Sarah Childress Polk
| Sarah Polk | |
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Copy of Polk's White House Portrait, done by George Dury (1878)
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| First Lady of the United States | |
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In role March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849 |
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| President | James Polk |
| Preceded by | Julia Tyler |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Taylor |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 4, 1803 Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | August 14, 1891 (aged 87) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | James Polk (1824–1849) |
| Religion | Presbyterianism |
| Signature |  |
Sarah Childress Polk (September 4, 1803 – August 14, 1891) was the wife of the 11th President of the United States, James Polk, serving as First Lady of the United States from 1845 to 1849.
Sarah Childress was born in 1803 to Joel Childress, a prominent planter, merchant, and land speculator, and Elizabeth Whitsitt Childress—the third of their six children. Sarah was well educated for a woman of her time and place, attending the exclusive Moravians' Salem Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1817, one of the few institutions of higher learning available to women in the early 19th century.
Sarah met James Polk while both were receiving instruction from Samuel P. Black in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; he was 19, she was 12. Several years later James began courting her. Legend says Andrew Jackson called her “wealthy, pretty, ambitious, and intelligent,” and urged James K. Polk to marry her. In 1823 the two became engaged, and on January 1, 1824, Sarah Childress, aged 20, married James Polk, aged 28, at the plantation home of the bride's parents near Murfreesboro. The Polks had no children of their own, but raised a nephew, Marshall Tate Polk (1831–1884) as their personal ward. After her husband's death, Mrs. Polk assumed guardianship of an orphaned niece, Sarah Polk Jetton (1847–1924), and raised the girl as her own.
In physical appearance, Sarah was fairly tall, with black hair that was parted in the middle and worn in ringlets, dark brown eyes, and olive complexion. She had prominent teeth that caused her to tighten her lips, giving her a disapproving look, though she was admired as a "noble" beauty. She usually dressed in vibrant blues, reds and maroons, that suited her dark coloring.
During Polk's political career, Sarah assisted her husband with his speeches, gave him advice on policy matters and played an active role in his campaigns. In Washington as a congressman's wife during the administrations of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren, Mrs. Polk very much enjoyed her social duties. In 1830 she risked a breach with Jackson, her husband's mentor, by taking part in the social ostracism of Peggy Eaton, during the Petticoat Affair, although she continued to greet Eaton, unlike Vice President John C. Calhoun's wife, Floride Calhoun, and most of the cabinet members' wives.
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