In the same year Mr. Polk was made the Governor of Tennessee, and removed his residence to Nashville, in order to fulfil the duties of his new position. Mrs. Polk, always amiable and animated by the truest fidelity to her husband’s interests, exerted a wide influence in the new circle into which her life had been cast. By the winning gentleness which ever accompanied her fine social qualities, she attracted even those members of the Legislature who were among the opponents of Mr. Polk. And this is saying a great deal when it is remembered that the political campaign of 1840 was the most fierce and exciting one in the history of the country. It is known as the “hard cider and log-cabin campaign.” Political rancor and animosity prevailed to an unprecedented degree. But the lady-like affability, and high and exalted virtues of Mrs. Polk, won universal admiration from friend and foe alike. She lived above the warring elements that surrounded her. The calm and charming bearing of the Governor’s wife was a source of constant praise. From the sister States of Tennessee and Kentucky came the opposing Presidential candidates in 1844. Henry Clay, the idol of the Whig party, and the most popular public man in the Commonwealth, against the champion of Democracy, James K. Polk. The election was keenly contested, and the result most damaging to the Whig party. March 4, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated. The day was very disagreeable, rain and mud rendering much of a display out of the question. He was accompanied from the Capitol to the White House by the retiring President, who there took a kindly leave, wishing him prosperity and happiness in his new and exalted position. Mrs. Polk immediately assumed the agreeable duties of the lady of the White House, and having no children to occupy her time, she devoted herself entirely to the pleasures of her new station. She held weekly receptions, and it was customary for her to receive her company sitting. The extreme formality required now was not practised then. The crowds that attend the few levees held by the President’s family render everything like sociability out of the question. Farther and farther from the old landmarks we are drifting. In Mrs. Washington’s day the company were seated, and herself and the President passed among the company. Later in the history of the Chief Magistrates, President Adams dispensed cake and wine to the guests, and General Jackson cheese. As the throng grew more numerous, Mrs. Polk did away with refreshments, and now policemen are stationed in the Mansion during receptions to keep the crowds from crushing the President and family, who are compelled to stand and shake hands the entire evening. Verily we are a progressive people.