Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson, more nearly compared to his predecessors, was elected the president by the popular vote. He sought to act as a good and direct representative of the common people.
Jackson was born in 1767 in the backwoods of Carolina and received the sporadic education. However, in late teenage, Jackson studied law for a period of two years becoming one of the best and outstanding young lawyers in Tennessee. He was competent and even engaged in brawls, killed a man in a duel who unjustifiably cast a slur on Rachel his wife. The President was jealous of his honor.
During his term as the president, he successfully built a mansion and prospered to buy slaves. His mansion was built in Hermitage, near Nashville. He was elected to the House of Representatives and was the first man to be elected to the house from Tennessee. In 1812, there was war and he was the major general that led his nation to success as he defeated the British at New Orleans.
In 1824, Jackson had political factions from the state. The factions rallied behind the president allowing him to win different state elections in 1828. His win enabled him to control the Federal Administration in Washington DC.
In his first address to congress, Jackson he highly recommended that the Electoral College should be eliminated. Additionally, he tried very hard to ensure that the Federal office holding was democratized. As he addressed the Congress, state machines were already building patronage and the senator of New York proclaimed openly that victors belong to the spoils.
President Andrew Jackson however took a milder view of the comments as office holders enjoyed their tenure. He also believed that all government duties could be simple and plain and as a result, there was need to rotate duties among all deserving applicants.
National politics continued to polarize around the president as two parties grew out of the Democratic Republicans and the Old Republican party supporting him. The National Republicans or Whigs on the other hand opposed President Andrew Jackson.
Whig leaders including Daniel Webster and Henry Clay proclaimed themselves as the defenders of their liberties against the president and his usurpation. Hostile opposition supporters including cartoonists portrayed the president as King Andrew I.
Despite many accusations towards the president, he did not defer congress like in the case of his predecessors. He was active in policy making and also used his position to veto and led his party to assume command. However, there was a great battle between parties over the 2nd Bank of the United States.
The Bank was a successful private corporation and when Jackson became hostile towards it, it took advantage of the fact that it was a government sponsored monopoly and used its power against the president.
Webster and Clay acted as attorneys for the bank and took advantage of the Bank’s power to fight for its recharter in the congress. Jackson charged the Bank and his views were favored and approved by the American electorate in 1832. He threatened to Hang Calhoun in South Carolina as it nullified high protective tariff.
In January 1832, senate rejected Martin Van Buren’s nomination as minister to England. Van Buren took over him when Jackson retired and later on died in 1845 in his home in Hermitage.
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Sources
http://www.thehermitage.com/
http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/andrew-jackson