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Summary: AJ, the early years....
Review: When I think of Andrew Jackson, I think of the Battle of New Orleans more than anything else (including his presidency). Knowing that the battle would be covered, I decided to give this book a try. To my surprise, that battle was only a small part of this volume.There is quite a bit of information about how Andrew Jackson became the general to fight in New Orleans. There is some talk of his boyhood, but most of it covers his growth as a politician, stateman, and general. Remini explains all the connections which Andrew Jackson had which helped him to get to be general and to be one of the greatest citizens of Tennessee. This is not to take away from Mr. Jackson at all. He was a lot more cunning and daring than I thought. I was also amazed that Jackson was very ill for a long time. Nonetheless, he continued moving forward and displaying a shining example of fortitude. Also, Jackson's part in the growth of the United States is fully shown. I had no idea that a lot of expansion was due to his efforts to free up land for the settlers. In retrospect, his attitude towards the native Americans was harsh, but the nation gained a lot of international respect through his efforts. I would recommend this book for American history buffs. If you feel that you understood the Louisiana Purchase or the souther part of the War of 1812, then you should read this book. It is very well-written and easy to follow. It will keep your interest.
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Summary: Manifest Destiny Incarnate
Review: Whew! It is hard to believe at the conclusion of this work that the hero's greatest days are still ahead of him, that there are two volumes yet to follow. [Remini notes that he had enough material for three more volumes, actually.] The first volume alone would have exhausted anyone who lived it and left the reader wondering how Old Hickory had anything left for an encore. This first volume carries us to 1821, the 55th year of Jackson's life, when he resigned after an eleven-week stint as military governor of the newly acquired Florida Territory. By this point in the Jackson saga, one would not be surprised if the General slipped home quietly to Tennessee to die in the arms of Rachel. It had been a long, busy, troubled life. Born in Carolina-which one is uncertain-Jackson's family was one of many in the South that suffered tragedy at the hands of British troops during the Revolution. Jackson himself was all of 13 when he joined the local militia and briefly spent time as a prisoner of war. When he returned home, sick and exhausted, his mother inexplicably left him alone and feeble at home while she traveled to Charleston, S.C., to tend other prisoners of war. While serving at Charleston his mother died of cholera. Jackson may have been a fearless young scrapper on the battlefields, but Remini summarizes his Revolutionary experiences as painful and permanently scarring. Remini describes Jackson as a generally angry and depressed man throughout his ensuing adult life. He studied law and developed a practice in eastern Tennessee. He acquired a taste for land speculation and, in order to protect his investments as well as to enhance his reputation, he was an ardent supporter of the state's militia. It is fair to say that both Jackson's personal fortunes and those of Tennessee depended to an inordinate degree upon the strength of the state militia, which stood between the citizenry and the very real threats from hostile Indians, the British and the Spanish in the absence of wholesale federal protection. It would be easy to imagine that Jackson's reputation rose steadily with the fortunes of his state. But Jackson never lived by convention. He was headstrong, brash, and frankly amoral. He involved himself in enough scandal to terminate four careers, let alone one. For starters, he "rescued" Mrs. Rachel Robards from an unhappy marriage without the benefit of the court. A number of his land deals turned sour or suspect. During his Congressional tenure in the 1790's he was alternately cantankerous and absent. In 1806, after serving a term as a justice of the state's superior court, Jackson engaged in a duel with Charles Dickinson over what was essentially a bad gambling debt. Dickinson, the better marksman, fired first and broke several of Jackson's ribs. But Jackson remained standing, and with Dickinson standing helpless in front of him, Jackson coolly killed him. Even by frontier standards, it was a ghastly event that left Jackson a social pariah for several years. How low had the Jackson fortunes fallen? Consider that Jackson was forced to ride the coattails of Aaron Burr, of all people, back to respectability in Tennessee. Burr enjoyed considerable popularity for a time in Tennessee as he put together his "western expedition." Jackson came within a whisker of getting himself entangled in Burr's treasonous adventure. But as has been the case of many American politicians, what really saved Jackson's career was war, the long undeclared struggle with the Creek Indians and of course the War of 1812, which raised the name of Jackson to timeless hero. Remini depicts Jackson as a good, not great, military commander who used his advantages wisely: speed, familiarity with the Tennesseans who formed the bulk of his army, and a willingness to accept help from anyone, even local pirates. It did not hurt that the British made his job easier by peculiar military tactics, but such British arrogance had not detracted from Washington's victories, either. Jackson himself was not convinced that the treaty with the British would establish permanent security for Tennessee and the lands south to the Gulf of Mexico. He thus devoted the next six years to what can only be described as a "cleansing" of what is now the southeastern United States. Despite Remini's objectivity and attention to detail, it is not always clear whether Jackson was acting upon his own initiative or upon orders from Washington. The federal government was certainly squeamish about Jackson's hamfisted diplomacy, if one can call it that, in his dealings with the Spanish in western Florida. Jackson was motivated by a deep conviction that Florida belonged to the United States regardless of what Adams and Onis might put to paper. The Indian issue is more problematic. Jackson believed that Indians could not coexist with Anglo Saxons unless they settled and became farmers. Those Indians who wished to continue their ages old nomadic lifestyle would have to be relocated west of the Mississippi under Jackson's peculiar brand of eminent domain: move or be killed. The white men might refer to Jackson as "Old Hickory;" the Indians, more insightfully, spoke of him as "Sharp Knife." Remini describes several meetings between Jackson and regional Indian chiefs with a note of sadness, as well he should; Jackson relocated friends as well as enemies. From today's vantagepoint, this episode of Jackson's life is a reminder that American expansion carries its historical baggage of shame. Remini is not bashful about calling James Monroe to task for his posturing throughout this dirty business. Remini subtitled this volume, appropriately enough, "The Course of American Empire." Andrew Jackson's fighting men knew him as "Old Hickory." History will better remember him as "Manifest Destiny Incarnate."
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