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Andrew Jackson In The White House
Random House
November 2008
On Sale: November 11, 2008
Featuring: Andrew Jackson
512 pages ISBN: 1400063256 EAN: 9781400063253 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Biography
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.
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