THE FIRST POPULIST

A new biography of the seventh president as a so-called “man of the people.”

Brown, a history professor and author of books on Richard Hofstadter and F. Scott Fitzgerald, adds to the already rich biographical material on Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) by focusing on his advocacy for ordinary citizens against “established elites.” A polarizing figure in his own day—and routinely condemned today for his anti-abolitionism and brutal treatment of Native Americans—Jackson nevertheless “embod[ied] in his improbable ascent the promise of western frontier peoples negotiating a natal age of expanding political participation.” Brown’s approach offers an often revealing view of how Jackson, drawing on reserves of charisma and ferocity, leveraged his identity as a political outsider to claim widespread popular support. We get a striking sense of Jackson’s sensitivity to the dynamics of contemporary media and his skill in promoting among his admirers a quasi-legendary status as a general and statesman. The author is especially good in his descriptions of Jackson’s transformation into a heroic celebrity after his success at the Battle of New Orleans, where a significant military achievement was magnified into something grander. Brown also makes clear the essential contradictions in Jackson’s character and ideology. Though avowedly committed to the rights of common people, Jackson became a wealthy slave owner, fiercely defended the honor code of aristocratic plantation owners, and saw few limitations to the legitimate powers of the presidency itself. This appraisal of Jackson as the “first populist” ultimately repositions the rise of American populism (typically placed toward the end of the 19th century) and connects its subject’s political career, in an intriguing final chapter, with that of Donald Trump, whose appeal in some ways parallels Jackson’s. As Brown argues, “the script being written today, that economic inequality, liberal elitism, and demographic changes in America and elsewhere have encouraged a backlash reflected in the rise of charismatic strongman leadership, is one that applies to Jackson as well.”

An instructive exploration of a controversial and enduringly relevant president.