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James Knox Polk

James Knox Polk

James Knox Polk (November 2 1795–June 15 1849) was the eleventh President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1845 to March 3, 1849. Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, but mostly lived in and represented the state of Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as Speaker of the House (1835–1839) and Governor of Tennessee (1839–1841) prior to becoming president. He is presently the only former Speaker of the House to become President. He is noted for his expansionist beliefs, for his pledge to serve only one term, and for becoming the first "dark horse" (a candidate who unexpectedly gains the party nomination) to win the presidency. His term is remembered for the largest expansion of the nation's boundaries since the Louisiana Purchase, through the negotiated establishment of the Oregon Territory and the acquisition of 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square kilometers) through the Mexican-American War. Polk successfully led the fight to establish Oregon's northern border at the 49th parallel, where it remains today. He also oversaw the opening of the U.S. Naval Academy and the Washington Monument, and the issuance of the first postage stamps in the United States.

Early life

Polk, the first of ten children, was born on his family's 250 acre (1 km²) farm in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. His father, Samuel Polk, was a farmer and surveyor of Scots-Irish descent, and related to Scottish nobility; his mother, Jane Polk (née Knox) was a descendant of the Scottish religious reformer John Knox. In 1806, the Polk family moved to Tennessee, settling near Duck River in what is now called Maury County. The family grew prosperous, with Samuel Polk becoming one of the leading gentlemen of the area. During his childhood, Polk suffered from poor health. In 1812, his father took him to Kentucky, where the then-famous surgeon Dr. Ephraim McDowell conducted an operation to remove his gallstones. Polk survived the risky surgery, enjoying better health during the rest of his life. Polk was only educated informally during his childhood. His formal education began at the age of 18, when he joined a religious school near his home. He later attended a school in Murfreesboro, where he met his future wife, Sarah Childress. After less than three years of attending the school, Polk left Tennessee to enroll in the University of North Carolina. He graduated in 1818, returning to Nashville to study law under Felix Grundy. Polk was admitted to the bar in 1820, and established his own practice in Columbia.

Political career

Polk was brought up as a Jeffersonian Democrat, for his father and grandfather were strong supporters of Thomas Jefferson. The first public office he held was that of Chief Clerk of the Senate of Tennessee (1821–1823); he resigned the position in order to run his successful campaign for the state legislature. Polk's oratory became popular, earning him the nickname "Napoleon of the Stump." He courted Sarah Childress, and they married on January 1 1824. Polk became a supporter and close friend of Andrew Jackson, then the leading politician of Tennessee. In 1824, Jackson ran for President, while Polk campaigned for the House of Representatives. Polk succeeded, but Jackson was defeated. Though Jackson had won the popular vote, neither he nor any of the other candidates (John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and William H. Crawford) had obtained a majority of the electoral vote, allowing the House of Representatives to select the victor. In his first speech, Polk expressed his belief that the House's decision to choose Adams was a violation of the will of the people; he even proposed (unsuccessfully) that the Electoral College be abolished. In Congress, Polk was a firm supporter of Jacksonian principles; he opposed the Second Bank of the United States, favored gold and silver over paper money, and preferred agricultural interests over industrial ones. This behavior earned him the nickname "Young Hickory," an allusion to Andrew Jackson's sobriquet, "Old Hickory." After Jackson defeated Adams in the presidential election of 1828, Polk rose in prominence, becoming the leader of the pro-Administration faction in Congress. As Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, he lent his support to the President in the conflict over the National Bank. Soon after Polk became Speaker in 1835, Jackson left office, to be succeeded by fellow Democrat Martin Van Buren. Van Buren's term was a period of heated political rivalry between the Democrats and the Whigs, with the latter often subjecting Polk to insults, invective, and challenges to duels. In 1838, the political situation in Tennessee—where, in 1835, Democrats had lost the governorship for the first time in their party's history—convinced Polk not to seek another term in the House of Representatives. Leaving Congress in 1839, Polk became a candidate in the Tennessee gubernatorial election, defeating fellow Democrat Newton Cannon by about 2,500 votes. Though he revitalized Democrats in Tennessee, his victory could not put a stop to the political decline of the Democratic Party elsewhere in the nation. In the presidential election of 1840, Van Buren was overwhelmingly defeated by a popular Whig, William Henry Harrison. Polk lost his own gubernatorial re-election bid to a Whig, James C. Jones, in 1841. He challenged Jones in 1843, but was defeated once again.

