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msmithr's review against another edition
3.0
3/5 via ebook. Fascinating man. Very different from other Presidents. He loved this country, no doubt about that. The writing was average, but worth the time to get to know Andrew Jackson.
jeremyanderberg's review against another edition
3.0
When most people today start exploring the life of Andrew Jackson, it’s probably with the Trail of Tears in mind, and his (delayed) expulsion from the $20 bill. But until the last couple decades, he was up there with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as one of America’s most revered presidents.
He has the hero of the War of 1812. He spoke for the common, rural man. He stuck it to the Federalist banking system. He killed a man in a duel for crying out loud!
And, he perpetrated one of the horrors of America’s history in displacing tens of thousands of Native Americans from their Southeastern homelands (thousands of whom died during that process).
He was a complex man to say the least, as all of our presidents have been. What sets Jackson apart is that he displayed those complexities to the extreme and in a way that not many presidents have.
I could go on about his life, but instead I’ll move onto the book itself, and in general, the experience of reading about Jackson:
I started with Jon Meacham’s American Lion. I enjoyed Meacham’s bios of Jefferson and George H.W. Bush, so it seemed like a logical starting point. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment, and I abandoned it about 70 pages in (someone once told me to give a book 100 pages minus your age before giving up). It was more about social scandals than Andrew Jackson. Pass.
I also knew that H.W. Brands had a well-known one-volume bio of Jackson, but I’ve had some poor experiences with Brands and didn’t feel like giving him another shot.
So I figured I’d dive into Robert Remini’s 3-volume set, at the recommendation of Steve Floyd. I got about 100 pages in and thoroughly enjoyed it, but decided it was just going to end up being too much. I didn’t know hardly anything about the guy; I needed an overview before I got into 1,500 pages of text. So I grabbed the one-volume abridgment, which clocks in a totally reasonable 360 pages. (Though it should be noted that the margins are minimal and font size is very small; it felt at least a third longer than that.) I’m not generally into abridgments, but Remini did this one himself, carefully excising the unnecessary text and presenting a carefully crafted, compelling, and most importantly, digestible account of the life of Andrew Jackson.
If you’re going to start in on the General’s life, this is definitely the volume I recommend, even it is a hair dry at times. The final paragraphs are some of the most convincing and powerful I’ve read in all my presidential reading.
He has the hero of the War of 1812. He spoke for the common, rural man. He stuck it to the Federalist banking system. He killed a man in a duel for crying out loud!
And, he perpetrated one of the horrors of America’s history in displacing tens of thousands of Native Americans from their Southeastern homelands (thousands of whom died during that process).
He was a complex man to say the least, as all of our presidents have been. What sets Jackson apart is that he displayed those complexities to the extreme and in a way that not many presidents have.
I could go on about his life, but instead I’ll move onto the book itself, and in general, the experience of reading about Jackson:
I started with Jon Meacham’s American Lion. I enjoyed Meacham’s bios of Jefferson and George H.W. Bush, so it seemed like a logical starting point. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment, and I abandoned it about 70 pages in (someone once told me to give a book 100 pages minus your age before giving up). It was more about social scandals than Andrew Jackson. Pass.
I also knew that H.W. Brands had a well-known one-volume bio of Jackson, but I’ve had some poor experiences with Brands and didn’t feel like giving him another shot.
So I figured I’d dive into Robert Remini’s 3-volume set, at the recommendation of Steve Floyd. I got about 100 pages in and thoroughly enjoyed it, but decided it was just going to end up being too much. I didn’t know hardly anything about the guy; I needed an overview before I got into 1,500 pages of text. So I grabbed the one-volume abridgment, which clocks in a totally reasonable 360 pages. (Though it should be noted that the margins are minimal and font size is very small; it felt at least a third longer than that.) I’m not generally into abridgments, but Remini did this one himself, carefully excising the unnecessary text and presenting a carefully crafted, compelling, and most importantly, digestible account of the life of Andrew Jackson.
If you’re going to start in on the General’s life, this is definitely the volume I recommend, even it is a hair dry at times. The final paragraphs are some of the most convincing and powerful I’ve read in all my presidential reading.
bhgold1711's review against another edition
2.0
This 2-star review is specifically for the Kindle version, which is unfortunately rife with transcription issues. I probably would have given this 4 stars as it's a solid compression of a 3-volume set. But the poor Kindle version, with broken paragraphs, miscapitalization, and typos just has to knock this down.
eely225's review against another edition
4.0
I read it because the rise of Jacksonian democracy was something I was almost completely unfamiliar with. He lived through a dynamic period, fighting in the Revolution at a young teenager, commanding and winning the final battle in the War of 1812, and working hard to stave off the inevitable forces of secession.
