Question

Historinas Believe that Andrew Jackson was the first modern president.What is the diffrence between Jackson's presidency and teh presidents that came before him?How did Jackson implement the modern presidency?

Answer 1

Jackson didn't come from the soi-disant intellectual aristocracy of the young United States, and he had no real interest in maintaining good relationships with them. So he was populist, and he was ruthless in office -- he believed he had been elected by the majority to implement its will over, if necessary, the dead bodies of the minority, so to speak. He dispensed with the entire concept, more familiar to the Founders (at least to the point of lip service) of generally seeking consensus, avoiding party splits, avoiding humiliating the losing side.

In that sense, he bears a resemblance to the nationalist populist leaders that arose in the 20th century, from Hitler to Reagan, people who rode to power from outside the traditional ranks of the powerful, and who believed they had a mandate to change things, regardless of how it had always been done, and whether or not some vocal minority squawked.