America’s Misunderstood Presidents, Part Three: Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837

Image result for andrew jacksonRichard Stewart, B.A. Allegheny College, M.A. Wesleyan University. Faculty of Choate Rosemary Hall in CT, Teacher of U.S. and World History

Two classes: May 5 and 12 from 1:30 – 3:00

Andrew Jackson, our sixth president, is considered by most to be the most consequential president between Jefferson and Lincoln. In his time, he was lauded as “The Hero of the People” and champion of “the common man” in an age of expanding political democracy. He took bold action on a number of fronts—resulting  in titanic fights with Congress and the courts over the tariff, banking, internal improvements, and Indian policy. Encompassing all of these is Jackson’s effect on the presidency itself, through which the balance of power within the federal government was permanently altered expanding the power of the Executive Branch.