President Donald Trump has a painting of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office, but as he tries to browbeat Denmark into coughing up Greenland, maybe he should add a portrait of a Jackson acolyte — James K. Polk. He added more than 1 million square miles to US territory and extended the country all the way to the Pacific, making him the most successful president not celebrated as part of the American pantheon. Mexico conceded to the United States a border at the Rio Grande, running all the way to the Pacific — giving us California inclusive of San Diego — in exchange for the assumption of Mexico’s debts and the price of $15 million.
Author: Rich Lowry
Published at: 2026-01-21 22:33:29
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