PART OF A SERIES
Andrew Jackson a Second Term
By Charlie McBriarty
The 1832 presidential election marked the beginning of a new method of
selecting candidates to run for the offices of President and Vice President of
the United States. When the congressional caucus process terminated during
the 1828 election, the political parties filled the void by convening national
party conventions and electing state delegates to identify their party’s standard
bearers for president and vice president.
The Anti-Masonic Party initiated the first national convention in Baltimore,
commencing on September 26,1831. During the three-day convention the
delegates established a set of rules and regulations that eventually led to the
election of William Wirt from Maryland as their choice for president and
Pennsylvanian Amos Ellmaker as the candidate for vice president.
On December 12,1831, the National Republican Party national convention
Was also held in Baltimore. Convention procedures were created, and Henry
Clay from Kentucky was selected as the Republican presidential candidate and
John Sergeant of Pennsylvania as the choice for vice president. This convention
Initiated the first party platform and first nominating speech, which was
delivered by Peter Livingston of New York.
Baltimore was also the site of the third party convention, the first
Democratic Party national convention on May 21,1832. Robert Lucas of Ohio
served as chairman of the convention, leading the delegates in the development
of rules of order. Incumbent President Andrew Jackson from Tennessee and
bis choice for vice president, Martin Van Buren of New York, were both elected
On the first ballot. However, less than a month later the Southern faction of the
Democratic Party convened in Staunton, Virginia, on June 14 to select a vice
presidential candidate more sympathetic to the Southerners’ position on slavery
than New Yorker Martin Van Buren. They elected Philip P. Barbour of Virginia
as their candidate for the position. The Jackson-Barbour ticket appeared on the
ballot in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia. Shortly
after being nominated, Barbour chose not to run and withdrew.
The election itself was not held on a specific date as it is today; rather, each of
the existing 24 states held the election on various dates beginning on November
2. The Electoral College convened in the respective state capitals on December
5,1832, to cast their votes; however, it was not until February 13, 1833, that the
following results were made official:
• Jackson (Democrat) 701,780 popular votes and 219 electoral votes
• • Clay (National Republican) 484,205 popular votes and 49 electoral votes
• Wirt (Anti-Masonic) 100,715 popular votes and 7 electoral votes
• In addition, noncandidate John Floyd of Virginia received 11 electoral
votes from South Carolina.
Jackson viewed the wide margin of his popular support during the election
a mandate to proceed with his plan to stop the Second Bank of the United
States. In late 1817 this private bank had been chartered for 20 years to manage
the currency of the nation. One of the bank’s most influential supporters was
Heiiry Clay, a long-time adversary of Jackson. Determined that the Second
Bank continue, Clay convinced the bankers to request that Congress renew its
•charter four years in advance of its official end date in 1836. Upon receipt of
this request, both houses of Congress, passed a measure renewing the charter
^nd sent it to President Jackson, who promptly vetoed it.
Congressional efforts to override the veto failed. Subsequently, Jackson
began the process of implementing his plan of removing federal funds from
the bank and depositing them in various state banks, which were labeled as
"Pet Banks.” His initial attempts to execute this plan failed when two secretaries
'^f the treasury declined to transfer the funds. However, his third appointee.
Roger B. Taney, complied with Jackson’s directive, and his plan was ultimately
successful. The Second Bank declared bankruptcy in 1841 and closed its doors.
The acrimony between Jackson and Clay was typified on March 28,1834,
when the US. Senate, led by Clay, officially censured the president for his efforts
to revoke the charter of the Second Bank. The censure was short-lived and was
expunged once Jackson’s supporters captured control of the senate.
Clay was not the only opponent of Jackson. On May 6,1833, in Alexandria,
Virginia, Robert B. Randolph, a dismissed navy sailor, physically attacked
Jackson. This is the first recorded incident of a president being assaulted. The
first attempted assassination occurred on January 30,1835, when Richard
Lawrence pointed a pistol at the president; the pistol misfired. The determined
Lawrence produced a second weapon, which also misfired. Legend has it that
Jackson used his cane to subdue Lawrence.
The looming issue of slavery emerged during Jackson’s second term. Jackson
himself owned slaves, who worked on his Tennessee plantation. He viewed the
slavery issue as being politically motivated and designed by both the Northern
abolitionists and Southern activists to split the Union to achieve their particular
goals. He also believed this issue was a threat to his fledgling Democratic Party.
One of the more troublesome issues arose when Northern abolitionists,
using the U.S. Postal Service and focusing on Southern states, undertook a
campaign of distributing antislavery propaganda throughout the nation. This
resulted in the legislatures throughout the South enacting laws to prohibit the
distribution of these epistles. Most of these laws conflicted with federal statutes,
thus creating a problem for the postmaster general. Efforts to quell this problem
were not totally successful, but the postmaster general acted to neutralize
the situation. He chose not to sanction the local postmasters who delayed or
stopped the delivery of mail, but did not issue orders requiring its delivery.
In Jackson’s final address to Congress prior to leaving office in 1837, he
cautioned that both Northern and Southern fanatics could split the Union,
which would likely result in the end of the government envisioned by the
founders of the nation.
During Jackson’s two terms in office, the White House underwent several
changes, including the addition of the north portico, which had been
recommended by the building’s original architect. Additionally, the interior was
renovated, public rooms were revamped and a plumbing system of iron pipe
was installed.
Perhaps the most noteworthy action of Jackson’s time in office was his
dealing with the national debt, which totaled nearly $58 million when he
took office. Jackson did not abide debt in his political or personal life, and
characterized the country’s debt as the “national curse.” As his last years were
drawing to a close, he reported the government had a balanced budget, was
showing a surplus and the national curse was gone. The national debt was paid.
This was the first time the nation had been debt ffee. Unfortunately, that status
remained for one year and has never been repeated since.
Jackson retired to his plantation. The Hermitage, near Nashville. Tennessee.
He was nearly 70 years old and suffering from a number of maladies, including
blood poisoning from bullets near his heart which could not be removed.
His determination allowed him to manage The Hermitage, where he received
frequent guests. He also maintained an active role in the Democratic Party.
On Sunday, June 8, 1845, he died and two days later he was buried in The
Hermitage garden next to his wife, Rachel. He Was 78 years-old.
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