The eleventh president of the U.S., James Knox Polk (1795-1849), was the oldest of 10 children. He was a descendant of a Scottish religious reformer named John Knox. His family members helped organize the Presbyterian Church in the region. Polk was born near Pineville in Mecklenburg County, not far from the birthplace of another president, Andrew Jackson. Polk graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1818.

He was elected a representative to the U.S. Congress, then governor of Tennessee. Polk was not an outspoken president. He served one term, from 1845-49. At the end of his presidency, Polk witnessed the decline of Charlotte's mining boom. Once gold was discovered in California in 1848, Polk admitted that the western gold rush would surpass Charlotte's. 

James K. Polk is remembered for expanding the territories that became part of the U.S. during his presidency. He died at age 53, just three months after the end of his term.