I am scanning a 1986 biography of President James K. Polk by Paul Bergeron. As Polk was the greatest president in American history (!) and has an award named for him at JLF, I thought it wise to select a good biography for use as a gift and for consultation. Our own Dr. Troy Kickler made the recommendation.
I’m already enjoying it. Early on, I happened upon these passages about Polk’s childhood in Mecklenburg County that are quite fascinating:
[Mecklenburg was] an environment of fierce independence and self-reliance, bolstered by orthodox Presbyterianism. His father, Samuel, and his grandfather, Ezekiel, were leaders in economic matters, politics, and community influence. Young James imbibed the Jeffersonian views of his family and friends, who extolled the virtues of the agricultural setting and a simple life that was only peripherally touched by a limited government. Moreover, frugality and fairness were almost equal watchwords of the community.
Then, a few paragraphs later, a discussion of James moving to Tennessee:
Even though he moved, young James never truly departed from the essence of Mecklenburg. To him it was a place ?where men lived simply on the fruits of their own labor without expectations of easy wealth and dealt honestly with each other on a basis of rough equality and mutual respect.?
Hmm, this was Mecklenburg County, North Carolina?
