After
a winter of palm trees and 80 degree weather, it feels weird being in an area
going through spring. Flowers are blooming and nights are cool (wonderful for
sleeping).
We
stayed for a few days at the McDowell Nature Preserve near Charlotte, North
Carolina. Biking was difficult due to the steep hills, but the hiking trails were good. The
nature center was small but I always learn something from them.
I don’t
know about you, but I knew next to nothing about President James Polk. So it
was interesting going to a museum about him. Outside we could take pictures of
the restored homestead while we were on a private tour. They had a really nice
small garden. We spent some time speaking about the plants to a volunteer who
was working the garden.
Inside
the museum we couldn’t take pictures. My biggest takeaway was the difference
between how we imagine “the good old days” and reality. For some reason we
believe things were simple back then. There were no fights between political parties and
life was stress free. The reality is that, while the president didn’t have to
worry about internet and the constant news cycle, there were great stresses.
People in politics fought. This was the time period (he served1845-1849), when the
Democrat parties had just formed less than 20 years before due to these fights.
There were great accomplishments (opening the U.S. Naval Academy, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington Monument, and the first postage stamps) and securing
most of the Southwest as U.S. territory. Yet he essentially started the
Mexican-American War to get that territory. He tends to be ranked in the top
ten of presidents. James Polk was a
young president (he was only 49 when he started his term). However, the stresses of
office meant he only served one term and he died 3 months after he held the
office.
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