Is it 1828 again? - republished 19 January 2017

"Jackson's quick temper was notorious. Brands says, "His audacity on behalf of the people earned him enemies who slandered him and defamed even his wife, Rachel. He dueled in her defense and his own, suffering grievous wounds that left him with bullet fragments lodged about his body."   However, Remini is of the opinion that Jackson was often in control of his rage, and used it (and his fearsome reputation) as a tool to get what he wanted in his public and private affairs.

Brands also notes that his opponents were terrified of his temper:

Observers likened him to a volcano, and only the most intrepid or recklessly curious cared to see it erupt.... His close associates all had stories of his blood-curling oaths, his summoning of the Almighty to loose His wrath upon some miscreant, typically followed by his own vow to hang the villain or blow him to perdition. Given his record – in duels, brawls, mutiny trials, and summary hearings – listeners had to take his vows seriously.

On the last day of the presidency, Jackson admitted that he had but two regrets, that he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun. " Wiki on Jackson's Temperament

----------------

Some themes remain vital in human affairs for a very long time.  A long standing one in the history of the English speaking peoples (Churchill's phrase) is the issue of whether or not government and its control over people's lives should be highly centralized in the service of the interest of metropolitan elites or widely dispersed among the people.  This difference of opinion developed after Magna Carta and by the 17th Century had become a split in English life between the Country Party and the Court Party. That distinction was imported to North America and has remained an enduring feature of US political life to the present day.

In 1828, the main issues in the US presidential election were related to this old disagreement concerning governance.  The incumbent president, John Quincy Adams,  was in many ways an archetypical establishment figure.  The son of the second president, he spent his entire life in the federal government, advocated positions that would be popular today in the Borg; emancipation, centralization of financial services and debt in the Second National Bank, etc.  He so loved the federal government that, deprived of the White House in 1828, he ran for the House of Representatives where he then served for many years as a figure of the emerging Northern nationalist faction along with Daniel Webster and Henry Clay.

Opposing Adams was Andrew Jackson, the man he had defeated four years before when what was called a "corrupt bargain" was struck in the House of Representatives. Neither man had enough votes in the electoral college to be elected.  Jackson was anything but an establishment creature.  He was altogether a self made man who had clawed his way up from the bottom of the social order to become rich, powerful and a national military hero.  He was rough and crude and he told the ordinary people that he would level the playing field for white men in the USA.  He did not hesitate to encourage harsh and violent behavior and had himself personally supervised the removal to the trans-Mississippi of the highly Europeanized tribal Indians of the Southeastern US.  Why?  The Indians were in the way of the establishment of large scale agribusiness and the settlement of the region by whites and their black slaves.  He was quite un-apologetic about all this.  When Jackson was inaugurated he threw open the doors of the White House for a reception to which one and all were invited.  The crowd famously tracked mud all over the rooms and carpets, stood on the needle point embroidered chairs and got gloriously drunk while they sang bawdy songs.  He was re-elected for a second term and to this day is thought of by the Democratic Party as one of their two founding figures.  The other being Thomas Jefferson, a somewhat different man, an aristocrat who chose to side with his beloved yeomen farmers.

Now we have Donald Trump, the grandson of a German immigrant from a little country town.  The name was originally "Drumpf."  Donald Trump's father and his son after him strove mightily and became rich in the dog eat dog world of New York City business where sharp elbows and an abrasive, abusive, bullying manner are requirements for success unless you have that magic commodity, "old money."  If you have that, then you can be gracious.  Donald trump's daughter, Ivanka, now has old money and is reported to me to be gracious.  Donald Trump tells the mainly white spiritual descendants of Jackson's supporters that he will make them whole again both in their self image and in their pocketbooks.  That is a powerful message in the face of left wing insistence that white voters are a wasting asset in America. 