Election of 1844

Polk initially hoped to be nominated for vice-president in the 1844 presidential election. At the Democratic convention, which began on May 27 1844, the leading contender for the presidential nomination was former President Van Buren; other candidates included Lewis Cass and James Buchanan. The primary point of political contention involved the Republic of Texas, which, after declaring independence from Mexico in 1836, had asked to join the United States. Van Buren opposed the annexation, but in doing so lost the support of many Democrats, including Andrew Jackson. Van Buren won a simple majority on the convention's first ballot, but did not attain the two-thirds supermajority required for nomination. After six more ballots, when it became clear that Van Buren would not win the required majority, Polk was put forth as a "dark horse" candidate. The eighth ballot was also indecisive, but on the ninth, the convention unanimously nominated Polk, who had by then obtained Van Buren's endorsement. Despite having served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, he was relatively unknown, leading many Whigs to snipe, "Who is James K. Polk?" When advised of his nomination, Polk replied: "It has been well observed that the office of President of the United States should neither be sought nor declined. I have never sought it, nor should I feel at liberty to decline it, if conferred upon me by the voluntary suffrages of my fellow citizens." The Whig incumbent, John Tyler, had become President when William Henry Harrison died a month after assuming office. Tyler, a former Democrat, had become estranged from the Whigs, and was not nominated for a second term; Polk's Whig opponent was, instead, Henry Clay of Kentucky. The question of the annexation of Texas, which was at the forefront during the Democratic Convention, once again dominated the campaign. Polk was a strong proponent of immediate annexation, while Clay seemed more equivocal and vacillating. annexation of Texas Another significant campaign issue, also relating to westward expansion, involved control of the Oregon Country, then under the joint occupation of the United States and the United Kingdom. The Democrats had vigorously championed the cause of expansion, informally linking the controversial Texas annexation issue with a claim to the entire Oregon Country, which appealled to both Northern and Southern expansionists. The slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight", often incorrectly attributed to the 1844 election, did not appear until later. Polk's consistent support for westward expansion—in the words of John L. O'Sullivan, the "Manifest Destiny" of the United States—proved beneficial to his campaign. In the election, Polk won in the South and West, while Clay drew support in the Northeast. Polk won the crucial state of New York, where Clay lost supporters to the third-party candidate James G. Birney. Polk won the popular vote by a margin of over 38,000, and took the Electoral College with 170 votes to Clay's 105. Polk's fellow Democrat, George M. Dallas, became Vice President. Polk was the first, and as of 2005 the only, former Speaker of the House of Representatives to be elected President.

Domestic policy

George M. Dallas When he took office on March 4 1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest man to assume the presidency up to his time. Polk set four clearly defined goals for his administration: the re-establishment of the independent treasury, the reduction of tariffs, the settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute, and the acquisition of California from Mexico. Resolved to serve only one term, Polk acted swiftly to fulfill his campaign promises. In just four years, he would oversee the accomplishment of all his objectives. In 1846, Polk proceeded to carry out his domestic agenda, but at the cost of much discontent in his own party. Congress approved the Walker Tariff (named after Robert J. Walker, the Secretary of the Treasury), which represented a substantial reduction of the high Whig-backed Tariff of 1842. The new law abandoned ad valorem tariffs; instead, rates were made independent of the monetary value of the product. Polk's actions were popular in the South and West; however, they earned him the contempt of many protectionists in the Northeast. In the same year, Polk also approved an enactment restoring the Independent Treasury system, under which government funds were held in the Treasury, rather than in banks or other financial institutions. The Independent Treasury, created by the Democrats in 1840, had been abolished by the Whigs in 1841. After Polk re-established it, the Independent Treasury continued to remain in existence until 1920. The Independent Treasury Act, however, incurred the displeasure of many pro-bank Democrats.

Foreign policy

Before Polk entered office, his predecessor, John Tyler, interpreted his victory as a mandate for the annexation of Texas. President Tyler urged Congress to pass a joint resolution admitting Texas to the Union; Congress complied on February 28 1845. Tyler had acted quickly because he feared British designs on Texas. The Republic of Texas did not accept the offer until later in the year, after Polk entered office; it officially became a part of the Union on December 29 1845. This move, however, angered Mexico, which had offered Texas its independence on the condition that it should not attach itself to any other nation. 1845.]] Polk also sought to address the Oregon boundary dispute. Since 1818, Oregon had been under the joint occupation and control of Great Britain and the United States. Previous U.S. administrations had offered to divide the region along the 49th parallel, which was not acceptable to the British, who had commerical interests along the Columbia River. Although the Democrats in their platform had asserted a claim to the entire region, Polk was quietly prepared to compromise. When the British again refused to accept the 49th parallel boundary proposal, Polk broke off negotiations and returned to the "All Oregon" position of the Democratic platform, which escalated tensions along the border. Expansionists offered slogans like "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight." This slogan, often associated with Polk, was in fact the position of his rivals in the Democratic Party, who wanted him to be as uncompromising in acquiring Oregon as he had been in annexing Texas. Polk was not prepared to wage war with the British, however, and agreed to compromise with the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Aberdeen. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 divided the Oregon Country along the 49th parallel, the original American proposal. Although there were many who still clamored for the whole of Oregon, the treaty was approved by the Senate. The portion of Oregon acquired by the United States would later form the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, and parts of the states of Montana and Wyoming. The President turned his attention to the acquisition of California. In 1845, Polk had sent a diplomat, John Slidell, to Mexico to negotiate the purchase of California and New Mexico. Although Slidell was prepared to offer up to $40 million, the Mexicans, angered by the annexation of Texas, refused to bargain. In January 1846, Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to lead his troops into the area between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande—territory that was claimed by both Texas and Mexico. As negotiations continued to prove fruitless, Polk prepared to ask Congress for a declaration of war. Serendipitously, mere days before Polk intended to make his request to Congress, he received word that Mexican forces had crossed the Rio Grande area and killed eleven American troops. Polk amended his planned speech and changed his casus belli, stating that Mexico had "invaded our territory and shed American blood upon the American soil." However, he ignored the point that the territory in question was disputed, and did not unequivocally belong to the United States. A Whig congressman, future President Abraham Lincoln, introduced the "Spot Resolutions," which demanded that Polk point out the precise "spot" where American blood had been spilt. Such technical points, however, were largely ignored by the public, especially in the South and the West. Congress easily approved the declaration of war, with many Whigs fearing that they would have lost the support of their constituents had they voted against the Mexican-American War. Mexican-American War. The Gadsden Purchase (in yellow) acquired through purchase.]] By the summer of 1846, New Mexico had been conquered by American forces under General Stephen W. Kearny. Meanwhile, American settlers in California, led by John C. Frémont, rebelled against Mexican rule, and established the independent California Republic. General Zachary Taylor, at the same time, met with success on the Rio Grande. The United States also negotiated a secret arrangement with Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican general and dictator who had been overthrown in 1844. Santa Anna agreed that, if given safe passage into Mexico, he would attempt to persuade those in power to sell California and New Mexico to the United States. Once he reached Mexico, however, he reneged on his agreement, declared himself President, and tried to fight the American invaders back. Santa Anna's efforts, however, were in vain, as Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott destroyed all resistance. Polk sent a diplomat named Nicholas Trist to negotiate with the Mexicans. Delays in the process prompted the President to order Trist to return to the United States, but the diplomat ignored the instructions, staying in Mexico to continue bargaining. Trist successfully negotiated the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which Polk agreed to ratify, ignoring calls from Democrats who demanded the annexation of the whole of Mexico. The treaty added 1.2 million square miles (3.1 million square kilometers) of territory to the United States; Mexico's size was halved, whilst that of the United States increased by a third. California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming were all carved from the Mexican Cession. The treaty also recognised the annexation of Texas (and so the Mexican Cession includes the land annexed), and acknowledged American control over the disputed territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. Mexico, in turn, received the sum of $15 million. The war involved less than 20,000 American casualties, but over 50,000 Mexican ones; it had cost the United States nearly $100 million.

