Feature
Andrew Jackson: Tea Party President
For starters, he was principled, fearless, and astute. And Washington, D.C., never trusted him, because he knew the real source of America’s greatness.
(Page 4 of 4)
As for Bennett, Jackson would shed not a tear over the abrupt end of his Senate career at the hands of the Tea Party in 2008. That’s precisely how American democracy is supposed to work, he would say, dismissing the expressions of sadness and puzzlement that emanated from so many denizens of the Washington establishment.
TURNING TO WALL STREET, Jackson would go crazy at the sight of the coziness that has developed between the country’s financial center and its government. He would go after that relationship like Beowulf after Grendel. He would dismiss the Dodd-Frank regulation bill as feckless — attempting to address the financial crisis by increasing federal meddling while leaving intact the fundamental problem of “too big to fail.” He would seek to smash the big banks into smaller entities and then get government out of their way. Once that was accomplished, he wouldn’t worry about executive pay, a sideshow issue in comparison to Wall Street’s capture of Treasury and the Fed. He would expel Wall Street henchmen from the government, particularly if they came from Goldman Sachs.
On the looming financial crisis stemming from funding liabilities in major entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, Jackson would level with the American people in stark terms. The programs are going under, and they’re going to bring down America with them, he would say. Get with the program or get used to the withering attacks he would unleash.
On foreign policy, Jackson would argue that America must play a significant role in the world. We are a great nation and must stand tall. But he would warn against getting involved in unnecessary wars unrelated to vital American interests. And he would ferociously attack anyone who suggested, for example, that opposition to America’s Libyan adventure amounted to isolationism. He would insist on reasonable and accurate terms of debate.
Corporate welfare in all its forms; high taxes that thwart economic activity and entrepreneurialism; persistent deficit spending; the bloated federal government; intrusions from Washington great and small into the lives of citizens; petty corruption in legislative activity; unnecessary and dangerous military ventures — all would come under Jackson’s damning political assault. Then he would take his program to the American people, let the chips fall, and rise or fall on his principles. This approach worked with the Bank of the U.S. back in the 1830s. Perhaps it will reemerge as the country’s dominant political force in the 2010s.
About the Author
Robert W. Merry, former CEO of Congressional Quarterly, is the author of several books on American history and foreign policy, including most recently, A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent.
Thomas Wilbur| 10.7.11 @ 6:34AM
Wonderful summary thank you - now I know why great great great grandad was a Jackson man.
Alan Brooks| 10.7.11 @ 11:06AM
The old truism that America is a nation of contrasts is trite but relevant. As James Reston wrote it is modern materially yet old fashioned in all other ways. If most of you lived in the interior-- the larger part of the country-- you would not question this at all.
One of the largest contrasts of all is Americans generally dislike big government yet not for their own people. It isn't what they say, it is what they do not say; it is the hidden subtext:
"I dislike big government [but not for MY family]". Since America does possess a substantial middle class, aid for the middle class is popular; aid for the poor is, unsurprisingly, less popular.
Once you comprehend such, you know what is going on. The hypocrisy succeeded up until recently, but now too many know. However the knowledge is blunted by their own kin being aided by the state.
Naturally, we could go on with a tedious laundry list of the the factors involved in America's contrasts. America is more prudish than Europe however its porn industry is larger-- the orgy on Saturday, church on Sunday dichotomy.
Peter Wicks brought up how with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, America is obviously technically more socialist than Europe-- though Americans can't admit it to themselves even though it is now hidden in plain sight. The blarney concerning the Founders is becoming a total joke. Andrew Jackson was a president who reigned circa 180 years ago. You are not really conservatives, you are sentimentalists-- nostalgic for an era that is long dead and buried. Andrew Jackson's America died in the shade long before Hitler was a corporal. You have a neurotic obsession with the distant past. 180 years ago conservatives really were conservatives, and they were generally rugged and frugal.
Look at Merry's photo: he is a soft little man who wouldn't have lasted long in the America of the 1830s.
Merry is only in danger of choking on a morsel at a fancy restaurant.
MM| 10.7.11 @ 11:28AM
Yes - LOOK at the photo . . . He is holding a photo of none other than Chief Justice John Warren!
Cheif Justice Warren - to whose Supreme Court Jackson became the first and only President to defy it!
Alan Brooks| 10.7.11 @ 11:33AM
Merry is desk-jockey,
not a horse jockey.
'Rugged' to Merry is the latest carpet.
Merry has more in common with even Michael Jackson than Andrew.
Patriot| 10.7.11 @ 12:34PM
MM - It is Chief Justice Marshall ;-)
MM| 10.7.11 @ 12:49PM
Jinx!
Alan Brooks| 10.7.11 @ 3:10PM
Naturally it was an error to write Warren rather than Marshall-- certainly not the Warren of "impeach Earl Warren" fame.
Cosmo| 10.8.11 @ 12:39AM
Let the Democrats have Old Hickory...
He was a racist Indian-killer, murderer,
and slave owner.
dAlton| 10.8.11 @ 9:17AM
"Let the Democrats have Old Hickory...
He was a racist Indian-killer, murderer,
and slave owner."
Isn't it mind-boggling that these are minor details to writers of articles like this? Native Americans have been campaigning for years to remove him from the 20 dollar bill. Andrew Jackson solved the nation's debt problem by genocidal policies and Indian Removal which created a huge surplus in capital. Are we proposing to solve our current crisis in this way?
d
Charles VekertI agree entirely| 10.8.11 @ 12:30PM
I agree entirely with your comment, with one exception. Modern Democrats would have no use of Andrew Jackson. Our political parties have swung full circle and Jackson would be the perfect Tea Party Candidate. Jackson was a slave holder and represented the interests of slave holders. Slavery was the big business of the day. Northern capitalism was still small, although any thinking person could see it was the wave of the future. And Southern plantation owners correctly from the point of view of their immediate self interest opposed northern business and “big government.” They understood that improvements to roads, ports, and later-on railways was to the advantage of emerging capitalism and small farmers, who needed them to move their products eastward to cities and over the ocean. (As slavery moved west, the Mississippi provided cheap transport for cotton to New Orleans and then to the world.) It was not in the self interest of slave owners to have their political and economic clout diminished, nor to have a strong Federal government that might reflect the view of the north on the institution of slavery.
