More nearly
than any of his predecessors, Andrew Jackson was
elected by popular vote; as President he sought to
act as the direct representative of the common man.
Born in a
backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1767, he
received sporadic education. But in his late teens
he read law for about two years, and he became an
outstanding young lawyer in Tennessee. Fiercely
jealous of his honor, he engaged in brawls, and in a
duel killed a man who cast an unjustified slur on
his wife Rachel.
Jackson
prospered sufficiently to buy slaves and to build a
mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville. He was the
first man elected from Tennessee to the House of
Representatives, and he served briefly in the
Senate. A major general in the War of 1812, Jackson
became a national hero when he defeated the British
at New Orleans.
In 1824
some state political factions rallied around
Jackson; by 1828 enough had joined "Old
Hickory" to win numerous state elections and
control of the Federal administration in Washington.
In his
first Annual Message to Congress, Jackson
recommended eliminating the Electoral College. He
also tried to democratize Federal office holding.
Already state machines were being built on
patronage, and a New York Senator openly proclaimed
"that to the victors belong the spoils. . . .
"
Jackson
took a milder view. Decrying officeholders who
seemed to enjoy life tenure, he believed Government
duties could be "so plain and simple" that
offices should rotate among deserving applicants.
As national
politics polarized around Jackson and his
opposition, two parties grew out of the old
Republican Party--the Democratic Republicans, or
Democrats, adhering to Jackson; and the National
Republicans, or Whigs, opposing him.
Henry Clay,
Daniel Webster, and other Whig leaders proclaimed
themselves defenders of popular liberties against
the usurpation of Jackson. Hostile cartoonists
portrayed him as King Andrew I.
Behind
their accusations lay the fact that Jackson, unlike
previous Presidents, did not defer to Congress in
policy-making but used his power of the veto and his
party leadership to assume command.
The
greatest party battle centered around the Second
Bank of the United States, a private corporation but
virtually a Government-sponsored monopoly. When
Jackson appeared hostile toward it, the Bank threw
its power against him.
Clay and
Webster, who had acted as attorneys for the Bank,
led the fight for its re-charter in Congress.
"The bank," Jackson told Martin Van Buren,
"is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!"
Jackson, in vetoing the re-charter bill, charged the
Bank with undue economic privilege.
His views
won approval from the American electorate; in 1832
he polled more than 56 percent of the popular vote
and almost five times as many electoral votes as
Clay.
Jackson met
head-on the challenge of John C. Calhoun, leader of
forces trying to rid themselves of a high protective
tariff.
When South
Carolina undertook to nullify the tariff, Jackson
ordered armed forces to Charleston and privately
threatened to hang Calhoun. Violence seemed imminent
until Clay negotiated a compromise: tariffs were
lowered and South Carolina dropped nullification.
In January
of 1832, while the President was dining with friends
at the White House, someone whispered to him that
the Senate had rejected the nomination of Martin Van
Buren as Minister to England. Jackson jumped to his
feet and exclaimed, "By the Eternal! I'll smash
them!" So he did. His favorite, Van Buren,
became Vice President, and succeeded to the
Presidency when "Old Hickory" retired to
the Hermitage, where he died in June 1845.
Andrew
Jackson