Presidency of Andrew Jackson - Essay Example

Especially after his victory as a military leader in various battles such as the New Orleans. He chose John C. Calhoun as his vice president and after a fall out Calhoun resigned in 1832 and Martin Van Buren became vice president in 1833. As president, he was very passionate about upholding popular democracy and individual liberty and pleaded with congress to amend the constitution to allow for democracy. As a result, he recommended the abolishment of the Electoral College so that the president and vice president could be elected by the people and for them to serve a single term. Adams was also against the second national bank and thus abolished it when he became president. He cleared all the federal debts before vetoing the renewal of its charter (Mintz, 639). In politics, he also initiated the spoils system thus the rotation of political appointments to do away with bureaucracy. He also initiated the removal of Indians or Native Americans from America to the west in areas like Arkansas and west of the Mississippi River.

Some of the controversies during his time were Indian Removal Act which was seen as an ethnic cleansing strategy and thus not popular. He also through the spoils system replaced many federal employees with political opponents from his party who had no experience (Mintz, 638). Another challenge was the nullification crisis. Some states were calling for secession due to disagreements over tariffs that were unfavorable to the South planters. This was the cause of the fallout with his deputy Calhoun as he supported the southerners. Jackson used every opportunity to praise the union or a strong federal government although he also advocated for state rights (Ogg, 164). He also had to deal with a severe depression in 1837 due to his insistence on paying government land in terms of gold or silver rather than cash. This led to the collapse of many banks as they did not have such ‘specie’.