In order to increase the land available for new slave plantations, the Cherokee and other tribes were forced by President Jackson and his ilk from their homelands onto the Trail of Tears, where many died the the survivors ended in relatively inhospitable reservation lands out west. In our sordid history of dealings with Native Americans, there are few acts, outside of actual massacres, more cruel and unjust.
Jackson’s campaign song was “The Hunters of Kentucky,” which celebrated how those sharpshooters defeated the British at New Orleans. The song, as Jackson very well knew, was a complete lie. The Kentucky militia arrived rather late was was posted on the far right and cut off from the rest of Jackson’s lines by a river. (Incidentally, having your army divided into two pieces by a natural feature in the face of the enemy is usually an elementary military blunder. See the Battle of the Little Big Horn for details.)The Battle of New Orleans was won by the multicolored Americans, free blacks, Creole, and white from New Orleans who manned the artillery and cut Packman’s redcoats to pieces when they tried a frontal attack.
It was during Jackson’s presidency that the “spoils system” was named and came to full flower. Jackson may have hated Federal government, but not so much that his friends who helped to elect him should not have lucrative employment by the evil beast. Fully 10% of civil servants lost their jobs to his friends. Gov. Perry’s system of rewarding friends and campaign donors would win his approval.
It is always dangerous to speculate what a historical figure would do in modern times, when the information available to them is generally much greater, the problems are different, and the proposed solutions to those problems were unimaginable when they walked the earth. Jackson obviously would not represent the interests of his slave owning peers today. Perhaps he would be a geneticist and experiment on fruit flies, much to the disgust of Sarah Palin.
But if were to stay true to form, I agree with Mr. Merry that Jackson would hate most of the things that Merry speculates he would hate. Jackson would represent the interests of those whose self interest is in immediate profits, as were the slaveowners, not in preserving the environment or improving infrastructure for future generations. The plight of those without health care or jobs would interest him as little as the sufferings of the Cherokee. The Federal Reserve might go the way of the United States Bank. Regulations that shackle businesses and banks (e.g. all of them) and reduce short term profits would be attacked mercilessly. I doubt, however, that he would use the power of the Federal government to break up large banks. The government should not interfere with the truly deserving rich.
In his day, Jackson gathered support among the working people for southern planters by attacking the Federal government, northern businessmen and financiers and by confusing them about their own self interests, which were strongly aligned with internal improvements. Now he would fool the Tea Party, few of whom are rich enough to actually benefit from Tea Party policies.
mzk1| 10.8.11 @ 1:28PM
Jackson was anti-capitalist, the tea party is pro-capitalist. End of story.
Bazza McKenzie| 10.8.11 @ 9:24PM
The Tea Party is not "pro-capitalist". It is pro free enterprise.
"Capitalism" is a Marxist construct whose use tells us a great deal about those who use the word.
Charles VekertI agree entirely| 10.9.11 @ 9:23AM
"Capital" is an economic term uses by all economists, meaning wealth or property used to produce more property. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first such use of the word was in 1611.
Thinking that using the word "Capitalism" makes someone a Marxist, tells us a great deal about the person who thinks thusly.
CarbonDate| 10.8.11 @ 2:06PM
You said it better than I could have. His pro-slavery views were not tangential to his views on the federal government, and the author is disingenuous to exclude them from his assessment of Jackson.
It should be worth noting that the Tea Party's views on the federal government are not new and have been around for hundreds of years. The modern Tea Party are the philosophical heirs of the Confederacy, and while few of them would argue for the return of slavery or segregation, it is worth noting how similar their arguments are to those of the Confederacy, or civil rights opponents a century later. They like to present themselves as libertarians, but when one asks them their views on gays or Muslims, one gets a very different picture of them.
And no, I'm not one of those who think the Tea Party hates Obama because he's black. They've moved past that. But the philosophical underpinnings remain.
mzk1| 10.8.11 @ 1:27PM
Also, anti-capitalist. As opposed to the pro-finance Whigs, like Abraham Lincoln.
Ken (Old Texican)| 10.7.11 @ 6:47AM
Mr. Merry,
well done, sir.
POST American| 10.7.11 @ 6:57AM
"I killed the bank---"
-ANDREW JACKSON
The spirit of Jackson, like that of
repentant Freemason turned 11th hour
baptized Calvinist, George Washngton
---beckons.
---Take heed America.
USURY makes our policy,
while EUGENICS helms our future
and dictates ' morality' and TREASON
stalks about in broad daylight.
----------------------TAKE HEED------------------------
Cpm| 10.8.11 @ 11:08AM
Paranoid Poetry Slam.
John Daniel| 10.7.11 @ 7:12AM
Though he was probably the greatest practitioner of genocide in American history, viewing any group standing in the way of expansion - Indians, British, etc. - as devoutly to be eliminated. This by no means diminishes his accomplishments - history is not always pretty - but have to chortle at today's PC Democrats willingness to laud him.
oldfart| 10.7.11 @ 7:26AM
Just ask any Cherokee what they think of Jackson. While he did many good things he certainly was not against excluding anyone from his dream of America, if they got in his way. The economic destruction and displacement of an entire group of people to make profit for his 'friends' makes him no better than the politicians his despised.
Brian Mc| 10.7.11 @ 7:52AM
I'm no fan of Jackson. As a matter of fact, I chuckled when I read about his encounter with Simon Kenton, where Kenton mopped the floor with him. But, with that said, were not the Cherokee very close to joining the Indian Federation before Tenskwatawa, the Prophet destroyed Tecumsah's hopes at the Battle of Tippecanoe? I'm sure this fact weighed heavily on Jackson's mind.
Though a scalpel might have worked; wielding the machete instead, though gruesome, was effective in its ends. Plus, you weren't going to get alot of head wagging out of the Ohio and Kentucky Settlers after the clashes they had suffered since before the Revolution. The feeling of relief would be hard to comprehend in this modern era. Cultures clash and absorb and at times, quite violently.
