Andrew Jackson (7th president)
1829-37
Democrat
ABOVE: "He was a democratic autocrat, an urbane savage, an atrocious saint" - an early biographer on Andrew Jackson
There is probably no president with a more controversial legacy than Andrew Jackson. He was the champion of the poor white farmer, but the enemy of blacks and Indians. Depending on whom you ask, Jackson is one of the greatest champions of true democracy this country has ever known and someone who transformed the presidency into the most powerful branch of government (which is true) or a cruel genocidal dictator in democratic clothing (also true). I struggled on where to put him on this list, and this is much lower than where he ranks on many other rankings out there, but he was the best and worst of presidents, so I guess it is fitting that he lands right in the middle of my list. I just split the difference, and I am very curious on what some of my learned readers think of Jackson.
Andrew Jackson is one of those great frontier characters out of American myth. The fact that it is mostly true makes it all the better. Orphaned and dirt poor as a child, he is the definition of the self-made American man. As a teenager he fought in the American Revolutionary War, receiving the scar across his forehead from a British officer’s sword when Jackson refused to polish the officer’s boots. He worked as a lawyer in his younger days in Salisbury, North Carolina, but earned more of a reputation as “the most roaring, rollicking, game-cocking, horse-racing, card-playing mischievous fellow, that ever lived in Salisbury,” according to a contemporary. Jackson then moved to the Tennessee territory, ran off with a married woman and, believing that she had secured a divorce, he married her (actually, she was not divorced yet, a fact that Jackson’s political enemies never tired of revisiting). He served as Tennessee’s first Senator, and also took part in many duels, receiving several shots and killing several men. Jackson really made his name as a military man, such as when he slaughtered 1000 Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (not a single Creek surrendered, and therefore Jackson did not let a single Creek survive the day). Jackson became a national hero when he led a ragtag force of American militia, free blacks, French pirates and anyone else around with a gun to defeat a crack British force at the Battle of New Orleans. Later, when president James Monroe ordered Jackson to Georgia to stop raids by Seminole Indians out of Spanish Florida and to recover runaway slaves (Jackson owned over 100 slaves personally), he boldly exceeded his orders and decided to invade Florida, execute some British prisoners along the way, and overthrow the Spanish governor. Spain quickly decided to “sell” Florida to the United States shortly thereafter. I know I haven’t even gotten to his presidency yet, but Jackson is one of the most interesting characters in our history.
ABOVE: Famous statue of Gen. Jackson in Jackson Square in the French Quarter, New Orleans
As president, Jackson wanted to eradicate all vestiges of elitism from our government, perhaps since he himself came from such humble beginnings and never forgot it. On his inauguration day, he flung open the doors of the White House, set up some kegs of beer, hired The Grateful Dead for the music and allowed the mob to come party with him upon his election. The mob quickly got out of hand and destroyed much of the White House’s china (Jackson himself slipped out a window and spent the rest of the evening in a nearby hotel while the mob ransacked the White House). More substantively, Jackson proposed direct election of all federal officials (including judges), but this was unsuccessful. He brought the spoils system to Washington, using political appointments as a powerful weapon. His idea was to get rid of career politicians and bring in new blood and fresh ideas, but the spoils system ended up being a system to repay political debts to people who were not necessarily qualified for the jobs they were given.
Jackson believed in following a Jeffersonian model (at least following Jeffersonian rhetoric, if not practice), and remains the only president after 1835 to ever completely retire the national debt.
Old Hickory boldly faced off with South Carolina in one of the earliest threats of secession. Southern states were burdened by the federal tariffs that benefited New England merchant interests, and South Carolina declared that a state had the right to “nullify” any law it felt was contrary to its interests and threatened to secede if Jackson attempted to enforce the tariff. Jackson, while sympathetic to Southern interests, would not tolerate insurrection. He called their bluff, declaring the Union “indissoluble” and declaring South Carolina guilty of “treason,” ominously asking them in an address “are you ready to incur its guilt?” Fortunately, a compromise was reached and the issue did not come to blows, but you have to assume that Jackson was ready to unleash the full fury of the Federal government on them if necessary.
Jackson’s financial policies directly affected the U.S. for the next century, and not in positive ways. Jackson was the sworn enemy of the mammoth Second Bank of the United States, feeling that it was the bastion of elite interests and involved itself in the politics of the nation. He withdrew all federal money from the Bank (which he did not have the authority to do, but he kept firing Secretaries of the Treasury until he found one who would do it) and deposited the money in favored state banks, the “pet banks.” The Senate censured Jackson, but he fired back that the president was the sole representative of “the people.” He vetoed the renewal of the Bank’s charter (in fact, Jackson vetoed more legislation than all of his predecessors combined) and effectively killed the beast. The problem was that he had no viable alternative to the Bank and the U.S. did not have a stable economy for a long time afterwards. Furthermore, he issued his Specie Circular, prohibiting the use of paper money to buy federal land. Only hard currency could be used. Jackson thought this would ease the mad speculation that ensued after Jackson killed the Bank and set the wildcat state banks loose. But all this did was cause the brutal financial panic of 1837.
