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Trade Paperback
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9780812973464
Overview
Overview
The definitive biography of a larger-than-life president who defied norms, divided a nation, and changed Washington forever Andrew Jackson, his intimate circle of friends, and his tumultuous times are at the heart of this remarkable book about the man who rose from nothing to create the modern presidency. Beloved and hated, venerated and reviled, Andrew Jackson was an orphan who fought his way to the pinnacle of power, bending the nation to his will in the cause of democracy. Jackson's election in 1828 ushered in a new and lasting era in which the people, not distant elites, were the guiding force in American politics. Democracy made its stand in the Jackson years, and he gave voice to the hopes and the fears of a restless, changing nation facing challenging times at home and threats abroad. To tell the saga of Jackson's presidency, acclaimed author Jon Meacham goes inside the Jackson White House. Drawing on newly discovered family letters and papers, he details the human drama-the family, the women, and the inner circle of advisers- that shaped Jackson's private world through years of storm and victory. One of our most significant yet dimly recalled presidents, Jackson was a battle-hardened warrior, the founder of the Democratic Party, and the architect of the presidency as we know it. His story is one of violence, sex, courage, and tragedy. With his powerful persona, his evident bravery, and his mystical connection to the people, Jackson moved the White House from the periphery of government to the center of national action, articulating a vision of change that challenged entrenched interests to heed the popular will- or face his formidable wrath. The greatest of the presidents who have followed Jackson in the White House-from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to FDR to Truman-have found inspiration in his example, and virtue in his vision. Jackson was the most contradictory of men. The architect of the removal of Indians from their native lands, he was warmly sentimental and risked everything to give more power to ordinary citizens. He was, in short, a lot like his country: alternately kind and vicious, brilliant and blind; and a man who fought a lifelong war to keep the republic safe-no matter what it took.
- Format: TradePaperback
- Author: Meacham, Jon
- ISBN: 9780812973464
- Condition: Used
- Dimensions: 9.22 x 1.42
- Number Of Pages: 483
- Publication Year: 2009
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American Lion
Greg B. - 5 years 6 months agoJon Meacham's American Lion is, in many ways, a fine introduction to Andrew Jackson. Unfortunately, due to my own expectations, I came away slightly disappointed and dissatisfied. Meacham states (though not till the "Author's Note" at the end of the book) that his goal was to "paint a biographical portrait of Jackson and of many of the people who lived and worked with him in his tumultuous years in power." In this he largely succeeds. The accounts of Jackson's interactions with the family members around him during his presidential years; with members of his cabinet (and "kitchen cabinet"); and with supporters and opponents on Capitol Hill are consistently interesting and well told. But Meacham isn't wholly able to ignore the politics of those years, and it is here, I think, that his plan encounters problems. Meacham is so eager to get to Jackson's White House years that he speeds through the general's youth and early adulthood, especially the period just before his election to the presidency. Thus, the Battle of New Orleans gets only a couple of pages, and next to nothing is said about Jackson's service in the House and Senate. As a result, it seemed to me that I came to the years of Jackson's presidency without a fully fleshed-out portrait of the man, and that left me, at times, wondering how he came by the principles that guided his decisions. As Meacham explains in the "Author's Note": "This book is not an academic study of his presidency. . . . There are many books for those seeking full-scale accounts and assessments of Jackson's life, or of his time, or of the politics and policies of his controversial careers in business, in the military, and in government." Fair enough, and my bad for coming to the book with expectations of reading something like Chernow's Washington. American Lion will, at least, point me to other books that seem as if they will be helpful for further understanding Jackson and his times. What Hath God Wrought? by Daniel Walker Howe and Heirs of the Founders by H. W. Brands both seem promising. #springpicks
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condition of book.
JOHN S. - 6 years 5 months agoIt was like a brand new book. What more can say more about the condition Of a used book from Half Priced Books? The need to have a 50 characters for a revue is ridiculous.