Best President in the 19th Century: Andrew Jackson (Essay Sample)

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Best President in the 19th Century: Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson “Old Hiskory” ruled between March 1829-March 1837. Initially, he lost his first run for the post in 1824 to Quincy Adams but was victorious after four years. Despite lacking military experience, he was chosen to be major general in 1802. According to Smith (2019), Jackson gained fame for his achievements during the Battle of New Orleans in 1812’s war, and against Florida’s Seminole Indians. Andrew Jackson was the best president of the 19th century through his democratic efforts and abolishment of the monopolistic Second Bank of America.
Andrew Jackson founded the Democratic Party while supporting individual independence. Today, the party is the oldest one across the world. It is also maintained as the one of the main political parties in the United States (Smith, 95). Jackson further led a political movement meant for the provision of more democracy to the common American through the Jacksonian democracy.
Unlike prior presidents who only disapproved unconstitutional bills, Andrew set a fresh precedent through exercising veto power as an issue of policy. This power allowed him to abolish the Electoral College and give complete power for electing presidents and vice presidents to the people. As such, he was labelled as the ‘people’s president’. According to Sinha (2019), his democracy spread through American politics and became a highly prominent matter until the slavery concerns arose in the 1850s. Jacksonian democracy is termed as a crucial movement in democracy today, and an inspiration to significant events and movements.
He also allied with the Democrats to effectively dismantle the Second Bank of the United States. Liang (2018) states that the institution was an ideally private corporation that received complete support from the government to monopolize the market. Jackson viewed it as a corrupt and elitist system for manipulating paper money and wielding excess power over the economy. After his re-election in 1832, attempts to re-charter the institution faded away and the bank was finally closed in 1836 (Liang, 1121). This ended federal efforts of economic regulation.
Jackson is termed as the initial populist president. He also gained popularity among his troops who compared his toughness on the battlefield to an old hickory wood. Compared to other presidents of the century, Jackson invited the public for his inauguration ball in the White House. Through Jacksonian democracy, all white males were granted suffrage rights. Before this, the right to voting was restricted to white male owners of property (Sinha, 146). This granted more representation for poor citizens in the US.
Andrew was also the best president in the century through his negotiations for successful trade agreements. Gilje (2017) cites that the pact with Great Britain opened up West Indies colonies to the ships used for trade by Americans. During his presidency, exports rose by 70 percent while imports rose by 25 percent (Gilje, 751). He was also associated with several other treaties for settling claims and o