Opposing him we have the John Quincy Adams figures of the "modern" age;  Hillary Clinton, who openly advocates minority interests in what Trump's supporters see as a zero-sum game of political and economic warfare,  Bernie Sanders who seems a gentle, well mannered man but who nevertheless is openly in favor of the same kind of re-distributionist policies that most Trump supporters see as an effort to deprive them of control over their own destiny.  And then in the background are the politicians, media flunkies, and political consultants for whom Trump threatens a re-definition of politics and parties.  pl 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson#Temperament

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams

Comments

[johnf]

"Country Party (Whigs) and the Court Party (Tories)"

Sorry to be pedantic but I'm fairly certain that in C18th England the Country Party were the Tories (Gaelic for "thief") and the Court Party were the Whigs. The Whigs were the money party based in the City of London, whereas the Tories were the deep rural party where, as in my own county of Somerset, they still pronounce "furriners" with the old Anglo Saxon/Germanic "v" instead of "f", as in "vurinners."

[Diabolik]

No "Trumpf" and no "Drumpf" either: Donald Trump's family from Kallstadt near Mannheim, Germany was (and is) called Trump. (The "u" is short in German and pronounced like "foot"). In the local dialect most "t"s are proncounced like a "d", hence in the olden days "Trump" would have been "Drump".
While the main German translation of the English term "trump" is indeed "Trumpf", the meaning of the name Trump is likely derived from the French "tromper" which even exists in English: as in "trumped up charges"...
Here is a link to the "Wein und Gästehaus Trump" in Kallstadt, where a room sets you back an unglamorous 45 Euros per night and which is of course not owned by The Donald: https://www.tourisline.de/travelstore/control/walkin/showHotelDetails?agentid=6331&hotelid=h-t44I2AMGk=

[DB]

Col. Lang -

I follow your writings on this committee closely, but have never commented before. I'm moved to write today because I think you demonstrate with this post a misjudgment of John Quincy Adams, and Alexander Hamilton.

That Jackson was a vicious traitor intentionally planted to accomplish the crushing of Hamilton's National Bank is proven by his association with Aaron Burr, who first proposed a Jackson candidacy. Burr was certainly deployed by London forces to kill Hamilton and, in killing this genius, destroy the potential for an American political-economic system capable of eclipsing the power of the British Empire.

Throughout his long career, Quincy Adams was committed to a US policy of mutual benefit with other nations, emphatically including Russia. He intended a "community of principle" based on a common conception of the fundamental truth of the US republic: the inalienable rights of man. This was his devotion, as made clear by his principled and prolonged stand against slavery, both as President and later in the House.

The Burr/Jackson faction, which acted to destroy Hamilton and those who would continue his efforts at creating an industrial economic system outside of the reach of the British, followed the same logic as the "Borgist" faction of today: use demogoguery to maintain a fundamentally dysfunctional "system" of all against all, perpetual war, and bestial conditions for humanity. Burr was explicitly AGAINST the idea of a union, and repeatedly conspired to kill the young nation by breaking it up.

I consider this paper by Michael Kirsch very helpful in making the case: https://larouchepac.com/120712/myth-andrew-jackson-destroyed.

Thank you for considering. I believe it's reasonably accurate to compare Trump to Jackson, but this background is necessary.

[zth]

> wasting asset

It would appear the right wing is coming out of the closet on that too:

“National Review’s Kevin Williamson believes Donald Trump’s appeals to the white working class are “immoral” because that demographic’s way of life deserves to die out.
...
The truth about these dysfunctional, downscale communities is that they deserve to die. Economically, they are negative assets. Morally, they are indefensible,” the conservative writer says. “The white American under-class is in thrall to a vicious, selfish culture whose main products are misery and used heroin needles. Donald Trump’s speeches make them feel good. So does OxyContin. What they need isn’t analgesics, literal or political. They need real opportunity, which means that they need real change, which means that they need U-Haul. If you want to live, get out of Garbutt [a blue-collar town in New York].”

(NR link is behind paywall)

http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/12/national-review-writer-working-class-communities-deserve-to-die/

[asx]

Col. Lang, I agree. If Trump gets swept into power, it will be on the backs of white democrats. I listened to a stump speech he made in Maine, and he has definitely struck a chord with his denouncement of Trade deals and such. It is a better variation of the Sanders' message. It will be a coup for him if he can get some Union to endorse him!