Post-presidency

Wyoming Polk is very arguably the only president ever to keep all of his campaign promises, however these considerable political accomplishments took their toll on his health. He became more tired and lost weight, and deep lines and dark circles etched his face. Full of enthusiasm and vigor when he entered office, Polk left the White House on March 4 1849, exhausted by his years of public service. He was succeeded in office by the hero of the Mexican-American War, the Whig General Zachary Taylor. Although Polk expected a peaceful retirement, he contracted cholera in New Orleans, Louisiana on a good will tour of the South. Polk died only 103 days after leaving the White House, having been former president for the shortest period of time in U.S. history. He died at his new home, Polk Place, in Nashville, Tennessee, at 3:15 on the afternoon of Friday, June 15, 1849. Polk's devotion to his wife is illustrated by his last words: "I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you." She lived at Polk Place for over forty years after his passing, a retirement longer than that of any other First Lady of the United States. He was the youngest President to die, until James A. Garfield and John F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated during their presidencies. His post-presidential life was, furthermore, the shortest in the history of the United States. Both James and Sarah are buried in a tomb on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol Building, in Nashville.

Legacy

Many historians rank Polk as a near-great President, certainly the greatest between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. Recent presidential polls suggest that Polk even outranks Andrew Jackson as a greater President. Lauding the extent of his achievements in a single term: Polk had attained all four of his primary policy objectives. One could argue, however, that Polk failed to acquire the whole of the Oregon Country, as he promised during his campaign. Moreover, his decision to send Zachary Taylor into disputed territory, and his subsequent justification of the Mexican-American War, have been condemned by many historians. Polk's actions in relation to Mexico involved significant consequences for the United States. In 1846, Congressman David Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced a proposal known as the Wilmot Proviso, which would have outlawed slavery in any U.S. territory acquired in the course of the war. Though the House passed the Proviso on numerous occasions, it was blocked by southern Senators. The Compromise of 1850 temporarily settled the dispute; California was admitted to the Union as a "free state," while the other territories carved out of the Mexican Cession were allowed to permit or prohibit slavery as they saw fit. The Compromise of 1850, however, failed to satisfy extremists on both sides. Disputes over slavery in the West, together with other inflammatory events of the 1850s, contributed to the American Civil War, which began in 1861. President Polk is also notable for his support for the concept of Manifest Destiny—the idea that it was the United States' divine mission to expand westward—and for his affirmation of the Monroe Doctrine—the doctrine, first propounded by President James Monroe in 1823, that the Americas should be free from European colonization or other interference. A number of United States counties are named after Polk. These include Polk County, Oregon, originally established in 1845. Polk County in Northwest Georgia, was founded in 1851. Polk County, Florida was founded ten years later in 1861. Polk County, Nebraska was the fourth county founded West of the Missouri River in 1870. Polk County, Missouri, founded in 1835, was originally named in honor of a Revolutionary War hero Ezekiel Polk. When the Missouri legislature acted to create the county, they chose to honor the then current Speaker of the House, James K. Polk. Polk is the subject of a song, "James K. Polk," by American pop group They Might Be Giants. It originally appeared on their 1990 EP Istanbul (Not Constantinople) as a B-side, and later appeared with the same lyrics but a different musical arrangement on their 1996 album Factory Showroom. The song is a surprisingly complete account of his presidential nomination and subsequent career, ending with a lament of his continued obscurity.

Cabinet


Supreme Court appointments

Polk appointed the following Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court:
- Levi Woodbury (1845)
- Robert Cooper Grier (1846)

States admitted to the Union


- Texas – December 29, 1845
- Iowa – December 28, 1846
- Wisconsin – May 29, 1848

See also


- U.S. presidential election, 1844
- List of places named for James K. Polk

References


- Bergeron, Paul H. The Presidency of James K. Polk. 1986. ISBN 0700603190.
- Cutler, Wayne, et. al. Correspondence of James K. Polk: July–December 1845. 2004. ISBN 1572333049.
- Dusinberre, William. Slavemaster President: The Double Career of James Polk. 2003. ISBN 0195157354.
- Haynes, Sam W. James K. Polk and the Expansionist Impulse. 2001. ISBN 0321087984.
- Leonard, Thomas M. James K. Polk: A Clear and Unquestionable Destiny. 2000. ISBN 0842026479.
- McCormac, Eugene Irving.James K. Polk: A Political Biography to the End of a Career 1845-1849. 1995. ISBN 094570710X.
- Schlesinger, Arthur M., and John Seigenthaler. James K. Polk: 1845–1849. 2003. ISBN 0805069429.