Jackson has a reputation as a violent man, and it has scarred our collective memory of him. Of course, the impression is basically accurate. There are accounts of his many duels and gunfights in his youth, as well as his seemingly callous view of his enemies (whether British, Spanish, or Native American) through his military career. He was also notoriously unforgiving of his political enemies, publicly referring to them as ubiquitously corrupt and treasonous.
But that's not all there was to him. The author makes a point of putting Jackson within the context and conscience of his time. Yes, he was publicly violent, but he also helped a new nation establish a sense of self and a permanence of its independence and international parity. His defeat of Britain in New Orleans helped to make us who we are and was the last true impediment to American expansion westward.
In addition, he had such a high view of democracy, that he was able to direct it toward what it is today. He created the modern two party system as a necessary force to combat corruption and advocated for the free election of all public officials. His ideas of abolishing the electoral college are still too progressive to be instituted 200 years later.
Jackson was the first President who saw himself as having a mandate from the People. He changed the direction of our government and our national conscience. For all his faults, he was a man of his time who managed to defy it.
A note on the Kindle version, though. It looks like it was a direct scan from the print version because the typos are pretty pervasive. Could've used a read-through before it was published in that format.
Jackson has a reputation as a violent man, and it has scarred our collective memory of him. Of course, the impression is basically accurate. There are accounts of his many duels and gunfights in his youth, as well as his seemingly callous view of his enemies (whether British, Spanish, or Native American) through his military career. He was also notoriously unforgiving of his political enemies, publicly referring to them as ubiquitously corrupt and treasonous.
But that's not all there was to him. The author makes a point of putting Jackson within the context and conscience of his time. Yes, he was publicly violent, but he also helped a new nation establish a sense of self and a permanence of its independence and international parity. His defeat of Britain in New Orleans helped to make us who we are and was the last true impediment to American expansion westward.
In addition, he had such a high view of democracy, that he was able to direct it toward what it is today. He created the modern two party system as a necessary force to combat corruption and advocated for the free election of all public officials. His ideas of abolishing the electoral college are still too progressive to be instituted 200 years later.
Jackson was the first President who saw himself as having a mandate from the People. He changed the direction of our government and our national conscience. For all his faults, he was a man of his time who managed to defy it.
A note on the Kindle version, though. It looks like it was a direct scan from the print version because the typos are pretty pervasive. Could've used a read-through before it was published in that format.
linbe's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating biography with great detail! Definitely recommend
heregrim's review against another edition
4.0
Very well written and put together. Its focus on Jackson as both a man of his times and as the driving/dividing force that he was made this a very enjoyable read. He really was a force of personality to be reckoned with.
kerrizor's review against another edition
2.0
More story, less apologetics please
To write a biography you must, in some way, fall in love with your subject. Unfortunately, this author seems to have gone past that to enthralled, downplaying Jackson’s horrific record on Texas, the slavocracy, and the removal of Native Americans. At times it reads as someone defending the honor of a libeled saint.
To write a biography you must, in some way, fall in love with your subject. Unfortunately, this author seems to have gone past that to enthralled, downplaying Jackson’s horrific record on Texas, the slavocracy, and the removal of Native Americans. At times it reads as someone defending the honor of a libeled saint.
sookie13's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the book, well researched and well written; greatly disliked the subject.
williamc's review
5.0
This 1966 work is a short biography from the author of the extensive three volume biography of Andrew Jackson that won the 1984 National Book Award. I actually thought I was reading the one-volume abridgment of that set, until I found [book: The Life of Andrew Jackson] listed in an author search.
I’m happy to have read the wrong book because this smaller volume has done nothing but pique my desire to read more of a president about whom I’d previously known nothing. Here Jackson is presented as a fast-learning politician, adept at using public support to propel his agenda past a divided Congress (and a perennially jealous Henry Clay). Remini tells of how Jackson used his temper craftily to simultaneously inspire and shame soldiers and congressmen alike, and how Jackson was a steady defender of women friends who had been wronged in a hyper-political press. Remini writes only briefly here about the forced migration of Indians from their native Florida, and his slave ownership, but these items are explored in detail within books previously mentioned.
I’m still not sure what I think of Andrew Jackson, but the presentation of his persona through this book has pretty much guaranteed I’ll be turning to Remini for more.
I’m happy to have read the wrong book because this smaller volume has done nothing but pique my desire to read more of a president about whom I’d previously known nothing. Here Jackson is presented as a fast-learning politician, adept at using public support to propel his agenda past a divided Congress (and a perennially jealous Henry Clay). Remini tells of how Jackson used his temper craftily to simultaneously inspire and shame soldiers and congressmen alike, and how Jackson was a steady defender of women friends who had been wronged in a hyper-political press. Remini writes only briefly here about the forced migration of Indians from their native Florida, and his slave ownership, but these items are explored in detail within books previously mentioned.
I’m still not sure what I think of Andrew Jackson, but the presentation of his persona through this book has pretty much guaranteed I’ll be turning to Remini for more.