Summary Of Met His Every Goal By James K. Polk

History students and fanatics alike might know James K. Polk by his famously quoted goals during his one term presidency. These four goals, first mentioned by historian George Bancroft, have been thought of as James K Polk’s legacy and rewritten by many other historians. The mystery of the origin of this myth has been debunked, but the great measures remain the popular story of Polk’s presidency. Although thought of as a given fact, Tom Chaffin pulls into question the legitimacy of the anecdote in his book Met His Every Goal?: James K. Polk and The Legends of Manifest Destiny, by discrediting the source of the message. Chaffin’s through knowledge of Polk’s presidency, evident in his writings for the fourteen volume series "Correspondence of

The “four great measures”, as stated by Chaffin, go as follows: the acquisition of some or all of the Oregon Country, the acquisition of California, a reduction in tariffs (to stimulate free trade), and the permanent establishment of Independent Treasury. Bancroft’s first retelling of Polk’s accomplishments came forty years after Polk's death, long after the historian supposedly heard of them. Chaffin points out, Bancroft told several different, and inconsistent versions of the anecdote of Polk's pronouncement, that Polk was sometimes reported to have said it before his inauguration, after his inauguration, to certain unnamed persons, and to Bancroft alone, and the inconsistencies are not the only thing that Chaffin points out in explaining the fault in Polk’s declaration of his goals. Bancroft was not originally choose to write of Polk’s correspondence, due to the fear that he wouldn’t write as accurately as William Marcy, who was a greater friend of Polk’s and spent more time in his

Many people simply accept the anecdote as fact, myself once included, but Chaffin uses several sources and logical thinking that point to the conclusion that Polk did not state his so-called “great measures” before his presidency himself, but he did accomplish all that was supposedly stated. Chaffin’s list of sources is expansive, including many published primary sources. As Chaffin points out, while Polk was guarded and kept his thoughts to himself for the most part, his early death meant that his writings were not destroyed, leaving his White House diary open to the interpretation of scholars on the issues he choose as important to write about. Chaffin’s analysis of Polk’s diary found no mention of his goals. He uses these sources to discredit the originator of the myth, George Bancroft. Although all these sources are available, none of them have President Polk directly telling what many believe he