Thoroughly enjoyed this parallel from 1828. From the HBO series, it was portrayed that John Adams fancied the royal and aristocratic traditions of Europe, and looks like his son didn't stray from that.

Why is it not obvious that America is at its finest as a liberal(old usage) democracy, than when it plays successor to the British empire. The Borg are indeed neo-colonialists who are no different from the British aristocracy. They share the same utter contempt for the common man, a belief that thay are above the law, and a God complex when it comes to playing with the lives of people in far away lands. This country was founded as a rejection of the ways of Britain. The more we diverge from their past, the better our future. Interesting that Obama threw Cameron under the bus on Libya. Looks like a Suez 2.0.

On a tangent, Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations which was widely disparaged by the self appointed thinkers is proving very prescient. Ukraine and Turkey are getting ripped apart as we know. I wonder if Australia is not very far away. There is considerable pressure on them to be our unsinkable aircraft carrier #2, but they have also been significantly penetrated by Chinese business and other interests.

[cynic]

Then there's the big reason why there is so much hysterical hatred of Trump.
http://snippits-and-slappits.blogspot.com/2016/03/hating-on-trump-could-be-all-about.html

[turcopolier]

DB

Thanks for your opinion. pl

[turcopolier]

johnf

OK. I suppose I had the 17th Century in mind. pl

[turcopolier]

Diabolik

Does it matter? pl

[fasteddiez]

Tromper is to deceive, to trick, to Bullshit with gain to oneself in mind. An apt description of the Trupster I perceive. Ok in NY NY but questionable in wanting to become Laird of the kingdom, methinks. Back to tromper, just as Meunier in French which translates to Miller in English, there must have been professional tricksters in the old Shires.

[VietnamVet]

Colonel,

Thanks for your posts. You are tough, soldiering on.

This is a change election like 1932, 1860 or 1828. There are parallels between Andrew Jackson and Donald Trump although one defeated the British and the other is a TV star.

Tonight, the Ohio primary will tell if the GOP establishment can fight off the challenge and force a brokered convention to choose anybody but Trump or Cruz. Hillary Clinton is the establishment’s chosen candidate. But, she stepped in it last week; praising the Reagans for starting a conversation on AIDS or saying 'We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business, right?' She is so bad we will see if Bernie Sanders can repeat his Michigan victory tonight.

This election highlights the basic contradiction of having a democratic election in a country run by global aristocrats. Propaganda, a privatized judicial system and surveillance ceases to work when the majority of the people realize that they are being exploited by a very few rich snobs who are above the rule of law.

[Ramojus]

All,

Any recommendations for a good biography of Andrew Jackson by a reputable historian?

[hemeantwell]

"Donald Trump tells the mainly white spiritual descendants of Jackson's supporters that he will make them whole again both in their self image and in their pocketbooks. That is a powerful message in the face of left wing insistence that white voters are a wasting asset in America."

I'm not sure where you get the idea that the left regards white voters as a wasting asset. Did you mean "wasted asset"? AFAICT, there is no decisive difference between Sanders and Trump on the effects of offshoring and trade, but I'd welcome clarification. The neoliberal wing of the Democrats might fall under your characterization, in as much as they have tended to dismiss trade-related job loss as something that can be adjusted to in that long run in which we are all dead. One tag for them would be "extreme center," but under the guidance of the DLC they've managed to shear off any 'left' pretense.

[WILL]

"Early had often been a guest in the Devereux home in Alexandria. Claude’s father and he had been allies in the Whig Party and had voted together against secession in 1861. Both men had decided after their defeat at the secession convention that their ultimate loyalty was to Virginia. Early could not imagine that Claude Devereux had urged Lincoln to remove himself from danger. He would have spurned the idea that a Devereux could do that."

W. Patrick Lang (2012-03-07). Down the Sky: Volume Three of the “Strike The Tent” Trilogy (Kindle Locations 1486-1489). iUniverse. Kindle Edition.

[Cortes]

Tory meant "outlaw", not "thief".
If you defend your country against invaders whose resources are superior and you carry a losing hand in a small space you get labelled accordingly by the invaders.
A bit like the "insurgents " who colour the world today.

