Andrew_Jackson

Andrew Jackson was the 7th president of the United States. He was elected President in the year 1828 and worked to advance his democratic party's agenda. He was nicknamed “Old Hickory” because he was as tough and rigid as a piece of wood. He accomplished a great deal of “firsts” as President. He was the first President to live in a log cabin, he was the first president to have an actual campaign, he was the first to have his vice-president resign(1), he was the first to marry a divorcee(2) and many other’s. Although he had some successes while in office, he made controversy with some of the decisions he made on important issues. On account of his self-serving actions as President of the United States, Andrew Jackson does not deserve to be recognized on United States currency. His abuse of veto power, his use of the "spoil system" and his desire to remove Native Americans from their lands demonstrates a President who was more concerned with satisfying his party’s needs, rather than those of the American people. Jackson used his veto power extensively to his advantage. He vetoed twelve bills in his term of office, more than all the previous presidents put together. Jackson was the first president to use the pocket veto. A pocket veto is a delaying tactic in which the president does not sign a bill within ten days of the Congressional term, preventing it from becoming law. (1) Of his twelve vetoes, five were regular vetoes while seven were pocket vetoes. He vetoed a bill that would let the federal government buy stock in the Mayville Turnpike Road Company so a road could be built through Kentucky, and also vetoed the Second Bank of the United States re-charter. (2) He also pocket vetoed a bill that would better the routing of the Wabash River in Indiana. (2) His abuse of veto power shows his selfish attitude and his refusal to negotiate within reason. Jackson’s strong use of veto power is one example of Jackson’s desire to further his own agenda. Jackson’s use of the spoils system is another example of his underhandedness. The spoils system is when a political party that wins an election rewards its active supporters by appointing them to government posts and other favors. (3) Previously used by Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson continued to use the spoils system to help out his personal friends and supporters. The spoils system opened government positions to many of Jackson’s followers. For example, he dismissed five out of eight kitchen cabinet members in the middle of his first term. Although this practice was not new or used only by Andrew Jackson, it showed his desire to further his own and his party’s agenda by appointing only the people he wanted to be in power. It is interesting that Andrew Jackson once stated that “It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes”, because his statement shows that he is a hypocrite. Another example of Jackson’s poor leadership is when he passed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the federal government the power to relocate any Native Americans in the east to territory that was west of the Mississippi River. (3.) Though the Native Americans were to be compensated, this was not always done fairly and in some cases led to the further destruction of many of the poor eastern tribes. The main goal of this policy was to encourage Indians to voluntarily sell their land in exchange for new land, but this did not happen. His actions led to the “Trail of Tears” which was the forced relocation and movement of the Native population. Overall, Jackson was certainly not the worst United States President in history. He had some successes like his handling of the nullification crisis, and the federal debt. However, Jackson was more concerned with advancing his own causes instead of worrying about the rest of the country. Jackson was quoted as once saying “There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses.”  Jackson’s abuse of power in office goes with this quote in the abuse in government. 1-http://www.historystudycenter.com/search/displayReference 2- http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/andrew.htm 3- ttp://ncpedia.org/biography/jackson-andrew