Matt+-+AJ+-+SP09

Andrew Jackson Born: March 15, 1767 Died: June 8, 1845 Party: Democrat Term: March 4, 1829-March 4, 1837 Vice President: First Term: John C Calhoun Second Term: Martin Van Buren

1. President Andrew Jackson was a very good president but sometimes his hard personality got in the way of what was truly good for the country as a whole. I give Jackson a B- because he was a very good president that wasn't afraid to step up to the plate in order to get things done. But, his grade is dropped down to a low B because a lot of times his narrow-mindedness caused him to overlook the peoples' opinions in order to do what he wanted to do. 2. President Jackson had many goals and ideas during his two terms as president. One of the most famous ones was the spoils ssystem which was the idea of rewarding party supporters with government jobs which Andrew did carry out very well. But, this idea did draw a lot of abuse from the opposition. Another goal of Jackson's was the idea of internal improvements even though he did veto a bill against the construction of a road in Kentucky because he knew that a road like that wouldn't benefit the whole country. He did however strongly support the idea of extending the National Road more to the western side of America. Another goal he made was getting rid of the national bank and putting more power in the state banks in order to take away power from the manufactuing east and help the common man. (Joe the Plumber lol) Finally, one of the goals of president Jackson was to lower the Tariff of Abominations put in by J. Q. Adams with a moderately lower tax which would later cause the nullification crisis by South Carolina. But all-in-all, the tariff did work very well. 3. The relationship between Jackson and Congress at the time wasn't very good for a few reasons. First, Jackson vetoed over a dozen bills that were passed by congress which means that Jackson didn't agree with congress a lot during his two terms. Also, Jackson did a lot to disobey advisements given by congress with things like try to attack South Carolina when they tried to seceed from the union. Even though some of these rough tough actions that Jackson took were for the better, most of them turned out bad or made Jackson look tough or narrow-minded in front of his people. 4. The action that had the most positive outcome was when Jackson passed the tariff of 1833. This had a very positive outcome for a few reasons. First, when South Carolina denied this bill by saying that it didn't work for them, Jackson responded to those threatening treason with much strength especially when he asked congress to pass a bill that could allow him to use armed forces in order to collect import duties. This was a very positive action in that it was like that of Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion which showed that the government has the guts to deal with problems of individual uprisings of the citizens. It was very positive in that a new tariff was passed which was better than the Tariff of Abominations from J.Q. Adams. The worst action that Jackson commited was without a doubt choking of the National Bank and the Specie Circular. These were both very bad for the economy because a national bank was desperately needed at the time especially since the weak state currency wasn't worth enough to keep America's precarious economy going. Also, the Specie Circular made matters even worse because it gave the Pet Banks the power of currency again which didn't accomplish anything because the state currency, as stated earlier, was completely worhtless. The worst part of the Specie Circular was that all transactions were to be made in gold and silver which made things even worse for the economy. What made these actions even more terrible was that Jackson basically did this cause he felt like it and when he realized the damage he had done to the country, he just sweeped it under the rug for the next president to clean up. 5. President Jackson did a few things that influenced future presidents. Because he vetoed more bills than all the previous presidents combined (12 to be exact) Jackson established the pocket veto which is when a bill is held by the president for ten days (not including sunday) and he doesn't sign it, it becomes vetoed. This has been used by almost every president since this act has been established. He also infuenced future presidents by overstepping his power and showing that the president has more power than previously thought which is why he is considered the founder of the modern presidency. 6. In conclusion, President Andrew Jackson was one of the toughest and most straight forward presidents ever. Even though Jackson's tough attitiude got in the way of what was truly important, he does recieve a B- grade. For the most part, he was one of the better presidents of the time with a few mis-haps that stopped him from getting a higher grade. The country would have been better off after Jackson lift office if he hadn't started the Financial Crisis of 1837 so the country was worse off when he left.

Degregorio A. William. //The Complete Book of U. S. Presidents//. Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books Inc, 2005.