named Polk."
Then he started to laugh, because while in the Army he had been stationed at Fort Polk, LA.
I like biographies. Thanks for the heads up.
For what it's worth, Fort Polk wasn't named after the president; Fort Polk was named after Leonidas Polk.
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