I might have to rethink my stance about Jackson. Great article with incite I will revisit this weekend.
oldfart| 10.7.11 @ 8:21AM
The Cherokee were rather successful at farming, living and dressing much like the non-native peoples around them in Georgia and the Carolinas. When gold was discovered on their land in Georgia these people, not just Cherokee but other tribes were told they had to move. The tribes brought suit in court to retain title to their lands. The Courts ruled against Jackson, who was pushing the project, to which Jackson is said to have made a comment something like “They have ruled not let them enforce it.” Jackson ordered the military to move the tribes to what is now Oklahoma. About 15,000 Cherokee where physically displaced during the winter with limited food and shelter. Over 4,000 died during the movement.
Don't get me wrong – Jackson did do some good but he is not the knight in shinning armor the author presents. There was a very dark side to the man.
Brian Mc| 10.7.11 @ 8:57AM
Was not part of his family hacked to death by the Shawnee? Or, might have been during the Cree uprising. This would tend to skew one's consciense in such matters, one would think.
Wayne| 10.9.11 @ 8:42AM
Shawnee, not Cherokee.
USSAlabama| 10.7.11 @ 10:04AM
Jackson is the worst president in history for a Cherokee. Cherokees owned plantations which were highly productive and well managed. Thousands who did not willingly leave home were simply murdered in their very own homes. Simply murdered.
The entire land of the Cherokee Nation stolen from them. If you are not familiar with the Cherokee, don't confuse them with other native tribes. They were educated and educated women equally with men. They were overwhelmingly Christian. They sang hymns as they walked the trail of tears.
Imagine hearing 10,000 voices in unison singing Amazing Grace. It was their favorite hymn.
Tea Party sympathizer that I am, I will never lay claim to Andrew Jackson as my hero. My own dad and many in my family traditionally bore some part of his name, but he murdered my ancestors and the grandmothers wouldn't speak it - having to claim to be "black Dutch' so as not to be put on the trail.
Harry the Horrible| 10.7.11 @ 10:26AM
I always thought we missed a hell of an opportunity by dispossessing the Cherokees. There should be a state, consisting of parts of what is now Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina called "Echota" or something like that.
Our nation would have profited greatly thereby.
USSAlabama| 10.7.11 @ 10:33AM
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/w....._3_trailer
Watch the whole thing.
Patriot| 10.7.11 @ 11:20AM
The Indian Removal Bill was Jackson's first priority once he came into office.
After Chief Justice John Warren ruled in 'Worcester v. Georgia' that "laid out in this opinion the relationship between the Indian nations and the United States is that of nations. "
Jackson purportedly told John Ridge "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!"
Whether he said that or not, he did tell the State of Georgia "Light a fire under them!" Openly defying the Supreme Court and becoming the only President to do so.
It is hard to buy the line that he is the Tea Party President.
J.C.Eaton| 10.7.11 @ 11:36AM
John Marshall, the lad's name was MARSHALL
Patriot| 10.7.11 @ 12:33PM
My apologies to all, and thanks to JC Eaton.
cgvet| 10.7.11 @ 10:27PM
what makes jackson the tea party president is not, the removal act(which was going to happen one way or the other),nor the specie mistake, it was the fact that he was the only president in history to pay off ALL federal debt. he also instituted a real "pay as you go" policy.
dAlton| 10.8.11 @ 9:22AM
Yes, but he did this by appropriating other people's land. Land is the ultimate gold standard. What you are basically saying is that he solved the nation's debt problem by a massive re-allocation of wealth from one people to another. The people who had it to the people who didn't. What you are saying, in essence, is kill and disposses the rich and give their land and property to the poor. Not saying I'm against this plan, but you seem not to realize it is what you advocate...
Die Fledermaus| 10.10.11 @ 7:26PM
Let's give them the Great Smokey Mtns and call it even.
They'll have a five lane road going from a casino near Gatlinburg to the casino they own in Cherokee, NC at the other end of the park in no time.
WRTolkas| 10.7.11 @ 8:56AM
Dear Brian Mc,
I search for any information on Simon Kenton I can lay my hands on. Where did you read, source material, of Simon Kenton "mopping the floor" with Andrew Jackson? That had to been one heck of a fight I would have payed to watch.
Have a safe weekend.
Brian Mc| 10.7.11 @ 9:01AM
A fantastic narrative on the life of Simon and myriads of others including Blue Jacket, Tecumsah, Mad Anthony Wayne, Daniel Boone and Governor Harrison (later president) not to mention many more can be found in the well researched "The Frontiersmen" by Allan W. Eckert. I have the book in front of me: published by Jesse Stuart Foundation. Hope this helps and I am enjoying it more the second time through...!
Brian Mc| 10.7.11 @ 9:02AM
The documentation of Jackson's age and alien status issues is eye-opening, by the way.
David T| 10.7.11 @ 11:57AM
Be careful. Eckert has been accused of making up his own "facts."
irish19| 10.7.11 @ 1:39PM
I have most of the Eckert books, but haven't looked at them in a number of years. I can see I'll have to check them again.
Brian Mc| 10.7.11 @ 3:12PM
"It should be borne in mind, then, that where dialogue takes place in theis book, it is actual quoted conversation from another source, or dialogue constructed in the manner above described, or-in a few scattered instances-historical fact utilized in the form of conversation to maintain the dramatic narrative pace. In no case has there been any "whole-cloth" fabrication or fanciful fictionalization.
Equally, every incident described in this book actually occurred; every date is historically accurate; and every character, regardless of how major or how minor, actually lived the role in which he is portrayed."
Allan W. Eckert
Dayton, Ohio
November, 1966
I would not want to be the person to chase down Eckert's resources for verification since they appear to be quite extensive: all, in order to disprove...what?
Quartermaster| 10.7.11 @ 6:20PM
I have enjoyed Eckart's books that I have read and all the historical facts he references that I have taken the time to check have checked out.
