Talk Elections

General Politics => Individual Politics => Topic started by: Mechaman on April 20, 2012, 09:26:34 AM



Title: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Mechaman on April 20, 2012, 09:26:34 AM
Total SUper Duper HP.

In fact I might even consider him in the top running for the worst president ever.  The man was a total psycho and an authoritarian.  He shot people just for the hell of it and he bemoaned vote by the educated.  Sure, I am all a fan for anti-elitist bashing, but there was a significant difference between the ideology that Thomas Jefferson believed in and the one that Andrew Jackson did.
Second, Andrew Jackson tried to subvert American Democracy and turned it into American Monarchy.  This ironically, would make him bedfellows with the elite Federalists of early America he claimed to so despise.  If he weren't a ruddy-poo Scot-Irish hick Alexander Hamilton might've called this guy "friend" and had a game of cards with him.  The Indian Removal Act is a classic example of the disdain that King Andrew had for checks and balances that was made to prevent exactly what he got away with.  Is it any wonder why many politicians no longer care about concepts like "Constitutionality" when a long ass time ago Andrew Jackson took such concepts and wiped his ass with them?
And thirdly, the Spoils System!  I mean really, my god man.

I mean really, besides white male suffrage (which meant little in that the President now had more power than the other two branches due to King Jackson's reign) what was good about Jackson's presidency?

It's almost as if Andrew Jackson was the prototype for the many egoholic powertrippers we've had in office since then.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: tpfkaw on April 20, 2012, 09:52:26 AM
FF, on balance.  He didn't "try to subvert American Democracy and turn it into American Monarchy" (which would be a good thing), in fact he created the notion that everything ought to be put to a popular referendum (his main long-term negative legacy besides his violent assault on states' rights).  The retarded Whig attack was because he (horrors of horrors) vetoed bills favored by the Whigs (all such bills were of the authoritarian dipsh**ttery category).

If it were not for Indian Removal (carried out under Van Buren, not Jackson) the Georgia militia (which outnumbered the US standing army of the time) would've massacred the five civilized tribes.  It was clearly the lesser evil, and the "third option" was not really an option (which is why it's only recent historians who've decided to passive-aggressively attack him on that even though it's really his economic policies they dislike).  Furthermore, several other POTUSes (most notably Lincoln and Grant) pursued much more violent policies towards the Indians than Jackson.

The spoils system was mostly Van Buren, but having the federal bureaucracy be easily bribed and replaced every few years was a (relative) good thing.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Lambsbread on April 20, 2012, 03:31:22 PM
HP.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: FEMA Camp Administrator on April 20, 2012, 04:09:49 PM
My dis-like of him stems more from my history teacher's love of him than anything else. I myself am not so sure of my opinion on him beyond that, but I would've proudly voted for JQA in 1824 and probably voted for William Wirt in 1832. Not real sure on 1828.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Donerail on April 20, 2012, 04:12:14 PM
FF. He actually believed in hard money and refused to recharter a national bank. He was, of course, the President who paid off our national debt. Sure there was the forced removals of the Five Civilized Tribes, and the spoils system, but overall he comes out slightly better than worse.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: LastVoter on April 20, 2012, 04:49:54 PM
This is a tough one, he had the right idea(hated the rich), but execution was terrible. Going to abstain on this one.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Snowstalker Mk. II on April 20, 2012, 09:26:43 PM
FF. He actually believed in hard money and refused to recharter a national bank. He was, of course, the President who paid off our national debt. Sure there was the forced removals of the Five Civilized Tribes, and the spoils system, but overall he comes out slightly better than worse.

Pet banks were hard money?


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Donerail on April 20, 2012, 10:34:35 PM
FF. He actually believed in hard money and refused to recharter a national bank. He was, of course, the President who paid off our national debt. Sure there was the forced removals of the Five Civilized Tribes, and the spoils system, but overall he comes out slightly better than worse.

Pet banks were hard money?

Not talking about the pet banks, but about the Specie Circular. Pet banks is a whole different issue.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Atlas Has Shrugged on April 21, 2012, 10:26:09 AM
Massive HP, but to his credit, he killed the National Bank..


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Lambsbread on April 21, 2012, 10:38:29 AM
Massive HP, but to his credit, he killed the National Bank..

Eeyup.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers on April 24, 2012, 05:53:39 PM
Horrible person due to his position on slavery. But to be a democrat in those days it was good to be against the Nat'l Bank, which I oppose the bailouts. 


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: perdedor on April 24, 2012, 07:19:05 PM
HP. Andrew Jackson embodied everything that was truly awful about the Presidents of the early 1800s.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: MASHED POTATOES. VOTE! on April 24, 2012, 08:05:44 PM
Genocidal bastard.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: fezzyfestoon on April 24, 2012, 08:05:51 PM
Massive HP, but to his credit, he killed the National Bank..

Because private banks have served us SO well.


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: Rooney on April 24, 2012, 08:23:13 PM
Massive HP, but to his credit, he killed the National Bank..

Because private banks have served us SO well.
Well, man, the National Bank was just as good at starting recessions as private banks (if not better).


Title: Re: Opinion of Andrew Jackson
Post by: fezzyfestoon on April 24, 2012, 08:31:28 PM
Massive HP, but to his credit, he killed the National Bank..
Because private banks have served us SO well.
Well, man, the National Bank was just as good at starting recessions as private banks (if not better).

True, but it's at least not their goal. And they'd theoretically actually give at least half the shet about correcting their massively damaging mistakes that they do about abusing the system for profit.