These views were long reflected in the historical literature, until Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Bernard De Voto argued that Polk was nobody's tool, but set his own goals and achieved them.
Ovakvo mišljenje prevladavalo je dugo vremena u povijesnoj literaturi sve dok Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. i Bernard De Voto nisu napisali da Polk nije bio ničije oruđe već da si je samostalno zadavao ciljeve i ostvarivao ih.