"The Frontiersman" is one of the best of the series. I loved when Kenton thrashed Jackson. Jackson was a slug who placed a very large black mark on his reputation when he ordered the removal of his main ally at Horse Shoe Bend.
Given Jackson's hatred of big government, it is ironic that the Dimocrats claim the man as one of them when he would cheerfully hang the lot of them before breakfast without breaking a sweat or show a lick of concern for them.
martin j smith| 10.7.11 @ 8:44AM
Last I heard Andrew Jackson is not running for President--even worse, he died. So right now we need a leader who is alive and capable of directly challenging the Socialists model. Who could that person be.
Of course the first principle is to win and defeat not only Obama but the Socialists in general. Of the Candidates running now here is how I would stack them up as far as being a Pro-American People person:
Rule out R
on Paul and John Huntsman
I am very ambivalent about Romney and Perry and
Gingrich.
That leaves Bachman, Santorum and Cain. I think the one of these three who can demonstrate real leadership DURING THE CAMPAIGN is the one. So far, Cain.
But: I am supporting no one yet. Maybe by the end of this year maybe not.
Clint| 10.7.11 @ 9:17AM
"In his 1832 presidential campaign, opposition to the bank was one of the main planks in his platform. He ran under the slogan "Jackson and no bank" and he received an enormous amount of support from the general population."
The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.
John| 10.7.11 @ 9:45AM
While an excellent article about Jackson, it has two serious omissions. The first is that after vetoing the B.U.S. recharter and then removing Federal funds from it, Jackson was disobeying Federal law. This encouraged the "nullifiers" in his own party, which helped precipitate the Nullification Crisis. The second is that when the Federal funds were dispersed to the State Banks, it led to drastic inflation of State Bank notes which led Jackson to issuing the Specie Circular demanding only specie be accepted for Federal land sales....in essence stating that State bank notes were worthless. The Panic of 1836 was the result. Since inflation benefits debtors more than creditors, the Democrats have supported inflationary monetary policies ever since. (possible exception being Grover Cleveland).
Clint| 10.7.11 @ 10:21AM
“I’ll have plans for hearings to find out how much information we can get. Obviously it is very popular with the American people to audit the Fed, to know what they are doing.” Dr. Ron Paul said.
“They can spend trillions of dollars and we don’t know where it goes. They have a bigger budget, they spend more money than the Congress does, and yet we have no oversight. It was never intended that a secret body like this could create money out of thin air and spend it, take care of some banks and big business and foreign banks while the American people struggle.” the Congressman added."
The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.
Quartermaster| 10.7.11 @ 6:27PM
Like it or not, the Fed is not insulated from the winds of politics. Greenspan and Bernanke are both politicians, and the confirmation process insures they are politicians.
Bernanke is under great political pressure to try to keep the country's nose above water. Rottsa Ruck. The country was screwed during the "New Deal" and Johnson's "Great Society." It's like trying to stop a supertanker a mile from a collision. It ain't gonna happen.
Not one of the presidential candidates will bale to solve any problems, or be able to "defeat" socialism in this country. FDR, LBJ, and the rest of the Dimocrats have made sure it resides in the bones of the electorate. They've been bought off and will punish any politician that seriously tried to stop the gravy train. It matters not that the universe will stop the gravy train, and then force it down the collective throat in the most painful way possible.
martin j smith| 10.7.11 @ 9:48AM
Just a thought, there was a post on AT recetly about how Conservatives can "give us a RINO" basically by splitting the Conservative vote. Too many. Just an idea--in order to have a vaible Conservative, at some point --I do not know when__those who do not want another RINO pick one candidate who we beleive is the right one.
Damian| 10.7.11 @ 10:36AM
Racist, liar, and defiant of the Supreme Court. Should no longer be on US currency.
MM| 10.7.11 @ 11:25AM
Hear! Hear!
Al Adab| 10.7.11 @ 3:20PM
Replace him with Goldwater, a prophet in his time.
albert constantine jr| 10.7.11 @ 11:04AM
While my initial thoughts while reading this article were on the Cherokee matters, I see other readers have commented extensively on that. Instead, I think it bears mention that in large part, the Tea Party seems to abhor an overbearing Federal Government. Regardless of whether the action was right or wrong, his threat to hang the first South Carolinian in defiance of his tariff position tends to support the notion that Mr. Jackson's suitability as a Tea Party predecessor/ role model is (as John Kerry might say) somewhat more nuanced than the author posits. That being said, I am grateful for Mr. Jackson's service in the War of 1812, and I much prefer him to his British counterpart Packingham. Perhaps the author should research another piece comparing Mr. Jackson to a more contemporary figure such as Wesley Clark (except with electoral success).
Jeff Fiddler| 10.7.11 @ 11:45AM
Interesting. First time I've read anything about Jackson written since 1950 that doesn't mention that he was one of the largest slaveholders in the south when he died, that he freed none of his slaves, that he threw the Cherokees out telling the Supreme Court "they made the law, now let them enforce it"(I see others have noticed this) and while he opposed the National Road it was largely because he hated Clay. It is really a mixed message. But as the guy says, Jackson has been dead for a long long time. And that ass, Ben Stein in the leader says: go out and get a job without asking the folks: have you been looking for a job? I don't know a single unemployed person who hasn't been breaking his or her ass looking for a job. Millions of unemployed and we add 103,000 jobs. Wow.
Roy| 10.8.11 @ 2:06PM
How about "have you been looking for a job without insisting on a higher salary than your skills are actually worth?"
Or "Did you vote for Obamacare and other endless governmo-union babble that inflates the cost of employment?"
Nanook| 10.7.11 @ 11:48AM
You have to be kidding! TP President - not!
somnolence| 10.7.11 @ 12:08PM
Sorry, Old Hickory, I favor my conservative President being in the style of Harding and Coolidge. For conservative consistency those to have not been exceeded yet. Sorry, Gipper.
somnolence| 10.7.11 @ 12:13PM
I'll tell Ben Stein(who I used to respect) that I don't have as much money as him, but I've saved enough to where I'm in six figures(enough for MY lifestyle), have been unemployed for two years, and haven't collected one dime of unemployment or Obamster goodies. I have enough to sustain myself and my wife, and as a result, haven't been burning gas or tires looking for just any job. So I don't really care who gives me a dirty look. Just got finished painting my porch the hard way, with a brush. I don't see too many of that riffraff on Wall Street busting their hump doing that, so yeah, I'm content.
