American Lion Andrew Jackson in the White House

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.

Jon Meacham in American Lion has delivered the definitive human portrait of a pivotal president who forever changed the American presidency–and America itself.


From the Hardcover edition.

A Note on the Text
Principal Characters
Prologue: With the Feelings of a Father The White House, Washington, Winter 1832-33
I: THE LOVE OF COUNTRY, FAME AND HONOR Beginnings to Late 1830
1. Andy Will Fight His Way in the World
2. Follow Me and I'll Save You Yet
3. A Marriage, a Defeat, and a Victory
4. You Know Best, My Dear
5. Ladies' Wars Are Always Fierce and Hot
6. A Busybody Presbyterian Clergyman
7. My White and Red Children
8. Major Eaton Has Spoken of Resigning
9. An Opinion of the President Alone
10. Liberty and Union, Now and Forever
11. General Jackson Rules by His Personal Popularity
III WILL DIE WITH THE UNION Late 1830 to 1834
12. I Have Been Left to Sup Alone
13. A Mean and Scurvy Piece of Business
14. Now Let Him Enforce It
15. The Fury of a Chained Panther
16. Hurra for the Hickory Tree!
17. A Dreadful Crisis of Excitement and Violence
18. The Mad Project of Disunion
19. We Are Threatened to Have Our Throats Cut
20. Great Is the Stake Placed in Our Hands
21. My Mind Is Made Up
22. He Appeared to Feel as a Father
23. The People, Sir, Are with Me
24. We Are in the Midst of a Revolution
III: THE EVENING OF HIS DAYS 1834 to the End
25. So You Want War
26. A Dark, Lawless, and Insatiable Ambition!
27. There Is a Rank Due to the United States Among Nations
28. The Wretched Victim of a Dreadful Delusion
29. How Would You Like to Be a Slave?
30. The Strife About the Next Presidency
31. Not One Would Have Ever Got Out Alive
32. I Fear Emily Will Not Recover
33. The President Will Go Out Triumphantly
34. The Shock Is Great, and Grief Universal
Epilogue: He Still Lives
Author's Note and Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Index