Controversial Figure of Andrew Jackson - Admission/Application Essay Example

Controversial figure of Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson was a controversial figure in the history of the American presidents. Jackson came from a very wealthy family; he was well-off and bright. Jackson would keep up the habit of moving to study law during the day in Salisbury North Carolina and helped by the high-spirited friends raising hell at night. Many would think of a leader to be mature, but he was quite opposite. Jackson would always hang onto this kind of conduct all of the time. His behavior seemed to be tricky and many still and was confused if he was a good president. People have mixed reactions on whether Andrew Jackson was a bad or good leader. His personality was appreciated as president because he achieved many things, but some consider him wrong for the ill treatment he did to the Indians and how he ruled. Looking at his life history in 1812, Jackson became a war hero and defeated the British at New Orleans. The year 1824 he won the popular votes but then in the Electoral College they did not have a specific winner and the later announcement of Adams as the president. He felt cheated but since Adams was not a good leader and no one liked him a re-election went on and he managed as the winner (Daniel, 3). Jackson did many great things for America while he was in office. Some of the things he did were to bring National Bank back to life; he was the first president to fiscal the debt of the country at a low rate. These traits seemingly make him feel proud of himself and sound impressive to the citizens, but he has a lot of bad things that he did while in the office. Some of the major bad things that happened in his reigns like Trail of tears and spoil system were a digression. The Trail of tears involved 125,000 Indians were forced out of the west, he also championed to force the remaining Indians in the East of Mississippi onto much less valuable lands west of the river. Jackson’s aim in the Trail of tears was to free land in the booming cotton business. It caused a lot of Indians to die and with that who would like a president who kills millions of people in their area. But then some have a controversial idea that Andrew Jackson was an excellent political leader the argument is that he was a determined man and motivated. Andrew Jackson had traits that worked for him and against him during his reign. He had a violent temper, and his determination ran to the extreme. Issues where he should have maintained rational and objective decision, instead the issues quickly became personal and rationality took a back seat. When trying to fix problems he then created bigger issues. The result led to the idea of him chasing the Indians separating the entire race and country to split to the north and south. Compiling all these about Jackson it seems he was an average president if only he did not allow his anger and motivation to overcome him. There are various things that Andrew Jackson did for his country at that time making him an average president. He increased his suffrage by letting the common citizen-run the country. He portrays respect as a leader that knew his rights and that of the ordinary citizen and equality of opinion to better them. The bad things Jackson did during his term was that he issued the Specie circular that required payment in gold or silver in the public land. Economic depression came to rise in the year 1837 when Martin Van Buren took over power. Jackson’s cabinet resigned in his reign due to the Peggy Eaton affair at the same time threatened to hang John C. Calhoun. He also practiced favoritism in his term called the spoil system whereby a political group after winning the election he/she gave jobs to the voters as an incentive. Jackson’s name is the only name that graces a whole period in history; the other presidents belong to an age, but he belonged to his era. History books call Washington’s era the revolutionary and founding eras not Washington’s age. Pre-presidential ranking of Andrew is quite different from his presidential term. Immediately after the revolutionary war his family did die which left him as an orphan. An orphan at the age of 15 hardened him, and he drifted to North Carolina where he taught school a little and studied law. He then served as a public prosecutor in Mero District and thrived in the new frontier town and practiced legal ventures. Attesting to his strength of character Jackson rose in the Tenessee politics and succeeded as a delegate to the state constitutional affair. He then became a governor of the new Florida territory after resignation in the commission army which then led him win as the seventh American president. A good president would never jeopardize the lives of his citizens or using his power to demean others. Even though Jackson may have done a lot of decent things to his country he still regarded as average. The ongoing argument of Jackson lies his place as a symbol of American equality at the moment and during his term in power. Many remember him for his character, unlike his specific accomplishments. Jackson’s status like the man himself would remain the thing that seems certain, and that Americans would continue to discuss him. Andrew Jackson is truly a controversial figure to debate about because despite the Trail of tears and spoil system among others he also shows that he had passion for his people. Some praises him for his strength and audacity to rule the country and others hate for his vengeful act. His dominant personality played a bigger role in his presidency for even though political positions reflected are tight he managed. The great things which people need to applaud him are the ideas of recovering the National bank and reducing the country’s debt. Work cited Daniel, Feller. Jacksonian promise, America: New Jersey publishers, 2000. Read More