Monday, July 9, 2012

What were some of the things Jackson did that made him a bad president?For example, he opposed the National Bank and created the Indian Removal...

The things that you have already mentioned are two of the
things that are most often cited as bad things that Jackson did while president (though
it is not clear that opposing the Bank necessarily makes him a bad
president).


There are at least two other things that you
could point to to say that Jackson was a bad president.  First of all, he tended to take
a lot of power for himself.  This can be seen in his ignoring the Supreme Court on the
issue of Indian Removal.  It can also be seen in how he vetoed more bills than all the
previous presidents combined had vetoed.  (Again, there is nothing that makes this
necessarily a bad thing.  Presidents today veto bills too -- it just had not previously
been done and so Jackson got criticized for it.)


Another
thing that you could mention would be Jackson's use of patronage.  Jackson thought that
the victors should get the spoils and that pretty much anyone could do a government
job.  So he gave out government jobs to people who had supported him.  Some of these
people ended up being corrupt.  This also led to Jackson having more personal power
because the people in office owed him for putting them
there.


Some people think these things add up to him being a
bad president.  That is a matter of opinion, though.

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