Andrew Jackson
Much has been written about President Andrew Jackson. His role in American politics during his lifetime is one that is certainly unique and could scarcely be duplicated by any other President. During Jackson's presidency he dealt with the expansion of the American West, the problem of Indian land occupation, possible secession, slavery, the National Bank, not to mention an assassination attempt and a crisis in his Cabinet that led to the purging of them all.
Andrew Jackson was always the last man standing. Whether it was politics or pistols at twenty paces, Jackson gave an air of a man's man. His story is one that symbolizes the American dream. Orphaned at a young age, Jackson turned to law and politics to gain prominence with the movers and shakers of his time. His ability to lead men allowed him to make an even bigger name for himself in the field of battle.
Famously leading an army during the War of 1812 in New Orleans and fighting alongside Sam Houston and David Crockett during the Creek War, Jackson was a fearless warrior. Jackson did the dirty work of the Monroe administration during the First Seminole War when he seized the state of Florida. He would later be criticized for this during his presidency.
His boldness in opposing the National Bank caused him to be censored in the Senate, an action that hurt Jackson deeply. Jackson vetoed an act that would re-charter the Bank, thus causing the censure by the Senate. About three years later, his friend Thomas Hart Benton would lead the charge to have the Senate censure removed. The removal of the censure caused the chamber to erupt in celebration. But Henry Clay, Jackson's lifelong archenemy, lamented, "The Senate is no longer a place for any decent man."
During the Nullification Crisis, Jackson went head to head with John Calhoun. Calhoun argued that any state had the right to nullify legislation it did not support. This was directly directed at the tariff legislation of 1828 that was viewed to benefit the North at the expense of the South. Of course, this crisis was a prelude to the argument for secession, and it was the political maneuvering of President Jackson that likely saved the Union and, as history turned out, delayed a Civil War by almost three decades.
It is interesting to note that on January 30, 1835, a deranged out-of-work painter from England, Richard Lawrence, burst through a crowd in Washington at the Capitol Building and aimed a pistol at Jackson. The pistol misfired. Lawrence pulled out a second pistol, which also misfired. It has been theorized that the humid weather caused or at least was partly the cause of the misfiring. Lawrence was restrained by David Crockett and a few others present. There is a legend that Jackson beat him with a cane, although this is likely the result of exaggeration. Lawrence was deemed insane after making outlandish statements and was never punished for the attempt on Jackson's life. This was the first assassination attempt on a U.S. President.
Jackson was also partly responsible for the donkey being the symbol of the Democratic Party. During the election of 1828, Jackson's opponents called him a “jackass.” Jackson took to the name and used the symbol for a short while. The symbol later came to be used again when cartoonist Thomas Nast began to utilize it.
Seeing himself as the direct representative of the American people, Jackson revolutionized the way American politics were conducted and the way in which the American President was viewed. His legacy as a protector of democracy and the liberty of the individual is contradicted by his stance on Indian removal and slavery. Yet Andrew Jackson, as an American and as an American President, or just simply a leader of men, will never find an equal.
Andrew Jackson Quotes“The wisdom of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that would operate with perfect equality.”
“As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of persons and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending.”
“Every diminution of the public burdens arising from taxation gives to individual enterprise increased power and furnishes to all the members of our happy confederacy new motives for patriotic affection and support.”
“I feel in the depths of my soul that it is the highest, most sacred, and most irreversible part of my obligation to preserve the union of these states, although it may cost me my life.”
“I have always been afraid of banks.”
“I weep for the liberty of my country when I see at this early day of its successful experiment that corruption has been imputed to many members of the House of Representatives, and the rights of the people have been bartered for promises of office.”
“I would sincerely regret, and which never shall happen whilst I am in office, a military guard around the President.”
“If the Union is once severed, the line of separation will grow wider and wider, and the controversies which are now debated and settled in the halls of legislation will then be tried in fields of battle and determined by the sword.”
“It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word.”
“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.”
“It was settled by the Constitution, the laws, and the whole practice of the government that the entire executive power is vested in the President of the United States.”
“Mischief springs from the power which the moneyed interest derives from a paper currency which they are able to control, from the multitude of corporations with exclusive privileges... which are employed altogether for their benefit.”
“Money is power, and in that government which pays all the public officers of the states will all political power be substantially concentrated.”
“The duty of government is to leave commerce to its own capital and credit as well as all other branches of business, protecting all in their legal pursuits, granting exclusive privileges to none.”
“The people are the government, administering it by their agents; they are the government, the sovereign power.”
