James K. Polk's ranks as one of America's most successful presidents, yet he remains unfamiliar to most modern Americans. The first "dark horse" candidate, he served from 1845 to 1849 as the nation's eleventh president. Polk achieved each of his major goals as president, including acquiring California and settling the dispute with Great Britain over the Oregon territory. Most of the area that today compriss the southwetsern United States was obtained by Polk as a result of winning the Mexican-American war. This work provides easy access to his life, career and times for students writing papers and the general public curious about this important president. Organized according to topics, each entry details the significance of the topic to Polk's public and personal life and places it in historical context. The work includes a chronology of important events, a sampling of key writings by Polk, pertinent documents, and an annotated list of print and nonprint sources.