Part 7 of My Presidential Review Series
Going forward with the series, we now approach Andrew Jackson. Jackson was the founder of the Democratic Party, and the first Democratic president. He was the first president from the West, and is often considered the first president of the people. His election was one of the fiercest and bitterest of all time; in fact, attacks on her character even contributed to the death of Rachel Jackson, the president's wife. After Jackson, no president again served 2 full terms until Grant. He served March 4, 1829 to March 3, 1837.
Jackson is often considered the founder of the modern presidency. More than any other president up to that point, Jackson used executive authority to implement his policies and thwart the opposition. He vetoed 12 bills, more than all of his predecessors combined. He was the first president to implement the pocket veto, by which a bill passed within 10 days before Congress adjourns does not become law if it is not signed.
Jackson, displeased with most of his official Cabinet, started forming policy with an informal group of advisors. They came to be called the Kitchen Cabinet. Its members were Amos Kendall, partisan journalist; Francis P. Blair, editor of the Washington Globe; Andrew Jackson Donelson, the president's nephew; William B. Lewis, Jackson confidant; Secretary of State Martin Van Buren; and Secretary of War John H. Eaton.
The practice of rewarding supporters with government jobs was a practice long in use, but Jackson's abrupt turnover in personnel caused the opposition to charge him of abuse. Jackson applied the maxim "To the victors belong the spoils," but, in reality, he replaced only about 15% of the federal workforce.
There was widespread gossip that Mrs. Peggy O'Neale Timberlake was having an affair with Secretary of War John H. Eaton. Shortly after her husband died at sea, she married Eaton. Most of Washington society ostracized her. Amid the escalating social feud, Jackson saw disturbing parallels with the events that contributed to the death of his wife and rushed to her defense. He demanded that the Cabinet wives treat her with respect and courtesy. Only the widower Martin Van Buren complied. It remained an issue until Eaton resigned in 1831.
Jackson confronted head-on the growing sectional crisis, ostensibly over the tariff, but really over states' rights vs. the federal Union. He supported the Union in the struggle, but Vice President John C. Calhoun supported the states. In 1832 he signed a tariff; lower than the Tariff of Abominations, but still not enough to satisfy South Carolina. It quickly enacted the Ordinance of Nullification, declaring the tariff null and void in the state. Jackson soon responded, releasing a proclamation warning South Carolina to comply with the tariff and denouncing nullification as "uncompatible with the existence of the Union." He also reminded those that were thinking of secession that it was treason. To demonstrate his determination, Jackson obtained from Congress the power to use armed forces to collect duties. The crisis ended with the passage of the Tariff of 1833, written by Henry Clay and acceptable to all.
Jackson supported internal improvements only if they benefited the nation as a whole and not one state. The only improvement he vetoed was the Maysville Road bill.
In 1832, Jackson blocked the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States, because he believed Congress lacked constitutional authority to create it, and because he saw it as an elitist institution that monopolized the banking industry and favored eastern manufacturing interests over the common people. With the failure to get its recharter passed, the bank was dissolved in 1836. Jackson quickened its demise by withdrawing the $11 million in federal funds and depositing it in various state banks. For this, the Senate voted to censure him in 1834 but expunged it 3 years later. The state banks, now with increased influence, extended easy credit and issued paper money freely, starting a round of western land speculation and inflation. Jackson sought to restore economic order by passing the Specie Circular in 1836, which required buyers of land to pay in gold or silver. The order dried up credit and ended land speculation, but precipitated the panic of 1837.
Jackson adopted a paternalistic attitude towards Indians. He encouraged tribes in Georgia to accept land west of the Mississippi, where he promised them sovereignty. Acting under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, he convinced various tribes to abandon about 100 million acres of land. In 1832, the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokees were a distinct community, and the laws of Georgia had no force with them. Georgia disregarded the ruling, and Jackson made no attempt to enforce it. During 1838-1839, federal troops led 15,000 Cherokees on a forced march to Oklahoma. 1 out of every 4 Indians died on this march, and they bitterly dubbed it "The Trail of Tears."
U.S. forces under General Henry Atkinson defeated Sac and Fox Indians under Chief Black Hawk in Illinois and Wisconsin. One of those fighting in the Black Hawk War was 23-year-old militia captain Abraham Lincoln.
As Jackson was leaving the Capitol on January 30, 1835, Richard Lawrence came within 13 feet of the president and fired a single-shot derringer at him. The percussion cap exploded, but the gunpowder failed to ignite. Jackson immediately lunged forward to strike the would-be assassin with his cane. Lawrence proceeded to fire a second derringer at point-blank range. This, too, failed to fire. When Lawrence testified that Jackson was keeping him from becoming King of England, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent the rest of his life in a mental institution. After the assault, his derringers were examined and were found to be in perfect working order. The odds of two such weapons malfunctioning in succession have been placed at 1 in 125,000.
Jackson died on June 8, 1845.
It is a little hard for me to look at this objectively, as a diehard Jacksonian, but I shall try. Jackson founded the modern presidency, which allowed the Union and the people to regain lost power, and he stopped the states from assuming too much power. As far as the Second Bank is concerned, I share Jackson's belief that it was an elitist institution that favored industry over the people. The Specie Circular may have caused a panic, but history has taught us that there would have been much more dire consequences had he let the feverish speculation continue. I cannot, however, condone his policy towards Indians under any circumstances. But his presidency more than made up for his anti-Indian attitude. He truly was the Champion of the Common Man.
Overall Ranking: 6
"I do precisely what I think just and right."