The Rise of Andrew Jackson: Myth, Manipulation, and the Making of Modern Politics

The Rise of Andrew Jackson recounts our seventh president's unlikely ascent to the highest office in the land. Born poor in what became the border region between North and South Carolina, Jackson's sole claim on the public's affections derived from his victory in a thirty-minute battle in early 1815 on the banks of the Mississippi River. A disputatious, often cruel man, he did not seem cut out for any public office, let alone the highest in the land. Yet he acquired acolytes-operatives, handlers, editors, politicians-who for more than a decade labored to make him the President of the United States, and who finally succeeded in 1828. The acclaimed historians David and Jeanne Heidler are the first to examine Jackson's rise by looking primarily at the men (and they were all men) who made it possible, among them future president Martin van Buren, the Karl Rove of his day; Sam Houston, later a leader of the Texas Revolution; and John Overton, Jackson's onetime roommate and romantic rival. They and other of Jackson's supporters published quaint stories of kindness, such as the rescue of the Indian baby Lyncoya. They made him the friend of debtors (he privately dismissed them as deadbeats) and the advocate for low tariffs or high tariffs (he had no opinion on the matter). They styled him the ideological heir of Thomas Jefferson, though he had openly opposed President Jefferson, and the Sage of Monticello himself had been openly dismayed by Jackson's popularity. The Heidlers have pored over the sources from the era-newspaper accounts, private correspondence, memoirs, and more-to tell a story of rude encampments on frontier campaigns and of countless torch lit gatherings where boisterous men munched barbecue, swigged whiskey, and squinted at speakers standing on tree stumps. Theirs is a tale of ink-stained editors in cluttered newspaper offices churning out partisan copy and of men pondering deals and pledges in the smoke-filled rooms of hotels and meeting halls. The Rise of Andrew Jackson is, in sum, an eye-opening account of the first instance of deliberate image-building and myth-making in American history-of nothing less than the birth of modern politics. Eventually, Jackson's supporters would be called Jacksonian Democrats and their movement would be labeled Jacksonian Democracy, giving the impression that it arose from an ethos espoused by the man himself. Yet as the Heidlers indelibly show, that was just another trick of the men trying to harness the movement, who saw in Jackson an opportunity not so much for helping the little man but for their own personal revenge against the genteel politicos of their day.

About the Author :
Jeanne T. Heidler is professor emerita of history at the United States Air Force Academy. She and her husband, David S. Heidler, have collaborated on numerous books including the critically acclaimed Henry Clay: The Essential American and Washington's Circle: The Creation of the President. They live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Review :
"A revealing...account of what the authors see as the first 'modern' presidential campaign."--Washington Times "A superb chronicle of one of America's first 'modern' political organizations and national campaigns."--Booklist, starred review "An admirable study of the varied political forces that ensured Jackson's presidential triumph and secured his place in early United States history. Readers will find in The Rise of Andrew Jackson all the political intrigue and drama an election brings."--Claremont Review of Books "Many thoughtful citizens feared that Andrew Jackson's election in 1828 spelled the death of the Republic, and this book shows why. Written with verve and conviction, it shows how Jackson's handlers first mastered the trick of packaging a volatile character with a checkered history into an irresistible presidential candidate. In The Rise of Andrew Jackson, David and Jeanne Heidler have given us both an eye-popping story and a sober lesson for our time."--Daniel Feller, University of Tennessee, editor of The Papers of Andrew Jackson "The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 was a victory for the hero of New Orleans but also for an emerging form of popular politics. David and Jeanne Heidler tell the story of both with verve and insight. At a moment when Jacksonian analogies are rife, their book couldn't be more timely."--H.W. Brands, New York Times bestselling author of The General vs. The President "The Heidlers are careful interpreters of contemporary politics, deftly limning the issues surrounding Southern sectionalism and parsing the differences that underlay the electoral battles between John Quincy Adams and Jackson and their claims to be true heirs to the revolutionary tradition of the Founders... A thoughtful survey."--Kirkus Reviews "The Heidlers tell an engrossing story that covers a remarkably complex history in relatively few pages. It is a true page-turner."--New York Journal of Books "This insightful history book is the definitive account of an amazing political era in American history and an amazing president.... With their unmatched scholarly credentials, the Heidlers show how President Andrew Jackson shaped the modern American politics that resonates even today. Both scholars and laypeople will benefit from this meticulously researched book that fills a big hole in the scholarship on American history."--Washington Book Review "This lively and insightful read teaches the reader nearly as much about today's politics as it does about those of the 1820s."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Two of my favorite historians, David and Jeanne Heidler, here explain how a determined band of Andrew Jackson's supporters made him President of the United States, and in the process permanently transformed American politics. The story they tell--carefully researched, cleverly constructed, full of ironies and surprises--is poised to become the definitive account of a still controversial electoral campaign."--Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 "Vividly written, The Rise of Andrew Jackson unpacks Old Hickory's climb to the White House only to find savvy spinmeisters and shrewd political operatives managing him all the way, often straining to control his legendary temper. In providing this misunderstood part of Jackson's story, the Heidlers paint a fascinating portrait of the bare-knuckles politics of the 1820s, one that resonates today."--David O. Stewart, author of The Summer of 1787