Walker, who lived at the White House with his growing family (two children were born to him while living there), performed his duties competently through his uncle's presidency. Other Polk relatives visited at the White House, some for extended periods.[125]

Polk and his cabinet in the White House dining room, 1846. Front row, left to right: John Y. Mason, William L. Marcy, James K. Polk, Robert J. Walker. Back row, left to right: Cave Johnson, George Bancroft. Secretary of State James Buchanan is absent. This was the first photograph taken in the White House, and the first of a presidential Cabinet.[126][127]
Foreign policy[edit]
Partition of Oregon Country[edit]
Main article: Oregon boundary dispute
Britain and the U.S. each derived claims to the Oregon Country from the voyages of explorers. Russia and Spain had waived their weak claims.[128] Claims of the indigenous peoples of the region to their traditional lands were not a factor.

Map of Oregon Country, which the Oregon Treaty split between the Americans and British at the 49th parallel
Rather than war over the distant and unsettled territory, Washington and London negotiated amicably. 