American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

I am no fan of Andrew Jackson. I am also not a fan of Thomas Jefferson but Jefferson's opinion that Jackson was unqualified to be president is one that I could agree with, at least prior to reading this book. What I am is a fan of Jon Meacham and I was curious as to why somebody like Meacham would have written about a man like Jackson. Meacham is a Tennessee native but I have a hard time believing that this book was simply a function of favorite son loyalty. In order to satisfy my curiosity I decided to read the book.The book is limited to the 8 years Jackson spent in the White House but with some brief childhood and background material offered as well. Since Jackson's rise to the presidency is based almost exclusively on his military exploits at New Orleans during the War of 1812 whatever is worth knowing about Jackson occurred during the years of his presidency. Because of its limited scope, while biographical, this book it is not what many would consider a complete biography but I think that point is arguable in this case. What Meacham gives the reader is a view of Jackson's character and motivations. Whether you decide to like Jackson or not will probably depend upon what he did in his 8 years of power and why he did what he did. The three major events of Jackson's presidency were the Indian Removal, the Southern Nullification movement, and the destruction of the National Bank. Meacham deals thoroughly with all three of these events as well as the details of Jackson's White House family which is crucial to gaining an understanding of this man. Understanding Jackson is what the reader can acquire from reading this book and while you may not agree with what Jackson did understanding why he did it does seem to mitigate the action.Jackson seem to get universal criticism for the Indian Removal and its harshness. My reading of our relations with Native Americans has me concluding that if Jackson hadn't done it somebody else would have and it might have been worse. What is hard to accept are the conditions of the removal that resulted in about 25% of the participants dying along the way. Jackson could have provided for a more humane relocation but did not which, as Meacham notes, was contrary to the image of paternalism that Jackson relished and promoted both as to the Indians as well as the American people in general. Meacham seems hard pressed to understand how a man that considered himself a father figure and protector of the Indians could not only expel them but do so under such brutal and cruel conditions.Jackson's handling of the Nullification controversy clearly establishes him as a staunch defender of the Union more than 25 years before the Civil War. While he was believed to be an explosive and hotheaded person with no patience with opposition he exercised incredible wisdom and restraint and prevented the outbreak of violence at a time when our Union might not have been able to endure it. For this Jackson doesn't get enough credit. That he was able to exercise this manner of behavior is probably, in great part, due to the family that he surrounded himself with while in the White House. His wife died just after his election and he came to Washington while still in mourning. He and his wife Rachel had no children of their own so Jackson brought members of his wife's family to live with him in the White House. His 21 year old recently married niece Emily acted as his hostess while her husband, Andrew Jackson Donelson, was Jackson's personal secretary and would probably be considered his chief of staff in today's presidency. These young people along with their children and other family members provided a calming and anchoring effect on the president that he craved and valued. Meacham goes to some length to stress the importance of family to Jackson and how this concept dominated his political views and decisions. The family may also have reinforced . Jackson's domineering personality as he was the head of this family and criticism or opposition to his leadership was considered betrayal. All the members of this family understood this and catered to this man's every wish and desire in order to maintain harmony for all concerned.I am still not a fan of Jackson. I particularly do not like his belief that all three branches of government were entitled to form their own opinions of the meaning of the Constitution and to act accordingly. Such an opinion would have led to chaos and rendered the Supreme Court a meaningless advisory body at a time when its authority had already been established by John Marshall. It was interesting to learn, however, that Marshall became an admirer of Jackson's following the Nullification matter. I don't think this book will change many opinions but it may temper some. What this book will provide is an interesting treatment of a critical part of our history in the hands of an interesting and controversial president. Enjoy.

