Donald Trump. Blasphemous, arrogant, loud, complacent, which have all been true factually at some point in the past two years. What surprises most people when the see Donald Trump is that they believe that his presidency is an anomaly unlike anything in our nation's history. That he is a president that has never existed in American history. But there was a president who actually was extremely similar to Mr. 45. His name was Andrew Jackson.
Just like Donald Trump, Andrew Jackson was consistently filled with contradictions that spewed through his campaign and thoughts. He hated the elite and their control over the economy and government, yet he was an elite controlling the government as the commander in chief. Donald Trump spent the majority of his campaign claiming he was going to "drain the swamp." Of course, the truth is just like Jackson, Trump has been a part of the swamp his whole life, with a net worth being $3.5 billion. Also, they share a similar contradiction related to freedom and equality. Jackson spent the majority of his presidency claiming that he was all for freedom and he was for the "common man." However, he owned hundreds of slaves and was bluntly racist in the removal of Cherokee Indians in what we all know today as the Trail of Tears. Trump has claimed that he is for all Americans too, however, with the Muslim country travel ban, and the recent retraction of DACA, the president has acted against the statements he said prior. He also has used extremely rude statements when referring to his opponent in the presidential race, such as "crooked Hilary," and stated that Clinton did not have the "stamina" to be President. Andrew Jackson spent the majority of his 1828 presidential campaign by making outrageous statements against John Quincy Adams, that he was putting government money in his own pocket and he was pimping Russian women.
Perhaps the most startling part about their relationship is actually how much Donald Trump looks up to and admires Andrew Jackson. He has said that "He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart." Trump in fact is the only president in at least recent history to reference Andrew Jackson, the man behind the Trail of Tears, as someone with a "big heart," unless he meant for white people. Donald Trump even got upset when it was announced that Harriet Tubman would be replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 dollar bill, claiming that "Well, Andrew Jackson had a great history, and I think it's very rough when you take somebody off the bill." He even went so far as to say "I think Harriett Tubman is fantastic, but I would love to leave Andrew Jackson or see if we can come up with another denomination."
As much as Americans today want to be stunned that a president exists today that does not care at all for certain segments of the population exists, one only has to look as far as the 1820s and 30s, where there was a president who shared many general philosophies about government. They both argued a populist agenda and campaigned for the "common" man, even though they both were surrounded by many elites advising all of their moves, all thanks to the fact that neither held any political offices prior to becoming presidents. This presidency if anything has given us an opportunity to be able to compare any situation politically that is occurring to day and merely look back at the past, and more often than not, something like this in some way or form has happened.
Source: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/may/02/whats-up-with-donald-trump-andrew-jackson/
I agree with what you wrote here -- there are an uncanny amount of similarities between the two politicians. I would like to note one key difference, and that is the amount of lies spewing out of Trump's mouth on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteEvery politician lies, whether by using false facts or exaggerations to back a political view, maybe by covering up something from their past that would hurt their public image, or maybe by slamming political opponents, like Andrew Jackson did. But Trump fabricates facts and stories all the time. He claimed Obama was born in Kenya. He claimed that he got a phone call from the President of Mexico, which never happened. The NY Times keeps a whole updated document full of them (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html?action=click&contentCollection=Politics&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article)! There's a reason the media has only recently been going crazy over "alternative facts".
Great post, I was planning to write about this exact same topic. Overall, I agree with most of what you say but I think there are two key differences that you failed to point out.
ReplyDeleteYes, both Andrew Jackson and Donald J. Trump are very similar, but there is a significant difference when it comes to popularity. We can argue all day about how brutal and discriminating of a President Jackson was but one thing was for certain, he was wildly popular. You won his election and re-election campaigns in landslides. All the people adored him. Trump, on the other hand, is wildly unpopular. This does not just extend to recent months. Trump was the most unpopular person to ever be elected to the presidency. In fact, Trump is only President to ever be elected with an election day approval rating in the 30s. The only reason he won was the Democrats ran a even more unpopular candidate in Hillary Clinton.
The second key difference is that Jackson actually fought for the common man. He closed down the corrupt Bank of the United States, cut loopholes, opened up new land to the common folk, and fought the elites. Trump, although he puts up a really good populist facade, he only fights for himself and his family. Look at his policies: tax cuts for the rich, stripping Obamacare, deregulation which hurts the common folk, cutting vital health and social services.
Trump rode a campaign promise upon which he said that he was going to, "drain the swamp," and fight elites. So far, his actions suggest otherwise. His cabinet and administration are full of wall street bankers, defense establishment dinosaurs, and big oil representatives that only have the interests of their multi-national corporations and the corrupt elites that run them at hand. Jackson, on the hand, fought the elites and tried to keep them out of not only his administration, but Washington entirely. While we can argue and discuss all day about the similarities between Jackson and Trump, one thing is certain. Jackson was the real populist and actually had the support of the people.