Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson greatly revolutionized the role and power of the presidency by uniting the executive branch, altering the perceived face of the President, introducing personal power into the office, and controlled the presidency for a third of a century. Before him, the executive branch was a group divided, unsure of their function and their superiors. Before him, the President was identified with Congress, merely another part of the buearocracy. Before him, the office of President fulfilled only that which was specifically stated in the Constitution to be their duty. Before him, every four years there was a true battle for the fate of the highest government office in America. Andrew Jackson was born on 1767, in a log cabin. This later became a subject of pride for Americans who voted for him. He was orphaned at 14, his poor Scottish-Irish parents killed. He was a self-made man, becoming rich through farming and practicing law. In spite of his humble beginnings, he never was a champion for the common man, although people thought he was. It is necessary to know these things; that Jackson struggled against adversity from the beginning of his life, to understand "Old Hickory" and what effect he had on the presidency's role
When Jefferson was elected and became the President, he did exactly that. He became the President. He did what the Constitution said he could do and what precedent told him could do. When Jackson was elected and became the President, the President became Andrew Jackson. Throughout his term, he would apply his own personal will to his job as Chief Executive. It was Jackson who first claimed that the President had the right to veto a law just because he didn't agree with it, not because it went against his interpretation of the Constitution. He had a strong will, and a strong temper, and he brought it to bear on every problem that faced him. The Ancient Romans had a saying: "Consulis, hominis non esto." It meant "Be a consul, not a man." They intended this to mean tht someone in office should be the office, not himself. The key to Jackson's power was that he never obeyed this aphorism. Andrew Jackson was one of the most popular Presidents. When he was inaugurated, thousands of the people who elected him, the middle and lower class, thronged the streets of Washington. It had recently rained, and the milling throng quickly turned the streets to mud. In the White House, velvet chairs were imprinted with the muddy boot marks of men, a testimonial to the sort that partied there after the oath was administered. This popularity of the "Gineral" (as friends and companions of Jackson called him) completely changed how the President was seen. Before, the Hamiltonians and their fellow aristocrats (excepting, of course, the first President, who was elected because he was the only
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Approximate Word count = 1075
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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