Al Adab| 10.7.11 @ 12:14PM
Be careful of idealizing Jackson too much. This is the man who gave us "reward your friends and punish your enemies" after all. He just didn't have giant corporations funding his campaigns. I wonder how history might have been if Biddle and The Bank helped finance Jackson.
Nassau Nell| 10.7.11 @ 12:18PM
The author did not mention that Jackson's economic policies also caused the Panic of 1837 and resulting economic hardship for all Americans. It crippled the national economy for a decade and doomed his loyal successor Martin Van Buren to one term infamy.
A future President and fellow Democrat, James K. Polk--called " Young Hickory" because of his political and personal friendship to AJax, showed his imperialistic, non- Hickory attitude by starting the Mexican -American war that claimed Texas and California. He also served only one term.
These two Jackson endorsed future Presidents are not mentioned, because they would undermine the author's thesis, I believe.
I won't even talk about Jackson'e " ethnic cleansing" of the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears.
Clearly the author cherry-picks history to make his point, but what point is that ? That Andrew Jackson loving Democrats can also be tea party members ? Much ado about very little.
W.T. Foxtrot| 10.7.11 @ 12:19PM
My favorite Andrew Jackson story:
On January 30, 1835, Richard Lawrence, an English immigrant and unemployed house painter tried to assassinate Jackson.
Lawrence pulled his pistols and aimed them at Jackson, but BOTH pistols misfired!
Jackson got up, charged at Lawrence, and proceeded to beat him senseless with his cane. In fact, Jackson beat Lawrence so bad that Jackson's bodyguards had to pull HIM off of Lawrence!
Jackson may have been the last good Democrat president.
somnolence| 10.7.11 @ 12:26PM
You had better hire a good proofreader. You gave the year 1932 instead of 1832 in the above story.
somnolence| 10.7.11 @ 12:29PM
Myself included. Should have said "two" instead of "to" in one of my above comments.
MM| 10.7.11 @ 12:42PM
I made a huge one up top - recognized Justice MARSHALL in the photo of the author of the article and wrote Warren - having been influenced by Patriot - who made the same mistake.
Maybe the article has jinxed us with unintentional mistakes.
fundamentalist| 10.7.11 @ 12:51PM
Jackson is a disgusting choice. He broke the law by ignoring the Supreme Court decision that he could not remove the tribes from East of the Mississippi and transplant them in Oklahoma.
Then he stole the land of most tribes in the East and murdered tens of thousands of them by forcing them to march to Oklahoma territory in the winter.
Jackson was a law breaker, a thief and murderer. Excellent choice!
Dean | 10.7.11 @ 1:18PM
One of Jackson's last official acts in 1837 was signing the bill that made Michigan the 26th state in the Union. He is remembered with a city and county named after him, and the "Cabinet counties" named for members of his administration: Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Eaton, Ingham, Livingston, and Van Buren.
martin j smith| 10.7.11 @ 1:52PM
OK Andrew Jackson--Bring him back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael| 10.7.11 @ 6:55PM
Andrew Jackson, once I could consider him a great president. Now, he is only the president of the Trail of Tears. It's time to replace him on the $20 with Reagan.
Wayne| 10.7.11 @ 6:56PM
Andrew Jackson was a populist in the mode of Saul Alinsky and Barrack Obama. He stirred up the mob, much like the unions did in Madison. He killed Indians, stole their land, and bought slaves to farm it. He broke all agreements with Indian tribes and sent them packing to die on the Trail of Tears.
Yeah, just what we need as President.
no hussein 2012| 10.7.11 @ 7:59PM
Screw chief knife is dull.
POST American| 10.7.11 @ 11:14PM
-------------------------AGAIN---------------------------
Deeply repentant, 11th hour convert
from elite Luciferian, 'bennie violent',
'Doctine of Works' Freemasonry,
and baptized Calvinist Christian
----George Washington may yet
prove to be the Father of our country.
Baptist--------------'WASHING ---TON'
Seems God Almighty loves word play too----
As ever, CLEAN OUT your churches or leave them.
------------And then ---KEEP A GOIN'
dadfly| 10.8.11 @ 3:22AM
fantastic post. thank you for the education. biddle is the perfect avatar for the romneys, boehners and mcconnells of the ruling republican elite. though the tea party earned them a golden opportunity for redemption, recent events prove them to be feckless and incapable.
the good news is that our tea party is finding and promoting conservatives with some of the best characteristics described above. but will today's america take to them? certainly, the republican elite has been doing everything it can to subvert or destroy them and us.
this dire situation is once again in the hands of God. we await His judgement. if it is His will. our enemies will fail no matter how powerful or enriched.
as a group, we know the "tea party" americans of the 1820's and 30's were sound and still imbued with firsthand knowledge of the revolution, the reasons for it and the government designed from the experience of it. jackson was a veteran (didn't know that) of the same. how sound are we now as compared to then? we've had 100 years of statist indoctrination. i confess i have my doubts.
still, what choice do we have but to fight on. as a small collective guided by our founding principles and then if necessary as the god-fearing individualists we are at heart.
Dave| 10.8.11 @ 3:42AM
Andy "By God" Jackson was the one who ordered federal troops to force civilized Cherokees out of their homes and into concentration camps before forcing them onto the "Trail of Tears" death march in which as many as 4000 died a terrible death of freezing and disease and starvation. The troops sat comfortably by and watched them die. Andrew Jackson is a disgrace.
