He was a highly devoted man who entered the presidency with an unambiguous plan, setting out five main goals which he successfully executed in only one term in office (Bockert par. 13). Although the incessant pressure of American westward expansion had temporarily accumulated itself behind the Great Plains, it was now about to erupt with a deluge unlike any previous occurrence (Woodworth 59; "Expansion to the Mississippi"). A new start beyond the Western horizon would prove to be crucial to Americans so Polk became determined to use the concept of Manifest Destiny. This concept proved to prompt the American westward movement and lead to a flow of immigrants, and as portrayed in the figure above, to have a massive effect on the population of