Death was afraid of Jackson: one of the most onery and cantankerous Presidents of all time. He was the most vindictive that I know of. My several greats uncle was his Vice-President, John C. Clahoun. He came to know the wrath of Jackson after a toast over states' rights at an official dinner. Jackson stood and said "The Union, it must be preserved!" Calhoun immediately followed with his own toast, "The Union next to my State (South Carolina) most dear!' Jackson wasn't pleased to be challenged. Calhoun soon felt the full measure of Jackson's vindictive streak.....
Andrew Jackson is without question one of the most important presidents in our history. He broke the back of the Virginia aristocracy and drove political power towards the frontier and beyond. Obviously most know him as a president to the "common man," but Jackson's innovations include: the destruction of the congressional presidential nomination process; the invention of presidential nominating conventions; the creation of a mature party system; the patronage and spoils system still used today; and, most significantly, the shift from a republic to a democracy. Jackson influence is seen in folks like Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. One doesn't have to like Jackson, but he was as pivotal and important a president as any we've seen. I would also argue that John C. Calhoun -- Jackson's chief nemesis -- is the most important American thinker of the 19th century.
Let me ask you a legitimate question: Which political process do you think you could best navigate -- the one created by James Madison or the one created by Andrew Jackson?
Let me ask you a legitimate question: Which political process do you think you could best navigate -- the one created by James Madison or the one created by Andrew Jackson?
Had Andy Jackson been the 16th President instead of the 7th, there would've been no civil war. He worked to fight the centralized bank, was for a limited government where states rights were predominant, was the only President to ever (EVER!) pay off the national debt, routinely dueled those who challenged his honor, had a mockingbird whom he taught to curse, worked to abolish the electoral college and once was given a 4 foot by 2 foot wheel of cheese. Sure there is some stuff in there about Indians and what not, but otherwise, what more could you want?
Funny, but I'm serious. Madison, Calhoun and Fitzhugh are the most original thinkers in American history. Not until Malcolm X is there another one that comes close. This is my untrained reading of American history, mind you so TIFWIW.