A review by mjlopez128
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

2.25

I thought the author made some odd choices in the focus and perspective of the book. He seemed to present President Jackson as a past-his-prime side character within political and family events of the time. In short, a person to whom things happened rather than a strong personality who could impose his will and drive initiatives. I'm not a historian, but I had the impression that the stereotypical view of Jackson is more toward the latter. It didn't seem like the author was making a point that Jackson was less forceful than his reputation, just that Meacham's focus was elsewhere. The author also spends an inordinate amount of pages on the social intrigues of family members. The seemed to be an attempt to bring in "new research", but it wasn't that interesting and further took the focus away from Jackson.