A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent (Paperback)

from ALincolnNut

In the roughly 60 years between the death of George Washington and the start of the Civil War, there are two primary narrative threads in American history: territorial expansion and the issue of slavery; the latter is generally told with focus on Congress, while territorial expansion seems to fal...

from pnorman4345

This is a straightforward biography of a president, James Polk, without a huge personality who succeeded in his goals. It raeses questions about the role of congress, the role that personality plays in history. I found the behavior of James Buchanan, the secretary of state of Polk 'interesting'.

from mybucketlistofbooks

A very solid look at the Presidency of James K. Polk, focusing as you would expect on the issues that defined his Presidency - the Annexation of Texas, the acquisition of New Mexico, and California, the Mexican-American War, and the settlement of the Oregon dispute with Great Britain.The author d...

from Waltersgn

Well written biography of Polk's term as president. Merry presents Polk's faults as well as his successes in obtaining a treaty with Great Britian over the Oregon Territory, the annexation of Texas, the lowering of the tarriff, as well as the Mexican War of 1846-48. In the latter, Merry details t...

from Schmerguls

Even though I read a Polk biography (by Walter R. Borneman) as recently as 29 May 2008 my interest in the period of American history in which he lived is such that I decided to read this book as soon as I saw it on the Library shelf. It is felicitously written and tells the story of Polk and the ...