Synopsis
Robert V. Remini′s prize-winning, three-volume biography Life of Andrew Jackson won the National Book Award on its completion in 1984 and is recognized as one of the greatest lives of a U.S. President. In this meticulously crafted single-volume abridgment, Remini captures the essence of the life and career of the seventh president of the United States. As president, from 1829-1837, Jackson was a significant force in the nations′s expansion, the growth of presidential power, and the transition from republicanism to democracy.
Jackson is a highly controversial figure who is undergoing historical reconsideration today. He is known as spurring the emergence of the modern American political division of Republican and Democractic parties, for the infamous Indian removal on the Trail of Tears, and for his brave victory against the British as Major General at the Battle of New Orleans.
Never an apologist, Remini portrays Jackson as a foreceful, sometimes tragic, hero--a man whose strength and flaws were larger than life, a president whose conviction provided the nation with one of the most influential, colorful, and controversial administrations in our history.
Publishers Weekly
Remini is the author of an acclaimed three-volume biography of the seventh president and now follows up with a superb condensation that incorporates the results of recent research. He describes Old Hickory's early struggle to overcome his reputation as a violent and vengeful man (``virtually a social outcast'' in western Tennessee); the spectacular fulfillment of his search for military glory at Horseshoe Bend and New Orleans; and his frequently turbulent two-term administration (1829-1837). In this vivid biography, Remini analyzes his subject's shortcomings, which included wretched administrative appointments, inability to replace the corrupt U.S. Bank with a better system and failure to bring Texas into the Union. But the overall emphasis is on a chief executive who ``served the American people extremely well,'' preserved the integrity of the Union, saved the government from misrule and liquidated the national debt. Jackson stepped down from office more popular than when he entered the White House. Illustrations. (August)