Met His Every Goal?: James K. Polk and the Legends of Manifest Destiny

While examining primary-source materials as editor of the Correspondence of James K. Polk, historian Tom Ghaffin made an astonishing discovery: a central defining anecdote of Polk and his presidency he-learned, hangs by the thinnest of evidentiary threads, Ac- cording to the oft-told story, soon after winning the presidency Polk slapped his thigh and declared that his one-term administration would be dedicated to "four great measures"-acquiring the Oregon Country and California, reducing ta...