Presidents, U.S. [1]
Presidents, U.S.
See also: Vice Presidents, U.S [2]
Three North Carolina natives have served as president of the United States. Andrew Jackson [3], the seventh president, was reputedly born in a log cabin [4] south of the town of Waxhaw in 1767. This claim continues to be disputed by many who maintain that Jackson was actually born in South Carolina. After a distinguished military and political career, he was elected president in 1828 and again in 1832. His larger-than-life personality and political savvy while in office increased the power of the presidency and inspired the development of a truly unified national identity.
James K. Polk [5], the eleventh president, was born in Mecklenburg County [6] near the town of Pineville [7]in 1795. Polk was elected in 1844 and served one term, the highlight of which was the acquisition of the western one-third of the modern United States after war with Mexico [8].
Andrew Johnson [9], the nation's seventeenth president, was born in Raleigh [10] in 1808 but lived most of his life in Tennessee [11], from which his political career was launched. He was the only southern U.S. senator to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War [12]. Johnson was chosen as Abraham Lincoln [13]'s running mate in 1864 and assumed the presidency after Lincoln's assassination the following year. His administration was marred by his 1867 impeachment by the Radical Republican-led House of Representatives, which vigorously disagreed with his handling of southern Reconstruction [14] after the war. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.
References:
Burke Davis, Old Hickory: A Life of Andrew Jackson (1977).
Thomas M. Leonard, James K. Polk: A Clear and Unquestionable Destiny (2001).
Milton Meltzer, Andrew Jackson and His America (1993).
Hans L. Trefousse, Andrew Johnson: A Biography (1989).
Additional Resources:
"NC’s Presidential Past Creates Backdrop for Democratic National Convention." (press release). North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development. May 31, 2012. http://media.visitnc.com/news/2331/15/NC-s-Presidential-Past-Creates-Backdrop-for-Democratic-National-Convention/d,newsitem_latest_news.html 2012 [15](accessed October 30, 2012).
"Old Hickory/Young Hickory." North Carolina Museum of History. 2008.
Additional Resources:
"Visit the Birthplaces of North Carolina's U.S. Presidents," Our State, February 2003. https://digital.ncdcr.gov/Documents/Detail/our-state/1078477 [16]
Image Citation
James K. Polk. Painting by Thomas Sully. Original owned by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Society, UNC-Chapel Hill. Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies Foundation, UNC-Chapel Hill.
1 January 2006 | Dayson, Sion