[turcopolier]

All

I get a kick out of those of you who want to nitpick my piece rather trying to understand its import. You missed your calling as editors. pl

[turcopolier]

Will

The Claude Devereux of my creation pulled Lincoln off the rampart at Ft. Stevens in July, 1864 because he was torn by his various loyalties; to the South, to Virginia, to the blue uniform he wore and to Lincoln, his friend. How does this relate to my post today? pl

[turcopolier]

hemeantwell

"I'm not sure where you get the idea that the left regards white voters as a wasting asset." You obviously do not see the media commentary and attitude that I do. It is uniform in its statements that there are not enough white votes in the country to elect a president. Nor do you seem to have noticed that HC is running as though white votes do not matter. Well, we will learn if that is true. pl

[kooshy]

I just heard the HRC’s Florida victory speech, unfortunately and sadly it reminded me of the then campaign informatial of her husband “the Kid from Hope” or something like that. I say sadly because it seems nothing has changed since 1992, the rhetoric hasn’t changed, the empty hope speeches haven’t changed, giving hope and having hope is not changed and I suppose we didn’t change either, and unfortunate because realistically the candidates didn’t changed they are the same empty hopes.

[Fred]

Col,

"That is a powerful message in the face of left wing insistence that white voters are a wasting asset in America."

That certainly matches the emotional feeling I've witnessed in my recent business and personal travels across multiple states. Amongst working class men and women it has been pretty palpable. It's pretty apparent to many that they are not the color of "lives (that) matter" to professional politicians and agitators. I am glad the still know ballots matter.

[WILL]

Because i had read somewhere that Devereauxs had been Whigs and was pleased to find it.

[William R. Cumming]

Perhaps oddly Jackson biographies abound but I find those most recent in time of interest since they rely on what might be called newly discovered evidence. Jackson is always worthy of study and disclosure my undergrad thesis for which I was awarded honors analyzed [largely from newspapers in Pennsylvania in various collections and the Library of Congress] Jacksonian Democracy in Western Pennsylvania. My major conclusion was that in that time and place Jackson's followers were quite conservative.

[Larry Kart]

The best work I know about the Jacksonian era is:

The Market Revolution:
Jacksonian America, 1815-1846
By Charles Sellers (Oxford University Press)

Here’s a link to a review I wrote of it for the Chicago Tribune:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-01-26/entertainment/9201080252_1_market-revolution-wages-jacksonian-america

[William R. Cumming]

A timely post IMO! Jackson a complicated person for a complicated time. If memory serves he won the popular vote in the elections of 1824, 1828, and 1832. But of course he lost in 1824 in the House of Representatives. Detailed scholarship has largely concluded that the period from 1820-1840 was highly unusual for many reasons. I believe I am correct the world record for females individually giving birth was set at that time in the U.S.A. and never matched elsewhere.

The analysis of de Toqueville of America in his visits reveals much more of interest during that period.

The odd coincidence of Tom Jefferson and John Adams dying almost the same day in 1826 seems amazing. John Quincy Adam was fluent in several languages and as a teen had served as Secretary to his father and others in both France and Russia.

[William R. Cumming]

Wiki Extract:

Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (French: [alɛksi ʃaʁl ɑ̃ʁi kleʁɛl də tɔkvil]; 29 July 1805 – 16 April 1859) was a French political thinker and historian best known for his works Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes: 1835 and 1840) and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both of these, he analyzed the improved living standards and social conditions of individuals, as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States, and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science.

Tocqueville was active in French politics, first under the July Monarchy (1830–48) and then during the Second Republic (1849–51) which succeeded the February 1848 Revolution. He retired from political life after Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's 2 December 1851 coup, and thereafter began work on The Old Regime and the Revolution.

He argued that the importance of the French Revolution was to continue the process of modernizing and centralizing the French state which had begun under King Louis XIV. The failure of the Revolution came from the inexperience of the deputies who were too wedded to abstract Enlightenment ideals. Tocqueville was a classical liberal who advocated parliamentary government, but was skeptical of the extremes of democracy.