James Polk was the first President to have news of his inauguration to be relayed by telegraph. As President, he acquired territories from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War, thus extending the boundaries of the United States to the Pacific. James Polk was born on November 2, 1795 in Mechlenburg County, North Carolina. His parents were Major Samuel Polk and Jane Knox. James Polk shares a common descent from Reverend Rowland Polk with presidents James Madison and Zachary Taylor. Reverend Rowland Polk was married to the daughter of the brother of William Tyndale, the first person to translate the Bible into English. For a detailed family tree, see http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssbct/cgi-bin/gedlkup.php/n=presidents?presidents1876