Dave| 10.8.11 @ 3:58AM
Continued from above:
Jackson did that because gold had been discovered on Cherokee land in Northwest Georgia. The Cherokees (men, women, and children. Elderly and infirm) were forced at gunpoint out of their finished homes (which were the equal if not better than many whites homes) into concentration camps before forcing them onto the death march. The homes and farms had been improved and built on over the years and were the envy of many whites. The gold discovery was all it took for American "justice" and "equality" to rear it's ugly head. Those homes and farms and all furnishings and implements were given by lottery to whites eager to inherit those treasures that were ready to be moved into. All they probably had to do was wash the bedding and towels and such.
USSAlabama| 10.8.11 @ 10:18AM
A couple of tweaks to focus the lens of the truth --
Those who refused to leave were killed, murdered right in their home by Federal Troops.
Those submitting to the Federal Troops(!) were herded into *cattle stockades*. A concentration camp would have been a damn sight more humane.
They were kept in those pens, sleeping on the ground, exposed to the elements until fall and winter. It would be one of the hardest winters in history with the Mississippi river being frozen and un-crossable.
The groups of people walking went unbroken for miles. There were heavy snows and no proper attire, many were barefoot - it was said that hearing thousands of voices singing in unison
"Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
Pilgrim that I am in this barren land
I am weak, but You are mighty"
sounded like a heavenly chorus because you could hear it approaching and getting louder and louder.
You wrote a good assessment Dave.
roadmaster| 10.8.11 @ 8:35AM
I was aware of most of the history re-counted in this article, but like most here, my opinion of Jackson is soured by his brutal and ruthless Indian Removal Act. Jackson also practiced his own brand of political corruption, benefiting those he favored (Davy Crockett for Congress) and detrimental to whoever opposed him. He was a man of his times but calling him the Tea Party President is almost as big a reach as equating the TEAT Party (Wall Street demonstrators) with us. That being said, had I lived 180 years ago, I probably would have voted for him, twice.
ImissBuckley31| 10.8.11 @ 8:51AM
Andrew Jackson, seriously? What about Calvin Coolidge, certainly he's a better representative of who conservatives should emulate then a dead 19th century Democrat who's attachment to individual rights, federalism, and strict construction of the constitution was tenuous. I mean hell, if you really want to use a Democrat then use Grover Cleveland not Jackson.
DEConservative(EvanQ) | 10.8.11 @ 10:37AM
You couldn't be MORE right Buckley...this guy has no idea what he's talking about...Come on Spectator...I have more respect for you than this.
Reva| 10.8.11 @ 9:15AM
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Roy Nichols| 10.8.11 @ 9:52AM
A pretty simplistic, bone-headed, myopic view.
1. Jackson was a virulent racist. Does the Tea Party really want to be associated with his legacy?
2. Jackson was a petty partisan who demonized those who dissented from his policies - much like Clinton & Obama.
3. Jackson's understanding of economics was, like Obama's less than elementary. His economic policies, especially relating to the Bank of the United States, produced the Panic of 1837 and the depression that followed, making his hand-picked successor a one-term President, and forever tarnishing Jackson's legacy.
4. HIs policies on Indian removal, and on slavery, were inhumane and left a terrible legacy.
5. He was paranoid about all opposition.
6. He was the first Presidential practitioner of the politics of personal destruction.
7. He had terrible judgment in personnel matters.
Need I go on?
Taxpayer| 10.8.11 @ 9:42PM
Judging history by modern standards is illogical. No, that doesn't erase Jackson's foibles and faults, but to damn him for being a man of his own time is ridiculous.
Wayne| 10.9.11 @ 8:46AM
He was a demon in his own time. He is part and parcel of the Democratic Party. He started the thugish behavior of partisans and started the politics of mob rule.
Jon Burack| 10.8.11 @ 10:19AM
The Republican Party's first great leader was Abraham Lincoln, a former Henry Clay Whig who despised both Jefferson and Jackson for the slave-owning aristocrats they were. Lincoln knew in his bones the phoniness of their agrarian yeoman fiction, having grown up in and run away as fast as he could from exactly that "idylic" life. He understood, as this writer does not, the difference between federal policies that promote a true national-in-scope capitalism and those that do not. It is pathetic that conservatives cannot keep this distinction in mind in countering the entitlement state we have now. Freddie and Fannie have no relationship whatsoever to the Second Bank of the U.S. and despite that bank's flaws, it was a mistake to kill it. Then, as someone else here has pointed out, there was Jackson's vile hatred of the Indian, which he had the audacity to disguise as paternalistic concern. He wanted them out of the way not to make room for homesteaders but to make roon for slave drivers. The destruction of one despised group of humans to make room for the subjugation of another despised group of humans. And you want us to make him our hero?
DEConservative(EvanQ) | 10.8.11 @ 10:31AM
I call BS here...Andrew Jackson was a leader in the Manifest Destiny movement that litterally rounded up American Indians and pushed them further and further west until there was no where else to push them. He used deceptive practices and FORCE to take land that had previously been more fairly traded via treaties. He was a Progressive radical and the inspiration of the progressive Democrat Party which was started by his VP Martin VanBuren.
He was also a slaveholder and a RADICAL racist. He was a social nightmare and a drunken imperialist. I'm sorry but you can call Andrew Jackson a LOT of things...but he was NOT someone the TEA Party would have supported. He was the Woodrow Wilson/FDR/Teddy Roosevelt of his day...a disgusting person who tried to use "Divine Providence" to support his conquest of Manifest Destiny. You could not be MORE wrong in your assessment.
USSAlabama| 10.8.11 @ 10:45AM
Hear! Hear!
Clint| 10.8.11 @ 1:31PM
"Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, has proposed HR459, the "Audit the Fed" bill, to find out exactly what's going on in this powerful institution. "The Fed spends as much money as does Congress," said Rachel Mills, Rep. Paul's communications director. "Yet there is no oversight or accountability over the terms on which they give loans. This has a huge impact, in particular on the cost of living. In the interest of transparency, the American people have a right to know what's going on."
Among the loans given out by the Fed: $165 billion to the United Bank of Switzerland (UBS); $97 billion to the Deutsche Bank in Germany; $33 billion to Dexia SA Bank, based in Paris and Brussels; and $198 billion to the Bank of China. The Arab Banking Corp. got $5 billion in loans at a time when it was 29 percent owned by the government of Libya, headed by Moammar Gadhafi, whom the United States now is attacking."
