James K. Polk/Bibliography

Please sort and annotate in a user-friendly manner. For formatting, consider using automated reference wikification.

• Bergeron, Paul H. The Presidency of James K. Polk. 1986. excerpt and text search
• Dusinberre, William. Slavemaster President: The Double Career of James Polk. 2003. online edition
• Dusinberre, William. "President Polk and the Politics of Slavery." American Nineteenth Century History 3.1 (2002): 1-16. ISSN 1466-4658. Argues Polk misrepresented the strength of abolitionism, grossly exaggerated the likelihood of slaves' massacring white families, and seemed to condone secession.
• Eisenhower, John S. D. "The Election of James K. Polk, 1844." Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 53.2 (1994): 74-87. ISSN 0040-3261.
• Haynes, Sam W. James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse. 2001.
• Kornblith, Gary J. "Rethinking the Coming of the Civil War: a Counterfactual Exercise." Journal of American History 90.1 (2003): 76-105. ISSN 0021-8723. Speculates about the future if Polk had not gone to war.
• Leonard, Thomas M. James K. Polk: A Clear and Unquestionable Destiny. (2000) excerpt and text search.
• McCormac, Eugene Irving. James K. Polk: A Political Biography (1922) online edition
• Morrison, Michael A. "Martin Van Buren, the Democracy, and the Partisan Politics of Texas Annexation." Journal of Southern History 61.4 (1995): 695-724. ISSN 0022-4642. Discusses the election of 1844. online edition
• Paul, James C. N. Rift in the Democracy. 1951. on 1844 election online edition
• Schouler, James. Democrats and Whigs, 1831-1847. Vol. 4 of History of the United States of America: Under the Constitution. 1917.
• Sellers, Charles. James K. Polk, Jacksonian, 1795-1843. 1957 and James K. Polk, Continentalist, 1843-1846. 1966. the standard scholarly biography vol 1 and 2 are online at ACLS e-books
• Seigenthaler, John. James K. Polk: 1845–1849. 2003. short popular biography
• Smith, Justin H. The War with Mexico 2 vol (1919); Pulitzer Prize; 2:233-52; online vol 1; online vol 2 Pulitzer Prize winner.

Primary sources

• Polk, James K. The Diary of James K. Polk During His Presidency, 1845-1849 edited by Milo Milton Quaife, 4 vols. 1910. complete text vol. 1; complete text vol. 2; complete text vol. 3; complete text vol 4; also Abridged version by Allan Nevins. 1929, online
• Cutler, Wayne, et. al. Correspondence of James K. Polk. 1972-2004. 10 vol. scholarly edition of the complete correspondence to and from Polk.