Shlomo’s Blog

Jackson and Trump

Last week my wife and I went to the Hermitage in Tennessee.  That was the home of President Andrew Jackson.  While going through it I realized that there are some similarities between Old Hickory and President Trump.

I am not saying that they agreed on policy.  They were very different men living in very different eras of American history.  The issues that concerned President Jackson were of a different nature that those that concern us today.

But there are some interesting similarities.

They were both condemned by the intellectual class of their day.  Andrew Jackson was the first man to be elected president who had not gone to college.  He literally was a self made man.  He and his followers were considered to be low class by the elites.

They both appealed to the “forgotten man”. 

We have to remember that at the time, US politics were controlled by the elites.  Jackson’s opponent in 1824 and 1828 was none other than John Quincy Adams, the son of John Adams.  He was erudite, could speak about six or seven languages.  Intellectually, he was one of the smartest people ever to occupy the White House.  To the elites he was the chosen one.  They could not understand why any intelligent person would vote for a country boob like Jackson.

Sound familiar?

They also had nasty things to say about Jackson’s supporters.  While they did not use the word “deplorable” to describe them they used similar terms.  After all Jackson was supported by the “westerners”, farmers and such.  Many of them had little or no formal education.

What they did not understand was that Jackson had captured their imagination.  He clearly understood their problems in a way that Adams did not.  He also kept as many of his campaign promises as possible.

At the time many of these people felt that the Bank of the United States, the official bank of the country, was corrupt and in league with the wealthy.  That it seemed to forget that there were people who were not politically connected.

Slavery was also a major issue at the time.  While Jackson was a slave owner, he placed the country first, (America First?).  When South Carolina threatened to succeed over the tariff of 1832 he threatened to go to that state and personally hang all white men over the age of 21.  Needless to say that South Carolina backed down. The reason that South Carolina was against the tariff was due to the ill effects on slavery in that state.

He was known to be quick tempered.  He actually fought a number of duels, mostly on the honor of his beloved wife, Rachel.  He actually had a bullet lodged near his heart from one of these.  Due to the state of medicine of the time it was never removed.

 There was the Eaton affair.  It seems that the wives of his cabinet did not like Peggy Eaton, the wife of Jackson’s Secretary of War.  The situation in the cabinet became so bad that Jackson basically fired his entire cabinet in one day.  Peggy’s husband, John, was a close friend and confident of Jackson.

Does all this sound a little familiar?

Trump is said to be low class.  He speaks with a Queens accent.  While not self made, he made his way as a businessman.  Unlike many of his detractors, he did not leave college and go into politics.  He actually ran a business.

Unlike the intellectual elites he understands that average person in the country.  When he speaks about the southern border it resonates with the average person.  

His foreign policy has provided results, something that the intellectuals could not do.  Iran is now begging the US to relent.  They are angry that Trump is holding their feet to the fire.  He is not giving in.

When the leader of North Korea threatened to press his button that would set off a nuclear weapon Trump reminded this that he had a bigger button and that his (Trump’s) works.

Then there was the issue of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.  All the intellectuals freaked out.  This will lead to a major Mideast conflagration!  I seem to have missed this.

One person at the time wanted to know why Trump moved the Israeli capital.  He did not realize that Jerusalem has been the capital of the state of Israel since 1950.  Trump was merely recognizing reality, something the intellectuals could not do.

The summation of this is simple.  While there are numerous differences between them, the reactions the those who consider themselves our betters seem to be the same.

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