External links


- [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/polk.htm Inaugural Address of James K. Polk.]
- [http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jp11.html Biography of James K. Polk. The White House (Official Site).]
- [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/polk-1.html First State of the Union Address (1845).]
- [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/polk-2.html Second State of the Union Address (1846).]
- [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/polk-3.html Third State of the Union Address (1847).]
- [http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/polk-4.html Fourth State of the Union Address (1848).]
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- [http://rsparlourtricks.blogspot.com/2005/11/james-knox-polk-unsexy-dead-president.html Ron Schuler's Parlour Tricks: James Knox Polk, Unsexy Dead President] Polk, James K. Polk, James K. Polk, James K. Polk, James K. Polk, James K. Polk, James K. Polk, James K. Polk, James K. Polk, James K. Polk, James K. ko:제임스 K. 포크 ja:ジェームズ・K・ポーク

November 2

November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining.

Events


- 676 - Donus becomes Pope.
- 1772 - American Revolutionary War: Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren form the first Committee of Correspondence.
- 1783 - In Rocky Hill, New Jersey, US General George Washington gives his "Farewell Address to the Army".
- 1861 - American Civil War: Western Department Union General John C. Fremont is relieved of command and replaced by David Hunter.
- 1868 - Time zone: New Zealand officially adopts a standard time to be observed nationally, and is perhaps the first country to do so.
- 1889 - North and South Dakota are admitted as the 39th and 40th U.S. states.
- 1895 - The first gasoline-powered race in the United States. First prize: $2,000
- 1899 - The Boers started their 118 day siege of British held Ladysmith during the Boer War.
- 1914 - Russia declares war on the Ottoman sultanate.
- 1917 - Zionism: The Balfour Declaration proclaims support for Jewish settlement in Palestine.
- 1920 - In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast was the results of the U.S. presidential election, 1920.
- 1930 - Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia.
- 1936 - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established.
- 1936 - Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaims the Rome-Berlin Axis, establishing the alliance of the Axis Powers.
- 1936 - the British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world's first regular, high-definition (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed BBC1 in 1964, the channel still runs to this day.
- 1947 - In California, Designer Howard Hughes performs the maiden flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.
- 1948 - U.S. presidential election, 1948: Harry S. Truman defeats Thomas E. Dewey for the US presidency.
- 1953 - The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan names the country The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
- 1959 - Quiz show scandals: "Twenty-One" game show contestant Charles Van Doren admits to a Congressional committee that he had been given questions and answers in advance.
- 1959 - Ice Hockey: After being struck in the face with a puck, goalkeeper Jacques Plante returns to play wearing a protective mask for the first time in professional play.
- 1959 - The first section of the M1 motorway, the first in Britain, was opened between the present junctions 5 and 18.
- 1960 - Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case
- 1963 - South Vietnamese President Ngô Ðìhn Diệm is assassinated following a military coup.
- 1964 - King Saud of Saudi Arabia was deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother King Faisal.
- 1966 - The Cuban Adjustment Act enters force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
- 1967 - Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "the Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.
- 1974 - 78 die as the Time Go-Go Club in Seoul, South Korea burns down. Six of the victims jumped to their deaths from the seventh floor after a club official barred the doors after the fire started.
- 1976 - U.S. presidential election, 1976: Jimmy Carter defeats incumbent Gerald Ford to become first candidate from deep south to win since the Civil War.
- 1981 - Antigua and Barbuda become independent from Britain.
- 1982 - Channel 4 in the United Kingdom was launched.
- 1983 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs a bill creating Martin Luther King Day.
- 1984 - Capital punishment: Velma Barfield becomes the first woman executed in the United States since 1962.
- 1988 - The Morris worm, the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, was launched from MIT.
- 1991 - Bartholomew I becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 1991 - Jermaine Jackson's single "Word to the Badd!", which attacks his brother Michael, is leaked to radio station KPWR in Los Angeles.
- 2000 - The first crew arrives at the International Space Station.
- 2001 - Monsters, Inc. debuts with the best ticket sales ever for an animated film.
- 2004 - President George W. Bush wins election over John Kerry.