“The public will prevails over the whim of the powerful”On the eve of the historic election of Barack Hussein Obama in 2008, our first black American president, author Jon Meachem wrote American Lion about President Andrew Jackson; a must-read for any student of American history, politics and democracy in the context of today. “Old Hickory” was like that American hardwood, reaching for the sky with roots, branches, infestations, blight and fires. He symbolized our nation, still growing inward and outward; sometimes as an invasive species, at others in defense of being split, murdered or uprooted. America’s ever-changing social environment incubates progress in chambers and on the street.A ­small d democrat. General Jackson was the hero of the War of 1812, president for two terms, popularly elected for three. His lifespan was older than that of his infant nation; the transformative Democratic Party leader of the 19th Century. As a rough-hewn Southerner born and raised in South Carolina, a resident cotton-grower, slave-owning politician from Tennessee, Jackson first broke the iron grip of the Eastern Seaboard establishment elite, promoting democracy over a republic. Yet white male propertied Protestants controlled society. Hawaiian-born, Indonesian-bred, Chicago mulatto President Obama represents a whole new democratic equation.Preserving the unionDemocrat Jackson was an inspiration for Republican Abraham Lincoln three decades later, having out-maneuvered his secessionist home state where the firing of Ft. Sumter later took place starting the Civil War. Abolition of slavery had been postponed throughout the Revolution, ignored in the Constitution and allowed by Southerner Jackson. However, he was prepared to overrule state nullification of federal law by either legislation, negotiation, politics or force. He reduced tariff protection for fledgling northern manufacturers as a compromise. It took his being elected to reflect the people's choice.Executive strengthJackson served as an example of leadership for Republican Theodore Roosevelt and Democrats FDR and Harry Truman. Today, as in Jackson’s era, the democratic process once again challenges the establishment with the activism of a third of the electorate disenchanted with establishment politics and the status quo; a country divided by party, society, generation and class.“Let them enforce it!”Jackson was the Constitutional manifestation of the only nationally elected leader as opposed to locally and regionally elected Congress and appointed Supreme Court justices. He interpreted the Constitution in his own way as he felt was also the separate duty of the legislative and judicial branches. His denial to re-certify the National Bank and subsequent removal of federal assets as an independent political power applies to today’s society with Citizen’s United. Jackson was censured by Congress only later to have it expunged.Foreign policyGeneral Jackson implemented Manifest Destiny by America’s seizure of Florida, Indian treaty abrogation and removal, tension with Great Britain over Oregon Territory, Texas independence and the ensuing Mexican War. The repercussions of these actions carry on to this day with Indian reservations and gaming, Mexican-American immigration into former Mexican territory half its current size, and equal opportunity (Mexican-Americans fought and died in the Alamo).On his deathbed, Andrew Jackson expressed confidence that Americans black and white were destined for Heaven.

A fairly interesting look at the life & presidency of Jackson. It briefly overviews his life; however as the title implies it focuses on his time in the White House. Before reading this book I did not realize the impact of Jackson's presidency on the American political system. I like that the author does not ignore Jackson's faults.

This book is enjoyable but maybe a bit too much interest in the gossip around his later years .Would suggest you read it though, always difficult to assess someone from a perspective of today, especially about his rather awful attitude to American Native peoples.At least in Spanish America there was a viable opposition to these attitudes.

Quite boring. Thousands of quotes which slow down the text, but no analysis of the events, no synthetic view. The author spends more pages on the gossips of Washington political society and the fight between Mrs Eaton and Jackson's family than on the major issues of the presidency like the Indian Policy. If you want to know what really this President did of his eight years, read another book.

Average only, not as well told as I had expected given the subject

Well written but could probably do with a bit more background from outside the White House.

Andrew Jackson was one of the truly transformational presidents of the United States (up there with Washington, Lincoln, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Reagan). His life and times have been amply documented. Schlesinger's version should be required reading for any student of American history.This is a somewhat unusual biography. It does not attempt to replicate or surpass these earlier efforts but, instead, draws on masses of new material to paint a more intimate picture of Old Hickory and his entourage. His was a highly personalized presidency and the machinations of his extended official family were extraordinary. The most dramatic centred on the controversial Margaret Eaton, married (her second of three) to Jackson's secretary of war. Jackson would not tolerate criticism of the lady, even (or especially) from his closest confidants and advisors. At one point, the feuding led to the dismissal of the entire Cabinet.In focusing on the social drama around Jackson, the book gives relatively short shrift to Jackson's greatest and most controversial achievements---toppling Biddle and the Bank, suppressing, for the moment, the "nullificationists", etc. It makes for good reading and adds a dimension to the portrait but would not well serve as a stand alone reference to one of the great lives in American presidential history.