ANDREW JACKSON . 1829-1837

More nearly than any of his predecessors, Andrew Jackson was elected by popular vote, and as president he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man.

Born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas on March 15, 1767, he read law in his teens and became an outstanding young lawyer in Tennessee. Jealous of his honor, he engaged in brawls, and in a duel killed a man who cast a slur on his wife Rachel.

Jackson prospered sufficiently to buy slaves and to build a mansion, the Hermitage, near Nashville. He was the first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives. A major general in the War of 1812, Jackson became a national hero when he defeated the British at New Orleans. In 1824 political factions rallied around Jackson, and by 1828 "Old Hickory" won enough state elections to become president by popular demand.

In his first annual message to Congress, Jackson recommended eliminating the Electoral College. He tried to democratize federal officeholding, saying that offices should rotate among deserving applicants. Jackson polarized politics, and two parties grew out of the old Republican Party - the Democratic Republicans, or Democrats, adhering to him; and the National Republicans, or Whigs, opposing him. Whig leaders proclaimed themselves defenders of popular liberties against the usurpation of Jackson. Behind their accusations lay the fact that Jackson, unlike previous presidents, did not defer to Congress in policy-making but used his power of the veto and his party leadership to assume command.

The greatest party battle centered around the Second Bank of the United States, a private corporation but virtually a government-sponsored monopoly. Jackson charged the Bank with undue economic privilege. His views won approval from the American electorate; in 1832 he polled more than 56 percent of the popular vote and almost five times as many electoral votes as Whig opponent Henry Clay.

When South Carolina undertook to nullify a high protective tariff, Jackson ordered armed forces to Charleston. Violence seemed imminent until Clay negotiated a compromise: tariffs were lowered and South Carolina dropped nullification.

In January of 1832, the President learned that the Senate had rejected the nomination of Martin Van Buren as minister to England. Jackson jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "By the Eternal! I'll smash them!" So he did. His favorite, Van Buren, became vice president, and succeeded to the presidency when "Old Hickory" retired to the Hermitage, where he died in June 1845.

MARTIN VAN BUREN . 1837-1841

Only about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, but trim and erect, Martin Van Buren’s impeccable appearance belied his humble background. Of Dutch descent, he was born on December 5, 1782, the son of a tavern keeper and farmer, in Kinderhook, New York.

As a young lawyer he led the "Albany Regency," a New York political organization. He shrewdly dispensed public offices and bounty in a fashion calculated to bring votes. Yet he faithfully fulfilled official duties, and in 1821 was elected to the United States Senate.

By 1827 he had emerged as the principal northern leader for Andrew Jackson. President Jackson appointed Van Buren secretary of state. He became the president's most trusted adviser. Jackson referred to him as "a true man with no guile."

A rift developed in the cabinet because of Jackson's differences with Vice President John C. Calhoun. Martin Van Buren compelled the resignation of the old cabinet. To reward him, Jackson appointed Van Buren as minister to Great Britain. Calhoun, president of the Senate, cast the deciding vote against the appointment.

The "Little Magician" was elected vice president on the Jacksonian ticket in 1832, and won the presidency in 1836. Van Buren devoted his inaugural address to a discourse upon the American experiment as an example to the rest of the world. The country was prosperous, but less than three months later the panic of 1837 punctured the prosperity.

To end wild speculation on lands that had swept the West, President Jackson had, in 1836, issued a Specie Circular requiring that lands be purchased with gold or silver. In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. For about five years the United States suffered the worst depression thus far in its history. Van Buren's remedy - continuing Jackson's deflationary policies - only deepened and prolonged the depression.

Van Buren opposed a new Bank of the United States and the placing of federal funds in state banks. He fought to establish an independent treasury system to handle government transactions. He cut off expenditures so completely that the government even sold the tools it had used on public works.

Inclined more and more to oppose the expansion of slavery, Van Buren blocked the annexation of Texas because it assuredly would add to slave territory - and it might bring war with Mexico. Defeated by the Whigs in 1840 for reelection, he was an unsuccessful candidate for president on the Free Soil ticket in 1848. He died in 1862.