Births


- 1082 - Emperor Huizong of China (d. 1135)
- 1636 - Edward Colston, English merchant and philanthropist (d. 1721)
- 1667 - James Sobieski, Crown Prince of Poland (d. 1737)]])
- 1692 - Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Dutch composer (d. 1766)
- 1699 - Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, French painter (d. 1779)
- 1734 - Daniel Boone, American frontiersman (d. 1820)
- 1739 - Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, Austrian composer (d. 1799)
- 1741 - Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Dutch politician (d. 1784)
- 1755 - Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (d. 1793)
- 1766 - Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, Austrian field marshal (d. 1858)
- 1795 - James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States (d. 1849)
- 1808 - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, French writer (d. 1889)
- 1815 - George Boole, English mathematician and philosopher (d. 1864)
- 1821 - Sir George Bowen, British provincial governor (d. 1899)
- 1844 - Mehmed V, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1918)
- 1865 - Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States (d. 1923)
- 1877 - Joseph De Piro, Maltese founder of the Missionary Society of St. Paul (d. 1933)
- 1877 - Victor Trumper, Australian cricketer (d. 1915)
- 1885 - Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (d. 1972)
- 1894 - Alexander Lippisch, German scientist (d. 1976)
- 1897 - Vito Genovese, American gangster (d. 1969)
- 1906 - Daniil Andreev, Russian poet, writer, and mystic (d. 1959)
- 1908 - Fred Bakewell, English cricketer (d. 1983)
- 1911 - Odysseus Elytis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996
- 1911 - Raphael Robinson, US mathematician (d. 1995)
- 1913 - Burt Lancaster, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1927 - Steve Ditko, American artist
- 1929 - Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, President of Pakistan
- 1929 - Richard E. Taylor, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- [[1934]] - [[Ken Rosewall, Australian tennis champion
- 1936 - Jack Starrett, American actor and director (d.1989)
- 1938 - Pat Buchanan, American journalist and politician
- 1938 - Queen Sofia of Spain
- 1941 - Bruce Welch, rhythm guitarist and songwriter (The Shadows)
- 1942 - Shere Hite, American author
- 1942 - Stefanie Powers, American actress
- 1944 - Keith Emerson, British keyboardist and composer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
- 1946 - Alan Jones, Australian race car driver
- 1946 - Giuseppe Sinopoli, Italian conductor and composer (d. 2001)
- 1954 - Pat Croce, American entrepreneur
- 1958 - Willie McGee, baseball player
- 1961 - k.d. lang, Canadian singer
- 1965 - Shahrukh Khan, Indian actor
- 1966 - Tim Kirkman, American filmmaker
- 1969 - Reginald Arvizu, American bassist (KoЯn)
- 1974 - Nelly, Rapper (St. Lunatics)
- 1976 - Ricardo Dinis, KFC clone engineer, chicken specialist
- 1979 - Julie Lund, Danish actress
- 1986 - Erika Jo, American musician
- 1986 - Lara Sacher, Australian actress
- 1989 - Steven Jones, Musician (guitarist)

Deaths


- 1327 - King James II of Aragon (b. 1267)
- 1483 - Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician (b. 1454)
- 1610 - Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1544)
- 1618 - Archduke Maximilian III of Austria (b. 1568)
- 1716 - Engelbert Kaempfer, German physician and traveler (b. 1651)
- 1807 - Baron de Breteuil, French statesman (b. 1730)
- 1863 - Theodore Judah, American railroad engineer (b. 1826)
- 1877 - Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (b. 1784)
- 1887 - Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano (b. 1820)
- 1898 - George Goyder, English-born surveyor-general of South Australia (b. 1826)
- 1905 - Albert von Kölliker, Swiss anatomist (b. 1817)
- 1935 - Jock Cameron, South African cricketer (b. 1905)
- 1944 - Thomas Midgley, American chemist and inventor (b. 1889)
- 1950 - George Bernard Shaw, Irish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1856)
- 1960 - Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor, pianist, and composer (b. 1896)
- 1961 - James Thurber, American humorist (b. 1894)
- 1963 - Ngo Dihn Diem, President of South Vietnam (b. 1901)
- 1966 - Peter Debye, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
- 1975 - Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian film director (b. 1922)
- 1984 - Velma Barfield, American murderer (executed) (b. 1932)
- 1986 - Paul Frees, American voice actor (b. 1920)
- 1992 - Hal Roach, American director and producer (b. 1892)
- 2002 - Tonio Selwart, German actor (b. 1896)
- 2002 - Charles Sheffield, American author and physicist (b. 1935)
- 2004 - Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahayan, President of the United Arab Emirates (b. 1918)
- 2004 - Theo van Gogh, Dutch filmmaker (b. 1957)

Holidays and observances


- Catholicism - All Souls Day (unless on a Sunday)
- Ancient Latvia - Dveselu Diena held
- Mexico and the United States - Day of the Dead (Spanish: El Dia de los Muertos), a Mexican and Mexican-American celebration of dead ancestors.
- USA - admission day (1889) of North Dakota and South Dakota as 39th and 40th states.
- Rastafari movement - The coronation of Haile Selassie (1930) celebrated

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/2 BBC: On This Day] ---- November 1 - November 3 - October 2 - December 2 -- listing of all dates ko:11월 2일 ms:2 November ja:11月2日 simple:November 2 th:2 พฤศจิกายน

June 15

June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining.

