Jackson inspired much of America during his eight years
as president. His rise from the backwoods of Carolina to the nation's
highest office helped inspire hope that in America anyone could accomplish
anything. His message to Americans helped jumpstart movements in
improve public education, abolish debtors' prisons, organize for
women's rights, care for the infirm and indigent, and in general
work to the world a better place. Jackson reached out to the people
that he governed in a way no prior President had, encouraging them
and showing a unique humbleness that made him seem approachable.
Jackson's "approachability," though, caused occasional
problems. Once, while aboard a naval ship in Alexandria, an angry
seaman punched the President in the face. Two years later, in 1835, Jackson
faced the first known assassination attempt on a U.S. president.
While Jackson was in the Capitol attending a funeral, a man named
Richard Lawrence fired two pistols point-blank at the President–only
to have both guns misfire. Jackson raised his cane and charged
Lawrence, but an army officer wrestled the man to the floor before
Jackson could attack.
The charging of his would-be assassin is representative
of how Jackson handled much of his Presidency: strong-armed and unafraid.
When Jackson decided on something, he would relentlessly wear down
his opponents. In addition to staring down the Bank supporters
and the nullifiers, Jackson slowly won an argument which the French
government that had dragged on for almost two decades. The French
refused to pay Americans back for damages caused on shipping during
the Napoleonic wars, even though they had paid such damages to
the British. Then, finally, when damages were assessed in 1831,
the French made no move to pay them. But with the people–even the
Whigs–behind him, Jackson was not afraid to demand payment. In
a message to Congress he suggested a bill to penalize French holdings
for the amount of the damages, and in 1836 the French had paid
four of six installments of damages. Jackson's announcement helped
lay the groundwork for a successful White House bid by Vice President
Martin Van Buren–thereby avenging Van Buren's failed nomination
to be minister to Britain. Never one to leave a friend behind,
Jackson also hoped to avenge the failed nomination of his Treasury
Secretary, Roger Taney, whom he later nominated and had confirmed
as Chief Justice.
As a final chapter in his quest for financial stability
in America, Jackson announced in December 1834 that the nation
would by debt-free on January 1, 1835–the only time in American
history that the government did not owe anyone anything. Jackson
distributed the surplus back to the states, as he had promised
in his first message to Congress nearly eight years before.
The election of 1836 seemed to many in the nation to be
only a formality. Jackson remained wildly popular across the nation,
and when he expressed a desire to see Van Buren win, the nation
readily agreed. Van Buren won 170 electoral votes, compared to
twenty-four for all of his opponents combined.
In his farewell address to the country, Jackson reminded
the people, "eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty,"
and warned of the dangers of the developing sectionalism. Van Buren's inauguration
as the eighth President turned into a celebration of Jacksonian
America; Senator Thomas Hart Benton remarked afterwards that "for
once, a rising has been eclipsed by the setting sun."
Jackson left office in 1837 and headed for his home at
the Hermitage in Tennessee. Under the nation's tenth President,
John Tyler, the government repaid Jackson the $1,000 fine he had
paid for contempt in New Orleans so many years before–complete
with accumulated interest, a total of $2,732. On a Sunday afternoon
in June 1845, the seventy-eight year old former President Jackson
died. He was buried next to his late wife, Rachel.
