Publishers Weekly
03/14/2022
In this comprehensive and evenhanded biography, historian Brown (The Last American Aristocrat) makes a convincing case that Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) was the most consequential American leader between Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Noting that Jackson was the first president “to come from neither Virginia nor Massachusetts,” Brown documents how Jackson overcame an impoverished childhood in the Carolinas to become a lawyer and land speculator in Tennessee, as well as his rise to national prominence as a military commander during the War of 1812, when he defeated British troops in the Battle of New Orleans. Elected president in 1828, Jackson quashed plans for “a government-chartered national bank catering to economic elites,” helped to “institutionalize partisanship” by ousting Republicans and installing Democrats in government offices, brought a “bloodless conclusion” to the Nullification Crisis, and played a central role in displacing Native Americans from their land. Though Brown notes that Jackson’s populism is relevant today, when “economic inequality, liberal elitism, and demographic change in America” have once again encouraged a backlash against the status quo, he avoids facile historical analogies, noting that Donald Trump is one of four modern-day presidents (along with Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton) to hang Jackson’s image in the Oval Office. Thoroughly researched and fluidly written, this accessible presidential biography will appeal to admirers of Ron Chernow and Doris Kearns Goodwin. (May)
From the Publisher
Solidly researched [and] gracefully written.'” —Wall Street Journal
"Compelling. . . . [Brown] succeeds in placing his subject in the context of his fraught times. . . . By assessing the frequent comparisons between Jackson and Donald Trump, Brown is positioning his reexamination of Jackson as a particularly timely one. The hope is that a fresh understanding of the divisive times of 'the country’s original anti-establishment president' might shed light on our own." —Christian Science Monitor
“Kaleidoscopic . . . . The First Populist offers a complex portrait of Jackson, one that escapes the simplifications of polemic or hagiography. . . . [and] deserves to be commended for its combination of accessibility and rigor.” —Los Angeles Review of Books
"Thoroughly researched and fluidly written, this accessible presidential biography will appeal to admirers of Ron Chernow and Doris Kearns Goodwin." —Publishers Weekly
"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. . . . An instructive exploration of a controversial and enduringly relevant president." —Kirkus Reviews
Library Journal
04/02/2022
Brown (The Last American Aristocrat) presents an extensive and exhaustive survey of a pivotal U.S. president from the birth of his ancestors to his mortal demise. The author cites and recounts themes of previous biographers—Robert V. Remini, Sean Wilentz, H. W. Brands, and Mark Cheathem—such as the origins of a strong executive; the rhetoric of democracy; and his intransigence regarding Native American removal and slavery (he was in favor of both) and a national bank (against it). Jackson is a contradictory, divisive, figure whose echoes continue in the 21st century. Among these are: distrust of experts—preferring the unofficial advice of his so-called kitchen cabinet; performative resentment of the elites while enjoying their comforts; and chagrin over a presumed "corrupt bargain" conspiracy that on one occasion denied him the highest office. Even seasoned historians might be surprised to learn about Burr and Jackson's frontier connection; that Jackson was the oldest president sworn in at the time; and that he appreciably altered the Supreme Court with his six appointments, which only Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt exceeded. VERDICT A noteworthy narrative of a confrontational and consequential character, especially good for those new to the field of presidential history.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.
Kirkus Reviews
2022-02-01
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.