Events


- 763 BC - Assyrians record a solar eclipse that will be used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history.
- 923 - Battle of Soissons: King Robert I of France is killed and King Charles the Simple is arrested by the supporters of Duke Rudolph of Burgundy.
- 1184 - King Magnus V of Norway is killed at the battle of Fimreite.
- 1215 - King John of England puts his seal to the Magna Carta.
- 1219 - Dannebrog - oldest national flag in the world - and flag of Denmark. According to legend, fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse in Estonia, and turned the Danes' luck.
- 1246 - With the death of Duke Frederick II, the Babenberg dynasty ends in Austria.
- 1389 - Battle of Kosovo: The Ottoman Empire defeats Serbs and Bosnians.
- 1409 - Western Schism: The Catholic church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is elected Pope Alexander V by the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.
- 1520 - Pope Leo X threatens to excommunicate Martin Luther.
- 1667 - The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean Baptiste. He transfuses 12 fluid ounces (350 ml) of sheep blood to a 15-year-old boy. The boy later dies and Baptiste is accused of murder.
- 1752 - Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity.
- 1775 - American Revolutionary War: George Washington is appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
- 1776 - Delaware Separation Day - The Delaware General Assembly votes to suspend government under the British Crown.
- 1785 - Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, co-pilot of the first-ever manned flight (1783), and his companion, Pierre Romain, become the first-ever casualties of an air crash when their hot air balloon explodes during their attempt to cross the English Channel.
- 1804 - New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document.
- 1808 - Joseph Bonaparte becomes King of Spain.
- 1836 - Arkansas is admitted as the 25th U.S. state.
- 1844 - Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber.
- 1846 - The Oregon Treaty establishes the 49th parallel as the border between the United States and Canada, from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- 1859 - Pig War: Ambiguity in the Oregon Treaty leads to the "Northwestern Boundary Dispute" between U.S. and British/Canadian settlers.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Petersburg begins – Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant and troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee battle for the last time.
- 1864 - Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres (0.8 km²) around Arlington Mansion are officially set aside as a military cemetery by U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.
- 1877 - Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.
- 1904 - A fire aboard the steamboat General Slocum in New York City's East River kills 1000.
- 1905 - Princess Margaret of Connaught marries Gustav, Crown Prince of Sweden.
- 1909 - Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lords and form the Imperial Cricket Conference.
- 1911 - Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation (IBM) is incorporated.
- 1913 - US troops under General John 'Black Jack' Pershing massacre at least 2,000 Philippine men, women and children at Bud Bagsak.
- 1916 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signs a bill incorporating the Boy Scouts of America.
- 1919 - John Alcock and Arthur Brown complete first nonstop transatlantic flight at Clifden, County Galway, Ireland.
- 1924 - Native Americans are proclaimed United States citizens.
- 1934 - The U.S.'s Great Smoky Mountains National Park is founded.
- 1944 - World War II: Battle of Saipan: The United States invades Saipan.
- 1944 - In the Saskatchewan general election, 1944, the CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, is elected and forms the first socialist government of North America.
- 1945 - The General Dutch Youth League (ANJV) is founded in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- 1954 - UEFA (the Union des Associations Européennes de Football) is formed in Basle, Switzerland.
- 1955 - The Eisenhower administration stages the first annual "Operation Alert" (OPAL) exercise, an attempt to assess the USA's preparations for a nuclear attack.
- 1957 - Eindhoven University of Technology is founded.
- 1962 - Students for a Democratic Society complete the Port Huron Statement.
- 1969 - Hee Haw debuts on CBS television, quickly becoming an institution.
- 1978 - King Hussein of Jordan marries 26-year-old Lisa Halaby.
- 1992 - The United States Supreme Court rules in US vs. Alvarez-Machain that it is permissible for the USA to abduct suspects in foreign countries and bring them to the USA for trial, without approval from those other countries. No reciprocal right is recognized for the reverse to happen in the USA.
- 1994 - Israel and Vatican City establish full diplomatic relations.
- 1996 - In Manchester, UK, a terrorist bomb injures over 200 people and devastates a large part of the city centre.
- 1999 - George Morber Senior and Carolyn Frederick are murdered by Ángel Maturino Reséndiz in Gorham, Illinois, USA. They are his eighth and ninth victims, in his seventh and final incident.

Births


- 1330 - Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales (d. 1376)
- 1594 - Nicolas Poussin, French painter (d. 1665)
- 1623 - Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (d. 1672)
- 1624 - Hiob Ludolf, German orientalist (d. 1704)
- 1755 - Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy, French chemist (d. 1809)
- 1767 - Rachel Donelson Jackson, First Lady of the United States
- 1789 - Josiah Henson, American slave and settlement founder (d. 1883)
- 1801 - Benjamin Raymond, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1883)
- 1805 - William Butler Ogden, first Mayor of Chicago (d. 1877)
- 1843 - Edvard Grieg, Norwegian composer (d. 1907)
- 1882 - Ion Antonescu, Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1946)
- 1888 - Ramón López Velarde, Mexican poet (d. 1921)
- 1900 - Gotthard Günther, German philosopher (d. 1984)
- 1902 - Erik Erikson, psychoanalyst (d. 1994)
- 1906 - Léon Degrelle, Belgian SS officer (d. 1994)
- 1914 - Yuri Andropov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (d. 1984)
- 1915 - Thomas Huckle Weller, American virologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1916 - Herbert Simon, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- 1917 - John Fenn, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1917 - Lash La Rue, American actor (d. 1996)
- 1921 - Errol Garner, American musician (d. 1977)
- 1932 - Mario Cuomo, Governor of New York
- 1936 - William Joseph Levada, American Catholic prelate
- 1937 - Waylon Jennings, American singer (d. 2002)
- 1938 - Billy Williams, baseball player
- 1939 - Brian Jacques, British author
- 1941 - Harry Nilsson, American singer and composer (d. 1994)
- 1943 - Xaviera Hollander, Dutch author
- 1943 - Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- 1946 - Noddy Holder, English singer (Slade)
- 1947 - John Hoagland, American photographer
- 1948 - Mike Holmgren, American football coach
- 1949 - Dusty Baker, baseball player and manager
- 1949 - Simon Callow, British actor
- 1954 - James Belushi, American actor
- 1958 - Wade Boggs, baseball player
- 1958 - Eric Heiden, American speed skater
- 1963 - Helen Hunt, American actress
- 1964 - Courteney Cox, American actress
- 1965 - Bernard Hopkins, American boxer
- 1967 - Eric Stefani, American musician and animator
- 1969 - Ice Cube, American singer and actor
- 1969 - Oliver Kahn, German footballer
- 1971 - Edwin Brienen, Dutch director
- 1972 - Andy Pettitte, baseball player
- 1973 - Neil Patrick Harris, American actor
- 1973 - Tore André Flo, Norwegian footballer
- 1978 - Wilfred Bouma, Dutch footballer
- 1980 - Cara Zavaleta, American model
- 1981 - Mary Carey, American actress
- 1981 - Billy Martin, American musician

