Customer Reviews

The Life of Andrew Jackson

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I'll start by admiting that I'm not exactly an Andrew Jackson fan. He seems to me to be arrogant, egotistical and has a habit of refusing to listen (with any real seriousness) to differing views on a subject once his mind is already made up. I still hold these views, but Remini presents to us a man who is much more than the one-dementional figure described above.

Like most, I have low expectations of a book that is a one volume version of mulitple volumes (Remini cut 1600+ pages into under 400). They tend to simply give a recap of the events of the subjects life without much explaination or connection between events. Happily, Remini's book does not fit that stereotype. In the introduction, Remini says that he keeps in mind that this will most likely be read casually by people mildly familiar with Jackson. He therefore specifically points to events in Jackson's life and tell the reader, "this is important because later Jackson will remember this and..." He does this from the earliest days of Jackson's life; admitting that Jackson was a bully of sorts, Remini also says that he might not be so abrasive if he had the influence of his father (who died before Jackson was born) or if he didn't have to rely on charity from his uncles and aunts to survive.

Through this technique, Remini gives the reader a fuller view of Jackson and how the many circumstances of his life come together to produce a unique man. Along with the man's characteristics mentioned in the first chapter, Jackson is also extremely patriotic, devoted to the Christian religion, slightly paranoid, in constant pain from bullets lodged in his body and a refusal to let himself rest, a workaholic, and an excellent strategist.

While I do agree with some that Remini could have elaborated more with regards to certain issues (the question "Was Jackson right to attack the bank? What were the long lasting effects? Were there other options?" etc.), it was not especially necessary, considering his goal was to introduce people to Jackson's life, not so much his life and times or legacy.

In sum, this is an admirable one volume treatment of one of America's most complex United States presidents and war heroes. If you're looking for a one-volume biography of Jackson, I don't imagine you would find many better.

Andrew Jackson looked like a bit of a lemon (as far as the American voter was concerned) when he went into the White House. When he came out, he looked much better. How did he do it?

This is a careful condensation of Remini's 3-volume work on Jackson that incorporates the result of more recent scholarship and research. Remini describes our 7th President's struggle to overcome his reputation as a violent and vengeful man who was almost a social outcast in Western Tennessee.

Remini analyses Jackson's shortcomings, which include some very human mistakes, and his inability to bring Texas into the Union. Emphasizing that Jackson "served the American people extremely well" by preserving the integrity of the Union, saving the government from misrule, and liquidating the public debt, Remini shows why Jackson was more popular when he left the White House than he was when he went in. Don't look for an in-depth political treatise here but you will find sufficient material to give you a well-rounded, sympathetic look at a complicated man in an equally complicated time.

It's not meant to be comprehensive -- you'll find that in the larger work -- this is meant to be what it is. It's a fascinating, readable and entertaining story of how that political turn-about happened, written by one of America's foremost biographers.

This is a gripping, well-written chronological account of Jackson's life from his 1767 birth in South Carolina to his death at the Hermitage in 1845. With a gifted, engaging literary style, Remini paints a series of memorable portraits of all the major scenes in Jackson's life. For instance, the opening pages describing the Battle of New Orleans are filled with more tension and excitement than most fiction!

Remini's literary, impressionistic style works most of the time, but for the complex political issues that come up when Jackson is president a bit more analysis would be useful. For instance, Remini describes in detail Jackson's hatred of the Bank of the United States, but never goes into any detailed discussion about whether this hatred was justified or the putative wrong-doings of the Bank. In that sense, the book is incomplete.

Some reviewers have worried that Remini overlooks the horrible fate of the Native Americans under Jackson's rule, such as the forced relocation of Native Americans to reservations west of the Mississippi. I must differ with these reviewers. For instance, in summarizing Jackson's treatment of the Native Americans, Remini says:

The removal of the American Indians was one of the most significant and tragic acts of the Jackson administration. It was accomplished in total violation not only of American principles of justice and law but of Jackson's own strict code of conduct (this is from p. 219).

Finally, to Remini's credit as an editor, the fact that this is a distilled version of his own three-volume work on Jackson never comes through. I would recommend 'The Life of Andrew Jackson' to anyone who wants an introduction to Andrew Jackson's personal and political lives, and doesn't mind missing out on some of finer political complexities of Jackson's time.

