Quick Facts
Biography
VanLeer Polk (a.k.a. Van Leer Polk) (1858-1907) was an American politician and diplomat from Tennessee.
Early life
VanLeer Polk was born in 1858. His father, Andrew Jackson Polk, was the son of Colonel William Polk. His mother, Rebecca Van Leer, was an heiress to an iron fortune from Cumberland Furnace. Polk grew up at Ashwood Hall in Ashbrook, near Columbia, Tennessee.
Career
Polk was a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the Tennessee Senate in the 1890s, representing Maury County. With Flourney Rivers, a state senator for Giles County, he introduced railroad commission bills.
Polk was appointed as Consul-General in Bombay, India, by President Grover Cleveland. Later, he was appointed as one of five delegates to Brazil by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Death
He died in 1907.