Andrew Jackson: The American Presidents Series: The 7th President, 1829-1837

Andrew Jackson was and is a controversial character in the United States. Some people love him and some people hate him. This book does a wonderful job of discussing some main events that shaped Jackson's life and presidency. This book sticks to Andrew Jackson and does not explain the histories of many things that are included in the text. It assumes that the reader has a basic understanding of some major American historical moments. For example, the war of 1812, the second bank of the United States, the panic of 1819, some of the assimilation policies for Native Americans, etcetera. The author is somewhat biased; he tries to stick to the facts yet tends to defend Jackson on some of his major controversial policies. Overall this book is a good read and will definitely give an accurate account of Andrew Jackson.

Sean Wilentz submits his mostly positive take on Andrew Jackson for the American Presidents series edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Jackson's reputation and ranking among US presidents has fallen in recent decades, mostly due to his treatment of Indians, his stance on slavery, and misunderstanding of his economic policies. Wilentz argues, and I concur, that any attempt judge Andrew Jackson by standards of other time periods is doomed to failure. In his time, Jackson was considered the great champion of democracy. As set forth in his first annual message, `the majority is to govern' was his emblem. New York editor William Leggett considered him the `leader and champion of the people'. While these words sound like 4th of July political platitudes to our ear, in his time Jackson faced opponents who still believed in a `natural aristocracy' and who feared `mob rule' as they saw democracy. The anti-Jacksonsonian William Henry Seward summarized the Jacksonian principle: `That principle is democracy....the poor against the rich; and it is not to be disguised.' Jackson stood against what he called the `few monied Capitalists' as represented by Nicholas Biddle and 2nd Bank of the US. Again, in the modern view the necessity of a national central bank seems obvious, but Biddle's bank used its power to grant `special privileges to unaccountable monied men on the make as well as those already well established.'(Wilentz at p. 83) In his words, Jackson wanted to get the wealthy off the backs of the `humble members of society'. In one his major feats, Jackson defeated the `nullifiers' led by John C. Calhoun. The theory of state nullification of federal laws undermined national unity and indeed the survival of the Union. Jackson also considered the removal of the southeastern Indian tribes, the Creeks, Cherokee, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, as one of the greatest accomplishments of his administration. Jackson professed, and Wilentz accepts, that his intent was to remove the Indians from the harm they would suffer at the hands of local whites especially in Georgia. The removal also served Jackson's aim of US western expansion. And whatever Jackson's intent, the Indians generally opposed the removals and suffered tremendously from the policy (Note: The Trail of Tears actually occurred during the presidency of Jackson's protégé, Matty Van Buren). Jackson also vigorously opposed the nascent abolitionist movement. Wilentz asserts that Jackson believed that anti-slavery politicians were `ambitious demagogues' (Wilentz at p. 164) who simply used the issue for personal gain. His great desire was to suppress the slavery issue because he accurately saw it as the greatest threat of disunion. The effort to suppress the debate was foredoomed to failure. This book is well worth a read for anyone interested in American history generally or Jackson specifically. It meets Schlesinger's goal of being compact, lucid, and authoritative. For those who want a fuller co

The 2008 Presidential race is in full swing, and interest in the contest runs high. In order to keep my own bearings, I wanted to try to take a short but broader view of our Presidents and our nation's history. One way to do this is by reading some of the volumes in the recent "American Presidents" series edited by the late Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Each volume in this series offers, in short compass, the life and accomplishments of an American president together with an evaluation of his achievement. I chose Sean Wilentz' biography of Andrew Jackson (1767 -- 1845) because of our seventh President's role in broadening the basis of American democracy and because of the controversy he inspired and continues to inspire. Jackson was a flamboyant, larger-than-life figure with great virtues and as many faults. He was orphaned at an early age and bore for life the physical and emotional scars inflicted upon him by a sword gash to the head by a British officer during the Revolutionary War. Jackson fought off poverty and his own impulsive nature to serve an early term in Congress and in the Senate before the 19th century. He became a lawyer, a judge and a large plantation owner of the Hermitage in Tennessee. He became famous as an Indian fighter in wars against the Southeast Tribes such as the Creeks and Cherokees and against the Florida Seminoles. Jackson won a great victory against the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, (the War of 1812 was officially over at the time) which secured his fame. Jackson ran for President in 1824 but, following a close election, he was denied the presidency in the House of Representatives as a result of what he claimed was a "corrupt bargain" between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. In 1828, Jackson defeated Adams, inauguarating what he and many American people believed was a new age for American democracy. Wilentz describes the themes of Jackson's presidency as including: "robust nationalism on constitutional issues tempered by a restraint on federal support for economic development and a strict construction; a distrust of what Jackson called the corrputed power of 'associated wealth'; and a celebration of what one pro-Jackson newspaper called 'the democratic theory that the people's voice is the supreme law." (p. 112) In his biography, Wllentz reminds the reader that Jackson's age was not our own. Thus, the issues Jackson faced cannot be transferred directly to our current situation with the label of "liberal" or "conservative". Jackson was an enemy of big government. But in Jackson's time, this position made him a foe to the power of wealthy and powerful people and businesses who had a close relationship to the government and who, Jackson, believed, were gaining too much privilege at the expense of the people. Thus, a major activity of Jackson's presidency was his destruction of the Second Bank of the United States, a private bank which had been chartered by Congress and which exercised strong

Clear and consise prose; well documented; theories of future effects well substantiated.

He's on most lists of our best presidents as well as our $20 bill. Democrats hail him as a founder. After reading this book, and attempting a few others, it's still hard to understand why Jackson has been accorded such respect. I started both the Brand and Remini bios. Through them I came to understand his childhood and how the American Revolution shaped his character and views. The psychological toll of losing his nuclear family at a young age had to be enormous. His mother's heroic search and rescue of him in a very abusive British POW camp illustrates the love and family loyalty he lost. Wilentz quickly outlines the child/youth/military and plunges into the presidency, which was what I was seeking when I started reading the others. Wilentz cleary states the complicated facts of Jackson's war on the bank. To Jackson it was a war on the aristrocracy. It is not within the scope of Wilentz's book to editorialize, but were Biddle and his cronies really controling the US economy? Could the land issues have been settled with (Lincolnesque) homestead acts, which undoubtedly would have been very popular? Could he have fought for legislative mini-changes (Clintonesque) to curb certain powers, such as bidding out government banking needs. Jackson and Biddle were clearly obstinate equals, but as Pres, it would seem that there were other paths to take leadership on this since he deemed it important. How necessary and/or effective was this bank war? Did it really save the "little guy" in the short or long run? In his tooth and nail fight on nullification, Jackson may have been as instrumental as Lincoln in holding the union together. Jackson's stand against nullification not only solidified the sentiment for his day, but also built precedent for future times. This and stopping the British in New Orleans, may be worthy of his stature among historians, Democrats and currency commemoration but, they don't explain the genesis of the phrase "Jacksonian Democracy". From admitedly limited knowledge, I still don't see enough to assign this man's name as an adjective to democracy. The author alludes to the changing of executive staff and to a future unfolding of more direct elections of public officials. I assume, in the nature of things, appointment prerogative would have evolved, but where is the chapter on how AJ worked on behalf of more direct election? Are not the Trail of Tears and his actions on behalf of those supporting slavery anti-democratic endeavors? I still don't see how the war on the bank, which admittedly has "little guy" overtones, balances all this out.