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James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, was the first sitting president to be photographed with surviving images.

The daguerreotypes process was the primary form of photography through the 1840s, as Polk sat for Mathew Brady,John Plumbe, George Healy, Abel Shank among others.

Of the confirmed daguerreotypes of Polk, there are four known physical original daguerreotypes, three copies, with one disputed amongst historians.

Known original daguerreotypes

Of the 7 confirmed daguerreotypes of James K. Polk there are four known originals.

Portrait	Photographer	Date	Current Location	Notes
	Attributed to John Plumbe	1846-1848	President James K. Polk Home & Museum
	Attributed to John Plumbe	1846	President James K. Polk Home & Museum	Though this daguerreotypes is often consider a work by John Plumbe, Polk writes in his dairy about sitting for a daguerreotype with his cabinet for Healy also in 1846.
	Attributed to John Plumbe	1845-1846	George Eastman Museum
	Attributed to Mathew Brady	1849	Library of Congress

Period copies

Though the original daguerreotypes have been lost over time, surviving copies of original daguerreotypes have survived.

Portrait	Photographer	Date	Current Location	Notes
	Attributed to Mathew Brady	1848-1849	Nashville Public Library
	Attributed to Mathew Brady	February 17th, 1849	Private Collection	“The Cabinet met at the usual hour; all of the members present except the Secretary of War ... in consequence of indisposition. Before entering on any business the members of the Cabinet at my request accompanied me to the large dining room below stairs & set for their Daguerrotype likenesses. Mr. Brady, the artist, desired to take the Cabinet & myself in a group and did so.”
	Unknown	1845-1849	Missouri Historical Society

Disputed

One images suggested to be James K. Polk is debated amongst historians. The James K. Polk Project, President James K. Polk Home & Museum, nor the White House Historical Association believe it to be him, while American historians Amy Greenberg and William Polk do.

Portrait	Photographer	Date	Current Location	Notes
	Unknown	Possibly 1849	Amon Carter Museum of American Art