Andrew Jackson

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A nation in denial.
Someone didn't shoot a political enemy today.
Gazing at Jackson with modern eyes reveals him as a perfect model for the modern reactionary, combining a Ron Paul–esque hatred of central banking, a Scalia-esque strict constructionism, a Sarah Palin–esque hatred for intellectuals, and a George W. Bush–esque love of military brio.
—Jonathan Chait[1]

Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States, and the first from the Democratic Party. He was responsible for what today is known as ethnic cleansing of Native Americans, specifically the Cherokee in the Trail of Tears, ignoring land rights and Supreme Court decisions. He deeply embedded cronyism into the culture of Washington, D.C., overseeing the rise of the spoils system, which is one little logic-buster considering his rampant populism and appeals against "aristocracy." He not only kept slaves, but traded in them, and opposed their eventual emancipation, though he was willing to go to war with South Carolina over the nullification crisis.

Jackson opposed the federal bank, evicted poor farmers from their land; but owned fewer than 200 slaves.[2] To top it off, he shot a man in a duel when that man referred to him as a bigamist, which was technically true. The American government nonetheless saw fit to put his portrait on its $20 bill, apparently because he killed a bunch of British soldiers during the battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, among a few other things, and got elected. Putting him on the twenty is especially odd considering that Jackson opposed paper money.

On his first day in office, Jackson's supporters thoroughly trashed the White House, starting a tradition of sorts.[3]

On his last day in office, Jackson lamented that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." One hopes that he was joking, but he probably wasn't.[4]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/12/overdue-death-of-the-southern-democrats.html
  2. http://hauensteincenter.org/slaveholding/
  3. Jackson holds "open house" at the White House
  4. Calhoun was his own Vice President, who admittedly had a treasonous bent.
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