Sarah Childress Polk : a biography of the remarkable first lady [WorldCat Entities]

"Historians consider James K. Polk one of America's most effective presidents, yet some speculate that given his chronic ill health and paranoid tendencies, he might not have made it through four years of office without the help of his wife, Sarah Childress Polk. An educated woman in an era when most of her sex were illiterate, Sarah was praised for her political acumen. (Franklin Pierce, who served as Polk's attorney general, said he preferred to talk politics with Sarah over anyone, including Polk himself.) So remarkable were her tact and charm, she won the admiration even of her husband's political enemies."