ABOVE: The Trail of Tears
The blackest stain on Jackson’s legacy is his Indian Removal Act of 1830. Sympathetic to Southern farmers who wanted valuable Indian lands in the Southeast, Jackson ordered the forced removal of these Indian tribes to the new territories west of the Mississippi. The Cherokees sued and the Supreme Court actually ruled in their favor, to which Jackson famously retorted “(Chief Justice) John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” Jackson comforted himself by stating that he was removing the Indians to protect them from annihilation. The Seminoles resisted for years, but were eventually subdued. The Indian tribes were eventually forcibly marched West, sometimes at a moments notice without the opportunity to gather their belongings or even all of their family members. The infamous Trail of Tears was the most cruel march of this period (which actually happened after Jackson’s term was completed, but he was still pulling the strings in retirement). The official government estimate for Cherokee deaths on the Trail of Tears was 400, but most experts believe the total is closer to 4000.
ABOVE: Upon leaving the White House to a reporter: "After eight years as president, I have but two regrets. That I have not shot Henry Clay or hanged John C. Calhoun."
Pros:
• Jackson greatly expanded the power of the Executive Branch. He created a powerful presidency that did not exist before and shaped what the presidency was to become
• Jackson effectively ended government rule exclusively by the elites and brought politics to the common man. Ever since Jackson, it has been a political asset to be a “man of the people.” To me, this is a mixed blessing. I don’t necessarily trust the common man. Look at Sarah Palin’s popularity
• Jackson retired the entire federal debt
• Jackson asserted Federal supremacy in the face of South Carolina’s nullification and secession threats
* Founded the Democratic Party
* Ran the first "modern" political campaign
Cons:
• Jackson brought the Spoils System to Washington
• Indian Removal Act (defiance of the Supreme Court), which was a form of ethnic cleansing
• Jackson destroyed the Bank of the U.S. with no real alternative to stabilize the economy
• Specie Circular
* Allowed the Peggy Eaton Scandal to destroy his first cabinet
* Supported the banning / burning of Abolitionist literature, violating Freedom of Speech and Petition
7 comments:
With about the sole exception of the secession crisis, Jackson was on the wrong side of practically every issue of the era. His inability to distinguish between political differences and personal differences, to frame himself as the perpetual victim and thereby cloak his decisions in self-righteousness (a la Nixon) and to consistently turn bad judgment into impolitic (if not disastrous) results are simply too much. Jackson didn't just expand presidential power, he abused the system of checks and balances between the branches. Jackson didn't just promote democracy (which our Founders intentionally avoided), he bequeathed to us the demagogue and the mob. Among the pre-1860 presidents, Jackson was almost certainly the most openly racist of the lot. As for retiring the debt, the Democratic-Republican program from 1801-1829 had seen a steady reduction throughout the previous four presidencies (if I'm not mistaken). For some reason, I've always drawn a parallel (in a negative way) between Jackson and the first Commissioner of Baseball, Kenesaw Mountain Landis (though that's another story.) Jackson is a man who became a national hero by accident and never had the judgment or temperment to exercise leadership as anything other than an autocrat.
I have to agree with Brad. It's hard to find any positives in this resume. He was a great military man, but doesn't seem to have had the skills or temperament to lead a democracy. I might rate him a little lower.
I tried to be fair in discussing Jackson, but since I am not a fan, perhaps I did not stress the positives enough. In looking at 15 of the most respected presidential rankings, Jackson was never ranked lower than 14th, and was in the top 10 of 9 of them. I made my rankings without referring to the others, but me putting him even at 21 is much lower than most.
Dez is absolutely right and this does "seem" too low on account of how AJ is usually rated, but I think that says a whole lot more about the people who participate in those rankings and what their collective values are than it does about Jackson's performance in office and its relative worth. I leave it to others to hash out what those values might be.
As concerns Jackson, there is much to be admired. Decisiveness and effectiveness, admirable though they are, however, are not assets in a president when utilized to support bad policies. If Jackson enacted measures that harmed the country, how is it to his credit that he did so effectively or authoritatively?
Just wanted to add how much fun it's been following this since the beginning of the series even though this is the first time I've posted. Agree or disagree with the rankings, they've been thought provoking in every single case. Keep up the great work, Dez!
Brad, I really appreciate the feedback. Unless people comment, I have no idea whether anyone is reading these things!
Hey love this site by the way. While you were fair in a historical mainstream view there are some important factors often not looked at:
1. Jackson, like his predecessors wanted the indians to move away peacefully. He was friends with some tribes like the Cherokee and even had an adopted Indian son. It was when southern congress members grew angry that some Indian tribes were adapting to white plantation owner ways (some even owned slaves themselves) that they wanted Jackson to remove them. He even tried to be fair and pay the tribal leaders for their lands, but after the Supreme Court got involved Jackson decided to physically enforce the law.
2.As for Slavery, while Jackson himself owned many, and like all southerners of the 1800s was probably racist, it wasn't a political issue at the time. Only a handful of free soilers existed including van Buren.
3. While he might of gone a bit over the top eliminating the electoral college, Jackson was able to extend voting rights to all citizens (provided you're white and male). Before he came along, most were only able to vote in federal elections if you owned property.
As for the Bank issue, the Panic of 1937 was caused because of the inflated mess that the Bank had made the past twenty years. Recessions, while undesirable, are necessary in such a case. The specie circular only made it law to pay for the sale of federal lands in gold and silver, which is the big factor that enabled Jackson to pay off the federal debt. While specie coined money became more valuable, there was still paper banknotes available in the free banking era, some of which contained the 'pet banks.' As a matter of fact, after the Panic ended a few years later, the economy would sore very high and the dollar reached the highest value in US history.
Jackson's veto message identified the case clearly: The Constitution only gave congress, not a private bank monopoly, the power to only coin money and set coinage value. Paper money may be less valuable, but it would still be a private sector issuance.
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