[16]

Early political career[edit]
Tennessee state legislator[edit]
By the time the legislature adjourned its session in September 1822, Polk was determined to be a candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives. The election was in August 1823, almost a year away, allowing him ample time for campaigning.[17] Already involved locally as a member of the Masons, he was commissioned in the Tennessee militia as a captain in the cavalry regiment of the 5th Brigade. He was later appointed a colonel on the staff of Governor William Carroll, and was afterwards often referred to as "Colonel".[18][19] Although many of the voters were members of the Polk clan, the young politician campaigned energetically. People liked Polk's oratory, which earned him the nickname "Napoleon of the Stump."At the polls, where Polk provided alcoholic refreshments for his voters, he defeated incumbent William Yancey.[17][18]

c. 1846–49 daguerreotype of James K. Polk and Sarah Childress Polk[20]
Beginning in early 1822, Polk courted Sarah Childress—they were engaged the following year[21] and married on January 1, 1824, in Murfreesboro.[17] Educated far better than most women of her time, especially in frontier Tennessee, Sarah Polk was from one of the state's most prominent families.