Deaths


- 923 - Robert I of France (b. c. 865)
- 1073 - Emperor Go-Sanjō of Japan (b. 1034)
- 1246 - Duke Frederick II of Austria (b. 1219)
- 1381 - John Cavendish, Lord Chief Justice of England
- 1381 - Wat Tyler, English rebel
- 1383 - John VI Cantacuzenus, Byzantine Emperor
- 1389 - Prince Lazar, Serbian Orthodox saint (b. 1329)
- 1467 - Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1396)
- 1521 - Tamás Bakócz. Hungarian Catholic cardinal and statesman (b. 1442)
- 1614 - Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, English politician (b. 1540)
- 1679 - Guillaume Courtois, French painter (b. 1628)
- 1724 - Henry Sacheverell, English churchman and politician (b. 1674)
- 1750 - Marguerite De Launay, Baronne Staal, French writer (b. 1684)
- 1768 - James Short, Scottish mathematician and optician (b. 1710)
- 1772 - Louis-Claude Daquin, French composer (b. 1694)
- 1849 - James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
- 1888 - Emperor Friedrich III of Germany (b. 1831)
- 1889 - Mihai Eminescu, Romanian poet (b. 1850)
- 1934 - Alfred Bruneau, French composer (d. 1857)
- 1941 - Evelyn Underhill, British writer (b. 1875)
- 1941 - Otfrid Foerster, German neurologist (b. 1873)
- 1962 - Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist (b. 1877)
- 1965 - E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (b. 1902)
- 1968 - Sam Crawford, baseball player (b. 1880)
- 1971 - Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1976 - Jimmy Dykes, baseball player and manager (b. 1896)
- 1984 - Meredith Willson, American composer (b. 1902)
- 1985 - Andy Stanfield, American athlete (b. 1927)
- 1989 - Victor French, American actor (b. 1934)
- 1991 - Arthur Lewis, British economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- 1993 - John Connally, American politican (b. 1917)
- 1993 - James Hunt, English race car driver (b. 1947)
- 1995 - John Vincent Atanasoff, American computer pioneer (b. 1903)
- 1996 - Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (b. 1917)
- 2003 - Hume Cronyn, Canadian actor (b. 1911)

Holidays and observances


- Commemoration of Evelyn Underhill (Anglican mystic and poet)
- Roman Empire – ninth and final day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta
- Roman Catholic Church – Feast of Saint Germaine Cousin, patron of shepherdesses and of victims of child abuse
- Saint Vitus' Day – Vitus Diena held in medieval Latvia
- Malawi's Freedom Day
- Commemoration of William Adams (Miura Anjin 三浦按針) a man shipwrecked in Japan in the 1600s, and whom James Clavell's "Shogun" was based upon.
- Flag Day in Denmark

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/15 BBC: On This Day] ---- June 14 - June 16 - May 15 - July 15 – listing of all days ko:6월 15일 ms:15 Jun ja:6月15日 simple:June 15 th:15 มิถุนายน

1849

1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar).

Events


- January 1
  - France issues Ceres, France's first postage stamp.
  - In Milan, anti-Austrian activists organize a smoking boycott in protest of the Austrian monopoly on tobacco. Protests erupts into brief riots.
- January 12 - Uprising against Austrian troops in Palermo, Sicily
- January 21 - General elections in the Papal States.
- January 23 - Elizabeth Blackwell is awarded her MD by the Medical Institute of Geneva, New York, thus becoming the United States' first woman doctor.
- January 31 - Corn Laws abolished in the United Kingdom.
- February 8 - Roman Republic established.
- February 14 - In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
- February 28 - Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay. The California left New York Harbor on October 6, 1848, rounded Cape Horn at the tip of South America, and arrived at San Francisco, California after the 4 month 21 day journey.
- March 3
  - End of Term for President of the United States James Knox Polk.
  - Minnesota becomes a United States territory.
  - The United States Department of the Interior is established.
  - The U.S. Congress passes the Gold Coinage Act allowing the minting of gold coins.
- March 4 - Zachary Taylor refuses to be sworn in office on a Sabbath (Sunday). Concequently the office of President of the United States of America is vacant for a single day. Urban legend instead helds that David Rice Atchison, President pro tempore of the United States Senate was President for a single day.
- March 5 - Zachary Taylor becomes the 12th President of the United States of America.
- March 29 - The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab
- April 1 - After ten days, the insurrection in Brescia is ended by Austrian troops.
- April 2 - The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states end and fail.
- April 13 – Hungary declares independence – Austria crushes the rebellion with Russian aid.
- April 21 - Irish Potato Famine: 96 inmates of the overcrowded Ballinrobe Union Workhouse die over the course of the preceding week from illness and other famine-related conditions, a record high.
- April 25 - The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
- April 27 - Giuseppe Garibaldi enters in Rome to defend it from the French troops of General Oudinot.
- May 3 - The May Uprising in Dresden begins - the last of the German revolutions of 1848.
- May 15 - Troops of the Two Sicilies take Palermo and crush the republican government of Sicily
- June 5 - Denmark becomes constitutional monarchy
- July 3 - French troops occupy Rome. Roman Republic surrenders.
- August 24 - Venice surrenders to Austrian troops after a 4-month siege
- October 6 - The execution of the 13 Martyrs of Arad after the Hungarian War of Independence.
- November 16 - A Russian court sentences Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group, but his execution is canceled at the last minute

Unknown date


- Joseph Fry makes the first chocolate bar
- Fort Street High School was founded in Sydney, Australia. It is the oldest government school in Australia
- French government publishes a decree that Carcassonne should be demolished. Public uproar forces them to begin renovation instead
- The Brown Report, detailing conditions in prisons, is completed.
- The village of Dubbo was planned and proclaimed.

