President JAckson Essay, Research Paper

Andrew Jackson was not born of wealth or prestige; however, he eventually ensconced himself in that position, mainly through military success. Jackson served his presidency, after John Quincy Adams, supporting the population that obtained a similar background. He supported the ?common man.? Andrew Jackson?s performance in office was strongly democratic, which completely opposed the prior presidencies, ?The Era of Goodfeeling.? Jackson?s presidency spurred polarized sects of the American population, which emitted two very different views of Andrew Jackson.

Jackson obtained the presidential position following ?The Era of Goodfeeling.? In this era, Presidents, such as Monroe, created a harmonious executive branch. Monroe made appointments to people from both the North and the South, both prosperous and poor. The executive branch had negated bias until the inauguration of Andrew Jackson. Jackson created a ?kitchen cabinet,? which placed extreme emphasis on democratic policies. Sectionalism was hard to avoid because Jackson and his ?kitchen cabinet? set decisions representing only half, the democratic half, of the nation.

By appointing his select cabinet, all of Jackson?s democratic ideals were upheld. One of Andrew Jackson?s goals was to remove the previous, somewhat ?archaic,? officeholders from their positions in order to enhance the vitality of the executive branch. He also increased the power of the executive branch and continued his democratic approaches by refraining to pay for internal improvements with money from the national government. For example, the Maysville Road request was denied because the road would only benefit a single state. The Democrats also abhorred the bank. Jackson fought Nicolas Biddle, the President of the Bank of the United States, while trying to transfer power away from the national bank and into the many state banks. Jackson was encouraged by the democratic ideal of ?state power? instilled by Jefferson. The actions made by Jackson were in representation of the Southern agrarian population, not equally reflecting all of the United States population.

The Whigs, the majority of New Englanders, despised Jackson and viewed him as a tyrant. He increased the power of the executive branch by unconstitutionally ignoring the legislative and judicial branches. Jackson would not enforce the verdict of the Worchester vs. Georgia case, stating, ?Marshall made his decision, let him enforce it!? Jackson threatened to lead troops into South Carolina, which was considering succession due to the imposed high tariff. Jackson also ?played favorites? while in office. He held certain likes, Van Buren, and dislikes, Calhoun. Jackson?s abrupt, and often harsh, dismiss of situations or people who did not appeal to him personally was viewed as insulting to the Whig party and created hating critics and a sectionalized nation.

Andrew Jackson?s biased decisions opposed the former ?Era of Goodfeeling.? His perseverance to obtain his personal goals, without considering the general public, led him to divide the population between those that supported him and those that denounced him. Thus, Jackson?s actions created the titles of ?The Great Democrat,? according to his supporters, and a tyrant, according to those that opposed him.