jdel:

Happy Presidents’ Day, to my favorite and most under-appreciated president ever. James Knox Polk, our 11th president. Here are some of the totally radical things President Polk managed to pull off:

• Accomplished Manifest Destiny, by starting/winning the Mexican-American War (Guadalupe Hidalgo!) and expertly scaring the shit out of Britain during the Oregon Territory dispute (54-40 or Fight!)
• Formally established the Independent Treasury, which was the precursor to our Federal Reserve system.
• Oversaw the opening of the Smithsonian Institute, now one of the greatest historical collections in the world.
• Was the first president to issue postage stamps (just found out about this one, thanks Wikipedia).
• Saw the groundbreaking of the Washington Monument (that’s the phallic one for my international/ignorant readers).
• At 49, was the youngest president at the time.
• Created the Department of the Interior, which yes…fucked over Native Americans something fierce, but also led to the creation of our National Park Service.

Did I mention he did all of that shit in 4 years and didn’t even bother to run for reelection? Talk about dropping the mic.