Though Andrew Jackson was once defeated by John Quincy Adams, he was still popular among the masses. He was a leader who believed that a country should be run by common citizens.
On the day Andrew Jackson took office, a newspaper wrote, “It was a proud day for the people. General Jackson is their own president.” Jackson won the election by a direct appeal to the mass of voters. His political movement is popularly known as Jacksonian Democracy.
Americans dearly accepted him as the direct representative of the common man and he was elected as the seventh president of the United States in 1829 for the first time. He was elected a second time too and remained in office till 1837.
Jackson was born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1767. Though his education was irregular, he managed to finish a law degree and went on to become an outstanding lawyer in Tennessee. He served as a major general during the War of 1812.
Unlike many of the previous presidents, Jackson did not defer to Congress in policy-making. But he used his power of the veto and his party leadership to assume command. Some of his followers thought he was too powerful and many called him ‘King Andrew’.
Jackson is widely regarded as the maker of the modern presidency. It is ironic that Jackson once said, ‘I know what I am fit for. I can command a body of men in a rough way; but I am not fit to be president.’
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