The Tea Party Rebellion Is Here.
Tom| 10.8.11 @ 11:59AM
The comments preferring Coolidge ring true.
And the comments dismissing Jackson because of what he did to the Cherokees has merit ... to a point.
The article lauds Jackson's fidelity to our founding Constitutional principles, not every action he took.
While it is fair to point out the "bad" things he did in the early 1800's, I'd be more inclined to give his critics entire dismissal of his record in its entirety if they similarly dismissed the entirety of FDR's record because he imprisoned American citizens of Japanese descent or the entirety of JFK's record because (via Chicago) stole the 1960 election.
A final note, this piece is illuminating just how far the Democrat Party has devolved from a legitimate American political party into a force for anti-American collectivism / progressivism.
Sid Vicious| 10.8.11 @ 12:34PM
To appreciate just how far the Democratic Party has strayed from its roots, consider: Do its local organizations even hold Jefferson-Jackson Day find-raising dinners anymore, or are these prosaic events just too "bitter clinger" for them now?
writeblock| 10.8.11 @ 12:36PM
Given this scenario, I'm astonished that the one man who could have achieved what Jackson achieved has not been able to find traction in his own party--Rudy Giuliani. He is the only potential candidate with the necessary temperament and reformist resume capable of smashing special interests.
hinckleybuzzard| 10.8.11 @ 12:49PM
Excellent. Someone should airdrop copies to the "Occupy Wall Street " ignoramuses. Let them know that if they are sincere (a few might be) , they are just trying to reinvent the wheel and should join the TeaParty instead.
Steve| 10.8.11 @ 2:33PM
Andrew Jackson, a mass murderer, perpetrator of genocide against the indigenous peoples of North America, is a fitting role model for an organization like the Tea Party, fascist and hateful to the core.
Sid Vicious| 10.8.11 @ 3:39PM
And the proof of your assertions about the Tea Party is... what, exactly?
I thought so: You don't have any, do you? Socialists never do.
Jaq| 10.8.11 @ 2:50PM
Jackson was a man of his era and must be judged by the standards of his day and not our own. Having said that, I'm content to let him abide a while in Hell for what he did to my Cherokee ancestors.
Clint| 10.8.11 @ 2:56PM
Andrew Jackson Was A Democrat.
pii| 10.8.11 @ 4:25PM
It is incumbent upon a Cherokee to remind the author about Jackson's underhanded betrayal of the very Cherokees (like Major Ridge) who helped him win at Horseshoe Bend, and how after our Cherokee Tribe won a victory in the US Supreme Court, Jackson refused to enforce the law. Another minor point about "encroachment," Georgia colonists constantly encroached on Cherokee land without fear, for their State legislature gave them the right to do so without legal reprisal. (Do you actually wonder why there were killings?)
If indeed Andrew Jackson represents all the principles of the "Tea Party" - it's a sad day for me.
Thank you for the opportunity to add my perspective. I am a conservative because that's who I am, not because of men like Jackson who did not truly care about "all men."
Chief Halftown| 10.8.11 @ 5:59PM
"ees da sa sussaway,"
Tonto| 10.8.11 @ 6:15PM
" Me Like Kemo Sabe"
nohussein| 10.8.11 @ 6:15PM
time to put the minos back where they belong!
pii| 10.8.11 @ 7:14PM
I've unsubscribed from American Spectator newsletter - I'm sure you won't mind after promoting Andy Jackson as a tea party idealist...
USSAlabama| 10.8.11 @ 8:12PM
That would be a mistake pii.
I'm Cherokee too. Look at all of the comments.
Virtually no one upheld the view of the author. How many articles has he contributed to AS? 0.
Spectator is the best - Comments are actually read by more than just the people making them; and with (a) few exceptions, most of those who comment are not only educated enough to recognize disingenuous articles, but sophisticated enough to say so. Erudite enough to call attention to further points not mentioned.
You won't find that anywhere else. The author put out his own POV - something we are all entitled to - American Spectator did not say it is their view.
The Bruce| 10.9.11 @ 12:16AM
The author wrote:
"Jackson sustained his veto in Congress and went on to a resounding reelection victory in November 1932."
This an obvious typo that needs to be corrected to "1832."
D Roamer | 10.9.11 @ 12:57AM
President Jackson,
The only good Democrat, from then on, every thing went "down hill" , so to speak.
shaysite| 10.9.11 @ 2:30AM
Jackson broke up the Bank of the United States and decentralized financial power to the states but at what cost? Many historians suggest that his abrupt transformation of the financial system was reckless and that it lead to the Panic of 1837. Here too, Mr. Merry should identify Jackson as an analog to the Tea Party.
WM| 10.9.11 @ 12:16PM
Funny how it used to be known as the Panic of 1836, but certain agendas over the past 30 years have made sure it is known as the Panic of 1837. Hmmm.
POST American| 10.9.11 @ 3:55AM
-----------------BOTTOMLESS LINE------------------
----AS Gov Brown of California signs
the 'Dream Act'
-------and AS we get the first murmurings
that the 2012 election may be 'delayed'
as we pass through a 'crucial period'
--------------------------YES!----------------------------
---------TREASON and EUGENICS
------------are something to be 'worried about'.
----------HUAC meets NUREMBERG 2012----------
WM| 10.9.11 @ 12:15PM
Nice try, but Andrew Jackson had definite statist tendencies. For one thing, Tea Partiers do not support legal tender laws (his Specie Circular Act caused the Panic of 1836).
Thom| 10.9.11 @ 3:43PM
One thing that Jackson did that is still with us today was to take American Politics into the gutter in order to win no matter what. That was his style throughout. The Modern Day Democrat Party has taken it further into the sewer but Jackson set the example that stood until the Marxist took over the Party. All men are flawed creatures and if there is an American President that didn’t have flaws and make mistakes I’d like to hear about them. Ignoring Jackson’s flaws, tendencies sometimes brutal tactics has all the same pitfalls as ignoring Lincoln’s flaws, tendencies and willingness to bend the law through “might makes right”.
batman| 10.9.11 @ 5:16PM
why did you guys delete Standoff in D.C.
