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
And he used his popularity to true advantage. Then, he used his popularity to almost name a successor, Van Buren. This party was called the Anti-Masons, and died out shortly. Most chose Congress, and so the Secretary of the Treasury became a spy for Congress in the President's Cabinet. This resolution of a problem that had plagued previous Presidents was just one of the ways he unified his branch of the government, strengthening it. Andrew Jackson, a man whose own peculiar blend of temper and truth guided his country for a time that shadows almost any other figure in American history. The key to Jackson's power was that he never obeyed this aphorism. It only spelled out elections, his power over the Armed Forces, and things like the power to make treaties. He briefly lost control for one term after that, but then regained it in the personage of his lackey, James k. When Jefferson was elected and became the President, he did exactly that. Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan, while not actually children of Jackson, idolized the man and followed his policies almost to the letter. The Ancient Romans had a saying: "Consulis, hominis non esto. " They intended this to mean tht someone in office should be the office, not himself. He suggested a new party be formed.
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