In so many ways, Andrew Jackson was the creator of the modern presidency, strengthing the executive branch and standing in defiance of the Congress on matters he thought weakened the Union. Jon Meacham's American Lion: Andrew Jackson in The White House creates the portrait of a strong-willed, principled man, who, through force of will, battled what he saw as corruption (The Bank of the United States) and the greatest threat to the nation - Southern secession. Meacham doesn't hesitate, however, to point out the legendary General's flaws - his attitudes toward slavery were those of a planter, not an emancipator, and his policies toward Native Americans led to Cherokee Trail of Tears.
This is a a great biography of Andrew Jackson, albeit a dense one and slow going. With the spectre of civil war looming for his nation, Jackson was, in many ways, forward thinking, but in others very much a creature of his own time.
-Michael
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