The Pandemic That Killed James K. Polk
Today is the anniversary of the day in 1849 that President James K. Polk died just months after leaving office. He was the shortest-lived ex-president of all. And it was a pandemic that killed him.
Today is the anniversary of the day in 1849 that President James K. Polk died just months after leaving office. He was the shortest-lived ex-president of all. And it was a pandemic that killed him.
Polk's tomb is easy to overlook because it's behind a prominent memorial to Tennessee's best-known president, Andrew Jackson.