Andrew Jackson and His Tennessee Lieutenants: A Study in Political Culture

by Lormen A. Ratner

Overview

Andrew Jackson and those Tennesseans who, along with him, were a major force in Tennessee and American political life can best be understood by examining the political culture they all shared. The ten men studied here were the children or grandchildren of immigrants from either the Scottish lowlands or the north of Ireland. All experienced the rise from the yeoman/artisan class to that of landed gentry, and all displayed in their adult lives the influence of that move from one socioeconomic class to another. This view of Jackson and his closest friends suggests a view of these men's motives; their values, attitudes, and beliefs were somewhat different than historians have pictured for us. These Jacksonians sought to preserve the world of their fathers while changing their place in the world. They looked back but moved ahead; they were self-interested but tempered always by a selfless ideal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313299582
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/18/1997
Series:	Contributions in American History , #176
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.44(d)
Lexile:	1410L (what's this?)

About the Author

LORMAN A. RATNER is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Tennessee and Adjunct Professor of History at the University of Illinois, Urbana.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Home Left, Home Found
Andrew Jackson: In Search of Honor, in Defense of Reputation
John Overton: The Power Behind the Throne
John Coffee: Kin but by Blood
George Washington Campbell: Jackson's Man in the East
William B. Lewis: The Loyal Retainer
William Carroll: The People's Advocate
Hugh Lawson White: The Tennessee "Brutus"
John Henry Eaton: A Lost Man
James K. Polk: The Cause Above All Else
Sam Houston: The Prodigal Son
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

This study examines President Jackson, nine of his friends and political allies, and the political culture they lived in. The chapters on allies discuss what the particular ally and Jackson had in common, what might have brought them together, and what their relationship to Jackson says about him, them, their era, and their political culture. There is also a chapter on Jackson's much debated reputation, as well as one which focuses on local Tennessee politics as it relates to national political trends. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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