"The Life of Andrew Jackson," written in 1988, is an abridgment of Robert V. Remini's masterful three-volume Jackson biography comprised of "Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Empire;" " Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Freedom;" and "Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Democracy."

Normally, I shy away from reading single volume abridgments of multi-volume works. In this particular case, I ended up reading the shorter version AFTER I had finished Remini's longer, more detailed triptych. As abridgments go, "The Life of Andrew Jackson" is decently written. It encapsulates the long and controversial life of Andrew Jackson clearly and succinctly. Unfortunately, it has one glaring flaw: it lacks much of the fine detail I look for in presidential biographies.

Exactly who was this extraordinary man who became our nation's chief executive? Born in 1767 in South Carolina, Jackson was Revolutionary War hero by age 12. As a young man, in Tennessee, he became a lawyer, judge, major general of the Tennessee militia. He made his fortune as a land speculator; married the great love of his life, Rachel Donelson. He killed at least two men while fighting several duels; the wounds he received while duelling caused him lifelong pain.

Jackson gained national stature as a military hero. His most famous victory came on January 8, 1815, at the end of the War of 1812. It was there he led American forces to an overwhelming victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans.

After losing in the 1824 Presidential election to John Quincy Adams, Jackson was elected President of the United States in 1828; a champion of majority rule in America, he passionately believed that the office of President was the only one that represented all the people, and that the president must be obedient to the will of all the people. Jackson's party became the Democratic party that lasts to this day. His political opponents became "National Republicans," then "Whigs," and finally, in the 1850's, the Republican party that exists today.

When Andrew Jackson died in 1845, at age 78, his legacy was vast indeed. He left behind an America transformed by democratic principles; a nation which had taken its rightful place among the nations of the world; a nation of peace and prosperity. But, also a nation about to be riven by the simmering dual controversies of states' rights and slavery.

Robert V. Remini's biographies of Andrew Jackson are imbued with the highest degree of scholarship, and brilliantly capture the essence of this towering figure in early nineteenth century history. Because Remini uses a wonderfully conversational writing style, the pace of the story never flags and the reading never becomes dry or stuffy. That's true even when Remini discusses political and economic issues.

"The Life of Andrew Jackson's" primary flaw is its brevity. I think Remini cut far too much detail from this abridgment to do Jackson the level of justice he deserves. It touches too lightly on many aspects of Jackson's life and times. I got the feeling that "The Life of Andrew Jackson" was deliberately left too short in order to encourage readers to opt for the three-volume set.

If you only want to familiarize yourself with the basics of Andrew Jackson, without going into any substantial detail, "The Life of Andrew Jackson" is the ideal book for you. You'll find a neat, brief encapsulation of the man and the President. If you'd like the broader, "meatier," more detailed story of our nation's 7th president: skip "The Life of Andrew Jackson" and go directly to Remini's much longer but much more detailed three-volume biography.

Remini writes a relatively readable biography of Jackson that coveres all the main events in his life. There are two main themes in the book: 1) Jackson's transformation from a rash, angry orphan who kills in duels and executes his soldiers into a president of dignity, courage, and popularity; and 2) the "corrupt bargain" supposedly made between JQ Adams and Henry Clay in 1825 to deprive Jackson of the presidency, but which created popular anger that deprived Clay of the presidency and propelled the formation of the Democratic party out of the wreckage of the (Jeffersonian) Republican party.

Remini does an excellent job with the first theme, and I have come to have a grudging respect for a man whom I intensely disliked before I read this book because I learned how Jackson changed throughout his life. Some (e.g. Joel Silbey) have called this biography "laudatory," but I must disagree. Remini is frank about Jackson's flaws--the consequences of his anger, the brutality of his Indian removal policy, his hypocritical slave ownership, his uninformed economic policies, his habit of weak appointments to office, etc. But he also shows how this sad, angry kid became a great man and changed American politics from those of a republic to a democracy.

Remini was slightly less successful with the second theme. He uncritically accepts the corrupt bargain as a fact, although at least Nagel's biography of JQA is more skeptical. However, Remini does paint an interesting picture of how the supposed existence of the bargain did influence popular and elite opinion on many other issues during Jackson's career.

The writing is good but not great. Remini covers a very colorful man, so the biography could have been more colorful. At times it seems to drag when he covers the minutaie of legislative intrigue and cabinet politics. But overall the book is interesting and well-written.

