There is more selfishness and less principle among members of Congress than I had any conception of, before I became President of the U.S.

Four years later Polk sold his Somerville plantation and together with his brother-in-law bought 920 acres (3. Polk feared that passing the Rivers and Harbors Bill would encourage legislators to compete for favors for their home districts – a type of corruption that would spell doom to the virtue of the republic. The Mexicans refused to receive Slidell citing a technical problem with his credentials.

He is noted for his foreign policy successes. Polk was a leader of Jacksonian Democracy during the Second Party System. He threatened war with Britain over the issue of which nation owned the Oregon Country then backed away and split the ownership of the region with Britain.