What Is Andrew Jackson's Aggressive Personality

Andrew Jackson is largely considered one of America’s greatest and fiercest presidents. His early years and political rise grew him into a strong and quick-tempered man who was hugely popular with the common people of the United States. After being a lawyer, holding several public offices, fighting in two wars, and losing the presidential election of 1824, he gained the presidency in 1829. His policies were strong and controversial, but his own assertive personality is what made him such powerful and forceful president.

Jackson’s own aggressive character is the reason he was such a popular and feared man before and during his presidency. He festered a strong hatred for his political enemies, including John C. Calhoun; whom he blamed for the

death of his wife, and Nicholas Biddle; the President of the United States Bank. His own hatred of the Spanish led to the seizure of Florida in 1817, the eventual purchase of it in 1819, and him even becoming the Governor of the Florida territory. During his presidency, his own passions influenced his political actions. He used the veto power a total of twelve times, more than all previous presidents combined. His most famous veto though, was of the renewal of the Second National Bank.
He despised the Bank, and saw it as a corrupt institution that only benefited the elite members of society.

Jackson himself grew up in a small town on the border of North and South Carolina, and was seen as a president of the people.This view lead Jackson to step over the Congress and Supreme Court when he felt it was necessary for the public well-being. Jackson acted almost entirely on his own to destroy the bank, expanding the power of the Executive Branch farther than ever before. Against advice from Congress, against the wishes of his cabinet, and after replacing two Secretaries of the Treasury, he began depositing federal funds into twenty-three different state banks instead of the National Bank. After facing so much opposition, many presidents would’ve just given up, but Jackson was ruthless, and he never faltered in his war against the

Bank.
Another example of President Jackson’s fierce nature was his action in the Nullification Crisis. For a few decades, tariffs had been in place that taxed imported textiles from Britain. This tariff benefited mostly the Northern textile producers, and decreased English demand for Southern cotton. This infuriated South Carolinians, so they nullified the tariff, and many desired secession from the Union. Jackson urged Congress to lower the tariffs, but also received permission to enforce the tariff with armed federal forces. South Carolina backed down before hostilities commenced, accepted the tariff, and stayed within the Union. Jackson’s direct and forward approach to the crisis saved the unity of the nation (for the time being), and finally brought an end to the conflict that would have ended in the subsequent secession of several Southern states. Jackson’s fearless and strict personality led to wide popularity, but didn’t go without political opposition.
The Whig Party was formed solely to combat Andrew Jackson.

Their main concern was keeping the National Bank, but weren’t united in much else. Members of the Whig Party held extremely varying views on several topics, but they all rallied against Jackson and the Democrats. Their goal was to fight the Bank War and also Jackson’s almost complete ignorance of the Constitution, Indian rights treaties, and the decisions of the Supreme Court. It is true that Jackson treated Congress and the Supreme Court as inferior branches of government, which even though he did for “the common good” could’ve been dangerous. For instance, when Georgians began to move into Cherokee lands, the Supreme Court decided it was unconstitutional, but Jackson held the belief that the federal government had no responsibility to protect other sovereign nations, and therefore didn't enforce the decision of the Court. Jackson then proposed the idea of complete Indian removal, which Congress accepted. The relocation treaties were often quite generous to the Indians, but Jackson’s effort to remain faithful to the state governments sometimes undermined the federal efforts to protect Indians while being relocated. The most infamous example of this was “The Trail of Tears” under Martin Van Buren in 1838, though it was caused by the actions of Andrew Jackson during his

presidency.
One other example of the dangers of Andrew Jackson’s political style was his “spoils system.” He boldly promised to reform the government and purge corruption once he was in office, which many Americans were strongly in favor of. When he gained the presidency, he fired several high-ranking career politicians, which in itself is actually a fantastic thing to do. In spite of the fact that he removed corrupted officials, he then filled those positions with people that he “owed favors” to. In attempting to do something noble, he accidentally created the idea of “to the victor goes the spoils.”
Andrew Jackson’s whole life formed him into a strong, quick-tempered, and bold man. He became an advocate of the working people of America, and used his power to try to improve the lives of the common people. In doing so, he often disregarded what he treated as the “lesser” branches of government. While he was a powerful and influential president, he set a standard that many presidents followed, which was the overreaching of Executive powers, often proving to be dangerous.