Recommended for understanding the era of transition from the post-revolutionary era to the democratic, pre-Civil war era.

I enjoyed every page of this biography. Jackson was an amazing man, who, like Theodore Roosevelt, wore so many hats during his lifetime, frontiersman (sorta), attorney, congressman, general, war hero, President...rebellious at times, pensive and practical at others...born out of the families of Ulster, this Scots-Irish president was one our greatest American gems.

The book made me wish I had read the whole three volume, unabridged version. The writing at times was a bit akward, not sure if the author is from the US or Europe, but otherwise well written, specific, full of footnotes, quotes, etc. Gives you a real feel for what was going on.

Bravo...now I'm off to Madison and Monroe.

After Washington and Lincoln, Andrew Jackson is possibly the most important President in American history, and the most over looked. This book is an abridgement of the author's three volume biography that took 15 years to write. But unlike other abridgements, this one is really quite excellent.

Our first populist president, the first one to truly break the choke hold Virginia's aristocracy had on the formation and development of the early republic, Andrew Jackson was the first Chief Executive to put the American people first.

Remini's Jackson is a man of incredible contrasts. Egotistical yet selfless, hateful yet tender, his devotion to his country is so intense that it borders on chauvinistic. Reckless in the extreme, his explosive temper makes one wonder how he managed to accomplish anything at all. Yet his accomplishments are so paramount and his impact on the development of the early United States so indelible that he has managed to leave a legacy of goodness and of uncorrupted power second to none.

We should all know more about Andrew Jackson. More than any other President he stood fast for the American people. God help the person or country that stood in the way of his serving his people and defending his Nation.

Robert Remini is the expert on Andrew Jackson and the Age of Jackson. This book, which is a culmination of many of his works on Jackson, is a masterpiece of biography. Highly readable, Remini shows why Jackson was one of the best Presidents we ever had. Remini does a good job on not just what Jackson did, but the man himself. Jackson's personality and how and why he was the way he was is a major focus of Remini. I especially enjoyed reading about Jackson's duels and his actions during the South Carolina Nulification. It is not political correct to like Jackson, but you can not deny he was one of our best and most important Presidents. This is a great biography of a great man.

This particular version of Professor Remini's "Life of Andrew Jackson" is a condensation of 3 previous volumes into one highly readable edition. It is just right for those desiring a concise and compact biography of our seventh President without an overload of information and detail. It prominently features the political battles and infighting of the 2 Jackson Administrations, (1828-1836). A prime example is AJ's monumental efforts to dismantle his primary bete noir, The Bank of the United States. Professor Remini also introduces his readers to other key political faces of the early 19th Century as Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and "The Magician", future President Martin van Buren. Congress elected Adams President when no candidate secured a majority of electoral votes in the election of 1824. That drove AJ to run for the White House in 1828. Many Americans, including this reviewer, first learned of AJ because of his military exploits. These include his drives against the Indian tribes in Alabama, his expulsion of Spain from Florida and his great victory over the Brits at the Battle of New Orleans in early 1815. That ended the War of 1812. One has to credit the author for accentuating the significance of that conflict, which pushed England off America's back once and for all. One also has to acknowledge Remini for decent maps of AJ's key military battles: Inadequate maps are a sore point with this reader! There are some weaknesses herein: The tone of LAJ is jointly pedantic and fawning. The maps of AJ's territorial additions to the United States are poor and the typesetting is amateurish. Someone forgot to use the space bar. Folks with bifocals will be challenged! Despite the foregoing carping, LAJ is recommended for earnest readers of American history. The author deserves honors for condensing the life of a very prominent 19th century American President and military hero. It's unlikely Remini hired the typesetter! (A closing note: This reviewer visited the Battle of New Orleans site as a tourist. Remini's account of the battle versus that of the Park Service guide are starkly divergent! This reviewer favors the Professor's version of events but it seems strange that the events of that day in 1815 remain in dispute).

The Life of Andrew Jackson

Remini is best known for his all-inclusive three volumes of the life of Andrew Jackson, and this book is a valuable comprehensive version. Jackson is portrayed with both his strengths and his poor leadership qualities. Overall, however, it is possible to conclude that the author asserts a sympathic version of the man whose era bears his name--Andrew Jackson. This book is an historical narrative at its best.