Introduction:
The chosen topic for this assignment is comparing two populist presidents Donald Trump and Andrew Jackson. Mr. Jackson is the seventh president of the country, and Donald Trump is the 45th president of the country. Both of these presidents formed governments with a clear majority and ran populist election campaigns. The following assignment will compare both the president based on different factors.
Body:
Some relevant factors were taken into consideration for the comparison of both presidents. The following are some of the important factors considered when comparing these two presidents (Jacobson and Waycoff).
Military Service:
Donald Trump joined the New York military academy at 13 years old but never served in the armed forces. Andrew Jackson fought with the Irregulars in the American Revolution at a similar age, and the British troops captured him. He spent many years in the military and was promoted to the rank of major general in the army. In the War of 1812, he won the battle of New Orleans, fought various Indian tribes, and conquered Florida.
Political Experience:
Donald Trump is the country’s first president who hasn’t been a part of the political office or the army. He became head of state in the country by gaining most of the states in the country over Hilary Clinton, even without having a smaller public vote of 46%. Furthermore, despite being a part of the Republican Party, he differs on most issues with his party members. Andrew Jackson was the only elected head of the state who was not a member of the political dynasties but was part of the parliament and senate of the United States. In the year of 1812, he got the majority in public votes but didn’t get a majority in the Electoral College. The House selected the president and chose John Quincy Adams as the next president. After four years Jackson ousted Adams with 56% of the popular vote and earned a second term with 54% of the popular vote in the next election.
Philosophical Comparisons:
Donald Trump is known as a fruitful and wealthy businessman who styled himself as the man of the people to win the presidency from the elite political powerhouses of the country. He claimed himself as the outsider in the election and deemed every politician in the office as puppets of their donors. Jackson was a wealthy slaveholding plantation owner who was known for a blustering style and regarded himself as the man of the people. He also ousted the ruling political dynasties of his time to earn office. He fought many battles for the United States and passed a law that forced the Cherokee Nation to move out from his land which was later called the Trail of Tears. Most critics called Jackson the American Bonaparte because of his dictatorial streak. However, Jackson was popular among the country’s people as he was viewed as the champion of the citizens (Ryan).
Courting Conflict:
Donald Trump was a part of a reality TV show in which he pitted contestants against each other and fired them based on their performance. Furthermore, he also feuded with major celebrities of the country and most of the politicians even within his party during the elections. Similarly, Jackson had a neck for fights and often duelled with his competitors. Furthermore, he fought between 5-100 duels according to historians. In one of his duels, he killed a man who insulted him in a bad way (LearningEnglish).
Battle with the Courts:
Trump has faced a lot of battles in court most of the time before being president as the business man. Recently, he faced a travel ban, which was blocked in court. Mr. Trump’s comments about the judge were very harsh as many declared his comments racist. Whereas, after the country’s chief justice ruled in a case involving the seizure of the Cherokee Land in Georgia, Jackson replied in a controversial manner as he said that “the president of the supreme court has made his decision now let him enforce it.”
Political Change:
Donald Trump’s slogan for his presidential campaign was to bring change by removing the country’s political regime as he is the outsider in the election. Similarly, Andrew Jackson ran a campaign for change in the country’s political system, promising the people of the country to remove the political dynasty from the country (Collins).
Conclusion:
There are some striking similarities between the two presidents of the United States of America if we look at the bigger picture rather than the details of the comparisons. The most significant comparison between Donald Trump and Andrew Jackson is how both presidents think about the world. Both got great support from the country’s public and won the election with a fair majority. There are some essential differences between the two presidents as well. Andrew Jackson had great political experience and was self-aware, whereas Donald Trump had no political experience before the country’s presidency. It concludes that both presidents came into the presidency with strong public support, with a slogan of change and the removal of the corrupt political regime of the country.
References:
Collins, Micheal. Donald Trump as Andrew Jackson? Meh, this historian says. 5 February 2017. 9 June 2017 <https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/05/historians-throw-water-comparisons-trump-andrew-jackson/97462252/>.
jacobson, Louis and Sarah Waycoff. What’s up with Donald Trump and Andrew Jackson? 2 May 2017. 9 June 2017 <http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/may/02/whats-up-with-donald-trump-andrew-jackson/>.
LearningEnglish. Trump Being Compared to Former President Andrew Jackson. 29 January 2017. 9 June 2017 <https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/donal-trump-andrew-jackson/3694593.html>.
Ryan, Josiah. Lord: Trump’s Andrew Jackson remark ‘perfectly reasonable’. 2 May 2017. 9 June 2017 <http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/02/politics/donald-trump-andrew-jackson-civil-war-cnntv/index.html>.