Ongoing Events


- Irish Potato Famine (1845-1849)
- First war of Schleswig (1848-1850)

Births


- January 18 - Edmund Barton, first Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1920)
- January 22 - August Strindberg, Swedish author, playwright, and painter (d. 1912)
- February 18 - Alexander Kielland, Norwegian author (d. 1906)
- February 22 - Nikolay Yakovlevich Sonin, Russian mathematician (d. 1915)
- March 2 - Robert Means Thompson, American naval officer (d. 1930)
- March 7 - Luther Burbank, American biologist and botanist (d. 1926)
- March 19 - Alfred von Tirpitz, German soldier (d. 1930)
- April 6 - John William Waterhouse, Italian-born artist (d. 1917)
- May 3 - Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)
- June 9 - Michael Peter Ancher, Danish painter (d. 1927)
- July 29 - Max Nordau, Austrian author, philosopher, and Zionist leader (d. 1923)
- August 28 - Benjamin Godard, French composer (d. 1895)
- September 3 - Sarah Orne Jewett, American writer (d. 1909)
- September 14 - Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, Russian researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1936)
- October 22 - William Miller, American Baptist preacher (d. 1841)
- November 29 - John Ambrose Fleming, English electrical engineer and inventor (d. 1945)
- December 4 - Crazy Horse, Chief of the Oglala Sioux (d. 1877)
- December 6 - August von Mackensen, German field marshal (d. 1945)
- December 12 - William Kissam Vanderbilt, American railway magnate (d. 1920)

Deaths


- March 14- King Willem II of the Netherlands (b. 1792)
- May 22 - Maria Edgeworth, Irish novelist (b. 1767)
- May 25 - Benjamin d'Urban, British general and colonial administrator (b. 1777)
- May 28 - Anne Brontë, English author (b. 1820)
- June 15 - James Knox Polk, 11th President of the United States (b. 1795)
- July 12 - Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States (b. 1768)
- July 28 - King Charles Albert of Sardinia (b. 1798)
- September 25 - Johann Strauss, Senior, Austrian composer (b. 1804)
- October 7 - Edgar Allan Poe, American writer (b. 1809)
- October 17 - Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French musician and composer (b. 1810)
- December 2 - Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen of William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1792) Category:1849 ko:1849년 simple:1849

President of the United States

The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated "POTUS") is the head of state of the United States. Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The full title is President of the United States of America. Because of the superpower status of the United States, the American President is widely considered to be the most powerful person on Earth, and is usually one of the world's best-known public figures. During the Cold War, the President was sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," a phrase that is still invoked today. The United States was the first nation to create the office of President as the head of state in a modern republic. Today the office is widely emulated all over the world in nations with a presidential system of government. Many countries with a parliamentary system also have an office named "president", but the roles of this office vary widely, and the President in such systems usually has far more limited powers than the Prime Minister. The 43rd and current President of the United States is George W. Bush. His first term ran from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2005; his second term began on January 20, 2005 and ends on January 20, 2009; and President Bush is constitutionally barred from a third term.

Requirements to hold office

Section One of Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become President. The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States (or a citizen of the United States at the time the U.S. Constitution was adopted), be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years. The natural-born citizenship requirement has been the subject of controversy. Critics argue that this requirement arbitrarily excludes some highly qualified candidates for the Presidency. They also charge that supporters fail to appreciate the contributions made by immigrants to American society. Proponents of the requirement argue that the requirement helps to ensure that the President fully understands and is a part of the American people and their outlook. Proponents also argue that the clause helps protect the country from foreign interference—another country could send an emigrant to the United States and through subterfuge get them elected. Many prominent public officials, such as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA; born in Austria) and Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI; born in Canada), are barred from the presidency because they were not natural-born citizens. Constitutional amendments are occasionally proposed to remove or modify this requirement, but none have been successful.

Election

Presidential elections are held every four years. Presidents are elected indirectly, through the Electoral College. The President and the Vice President are the only two nationally elected officials in the United States. (Legislators are elected on a state-by-state basis; other executive officers and judges are appointed.)

Old system

Originally, each elector voted for two people for President. The votes were tallied and the person receiving the greatest number of votes (provided that such a number was a majority of electors) became President, while the individual who was in second place became Vice President.

Current system

The Amendment XII in 1804 changed the electoral process by directing the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes, or if no candidate receives a majority, the President and Vice President are chosen by the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, as necessary.

Campaign

The modern Presidential election process begins with the primary elections, during which the major parties (currently the Democrats and the Republicans) each select a nominee to unite behind; the nominee in turn selects a running mate to join him on the ticket as the Vice Presidential candidate. The two major candidates then face off in the general election, usually participating in nationally televised debates before Election Day and campaigning across the country to explain their views and plans to the voters. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states, through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Inauguration and oath of office

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