Patrick Howley
nohussein| 10.9.11 @ 8:32PM
Good thread but howley's was better.
Mike| 10.9.11 @ 9:28PM
I must confess that I have not read this article.
I could barely get past the title. But implying that the Tea Party is principled, fearless and astute made me RFLMAO.
Fearless, maybe. The Tea Party seemed willing to go to default without a clue about what would result. I call that stupidity, but if the Tea Party Traitors want to call it fearless that is their prerogative.
Old Soldier| 10.10.11 @ 8:30AM
Mike,
It appears you have never read anything except left-wing propaganda.
Gökaysan | 10.10.11 @ 2:38AM
Thanks. He is part and parcel of the Democratic Party. He started the thugish behavior of partisans and started the politics of mob rule.
b bayliss| 10.10.11 @ 11:29AM
Why do you rugged individualists use language like mob rule and thug? It seems name calling and all the various "isms"play a large role in your discourse. There are so many knees jerking here that it looks like a barn dance. How about a little independent thought?
Pio Goco| 10.10.11 @ 12:29PM
The real source of a nation's greatness is the PEOPLE. PEOPLE POWER! If people in power and leadership can think less of their own ambitions, delegate their executive powers and effect policies to tap into and inspire the people to do creative and entrepreneurial pursuits (build economic engines) for their own sense of fulfillment and reward... and as they prosper as citizens, participate in the duties and obligations of providing for their family in dignity, the payment of appropriate taxes, participation in local community development and the giving of charitable contributions to the feeder of souls, the sick and needy, they then take part in NATION building, a BAYANIHAN culture which are the integral pieces of a "Renaissance". The might and the riches of a nation lies within the soul of a PEOPLE. The people of a nation have a "powerful" and natural inclination to love their country as Patriots even if they are abused by it's government. If a people's government can only understand that and "LOVE" them back by tapping into their potential to do the work of nation building, they will give their lives, their hearts and hopes for it... die and live for it for the opportunity to "participate" in a heroic calling.. So to government(s), inspire your people by enacting liberating policies for people to produce for themselves, to carry the burdens and responsibilities of nation building one family at a time, enacting laws and policies that encourage their creative souls so they can act, move, build... Have faith in the potential of the people, the individual and move to empower them to pursue their own happiness freely then watch as everyone takes part and see the country change not for the better but for the best! And as US President Andrew Jackson once said, "If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, [government] would be an unqualified blessing." FREE that CAPITAL that's within each soul and prosper!
senor| 10.10.11 @ 3:11PM
This article is almost as bad as Merry's book on James K. Polk. Andrew Jackson made one major contribution to American life: he institutionalized white supremacy for 130 years. Even Arthur Schlesinger had to apologize for him.
Nassau Nell| 10.13.11 @ 12:14PM
I also read Merry's book and was embarassed by it.
Robert Speirs| 10.10.11 @ 4:29PM
I cannot believe all the attacks on President Jackson, a true patriot and victor over both the British and the savages who themselves owned slaves and killed at random. Now that I think of it, I can believe such attacks. They epitomize the sad decay of this country. What a treasonous lily-livered echo chamber this is!
Mike C| 10.10.11 @ 5:05PM
It amazes me how some folks assume automatic moral superiority over everyone that was born 200 years ago (what stalwarts!)
Anyway, all that misses the important element of this article, ie the fundemental debate between a strong, centralized gov, favored by Hamilton and the Federalists or a diffuse power structure spread out over the many levels of fed., state, and local government, favored by Jefferson and what were originally the Democrat-Republicans.
Jackson does represent the people of "fly-over" country in that sense and so the article is apt. BTW, politics has always been, and will always be, a filthy profession that pays handsomely. Really, its like people on this board have never read Machiavelli.
Stuart Koehl| 10.10.11 @ 4:51PM
He was also a psychopathic, homicidal lunatic with a thin skin, a petty, vindictive tyrant, an economic ignoramus and a megalomaniac (i.e., he was Scotch-Irish to the core).
People as diverse as Martin van Buren and David Crockett loathed the man, and even his former friends, like Sam Houston, found him repugnant. I doubt most of the Tea Party people would even invite a thug like Jackson into their homes, let alone endorse him for President.
pete| 10.10.11 @ 10:03PM
Andrew Jackson also endeavored to commit genocide of the American Indian. I know, it is a minor counterpoint of little significance. He defied the Supreme Court when he made the Cherokee leave their land. I am not surprised that this magazine, blog, would embrace him as a true American.
Mender| 10.12.11 @ 12:15AM
So Jackson 'knew the real source of America's greatness'. I'm guessing from his policies you mean racism and slave labour?
POST American| 10.12.11 @ 12:26AM
----------------------FINAL WORD----------------------
"That's the trouble with the past
---it isn't even past."
-WILLIAM FAULKNER
(novelist)
And hence ----from Moses ----from Babylon
----from Christ ----from Rome ----from Venice
---from Frankfuhrt -----from the City of London
-----to Petrograd 1918 ----------to the
ILLEGAL, PRIVATE, unaccountable,
FOREIGN owned, 'Federal' Reserve --
--------USURY, and most certainly
INTER-national USURY is, by nature, TREASONOUS
----------USURY begets the
psychopathic monetarization of ALLLLL that is
-------In short, EUGENICS, and ALWAYS,
ALWAYS, ALWAYS leading to GENOCIDE
under whatever label it hides itself behind
(THINK 'SO-shall-ALL' ist management
to 'Smart Planning' 'Smart Future')
---------USURY remains what it essentially is-------
--------------------ABOMINATION---------------------
There you have it --------in a nutshell.
--------------------------AMEN---------------------------
Dion| 1.11.12 @ 12:41AM
As a part Native American, there is no way I would ever give this Native Hater any kind of compliment!