The Imperial Presidency: The Legacies of President Alexander Hamilton and President Andrew Jackson

Published in New York City, New York (2009)

"Peace is all I wish for. Peace for our nation, and peace in the Americas. But if words fail, then our great country will not hesitate to use force to guard our beloved ideals."

-Andrew Jackson, Fifth President of the United States.

"Andrew Jackson was like Alexander Hamilton in many ways. He was charismatic, an excellent orator, and unwavering even in face of strong opposition. By the time the 1812 elections rolled around in the United States, Jackson had been a member of the House of Representatives for over a decade. During his time in the House, he fostered an image of the "common man standing up to the elites." He was passionate in his speeches and deeply committed to his goal of improving the lives of every American common man and woman. Representative Jackson promoted various social programs to help ease poor Americans, advocated for rewards and incentives for independent innovators and business that created new inventions, supported a peaceful resolution with the Sioux Indians, and fought corruption in the federal government. While some of his fellow Congressmen disliked the "brash and loud North Carolinian," the public adored him. Not only was he a popular Congressman, but he was also a war veteran (who fought in the Revolutionary War at the age of ten), a former farmer (working in the fields with his mother, two brothers, and several African American workers before he joined the Marine Corps), and a recognized explorer (traveled throughout the west and mapped out significant parts of the Missouri River). He was relatable, often spending time away from Columbia to speak with ordinary citizens in Wilmington and other urban areas in the South. In short, he was easily the Union Party's presidential nominee for the 1812 Presidential Elections.

At the time of the 1812 Presidential Elections, the number of total Electoral Votes increased from 240 to 253 (accounting for the admission of Akanasa, Wisconsin, and Alabama as states). With the addition of more states in the West, Jackson knew it was critical for the Front to back the Unionists in the upcoming elections. Therefore, he and his party negotiated with the Frontier Party to avoid a split vote and after some political dealings, the Frontier Party agreed. As such, the Union Party and the Frontier Party were firmly behind Jackson's run for the presidency (though, he would be considered a "Unionist" president instead of a "Unionist-Front" president). Meanwhile, on the opposite side, the Republicans and Democrats rallied around Nathan Alarie, the first Canadien (also referred to as Quebecois and Canadien-American) presidential nominee of a major political party. A staunch Republican, Alarie served as a Representative in the House from 1800 to 1804 before being elected into the Senate. An experienced politician with strong backing from the Canadien and several northern states, Senator Alarie was known to be a well-intentioned man with a quiet voice. His platform promised realistic and tangible policies, such as creating a program for farming cooperatives to loan out farming equipment owned by the government, providing employment for new immigrants, and establishing a safeguard against government entrenchment in private businesses (though, Alarie was fully supportive of the Hamilton Anti-Monopoly Bill). On paper, it seemed like the 1812 Presidential Election would be a close one as both candidates were highly qualified and filled with promising intentions.

However, the reality was much different. President Hamilton was extremely popular during his time in office. Even his more controversial policies (such as purchasing Iceland and Greenland from Denmark) were met with enthusiasm at home and his clean sweep in the 1808 elections demonstrated this. Not only that but with the rise of railroads and telegraphs, the public saw the necessity for a president that would push these new and mystifying inventions into prominence. Additionally, since Hamilton was a Unionist, many sought to continue Hamilton's popular domestic policies by electing another Unionist into the White House. The public's perception was not the only reason why Jackson won the 1812 Presidential Election outright. Indeed, Jackson was a gifted and fiery orator. When debating Alarie, Jackson constantly went on the offensive against his soft-spoken opponent by questioning the finer details of his policies. Thus, the public saw the Unionist candidate as a man with conviction and boldness while they saw the Republican candidate as a withdrawn and weak person who was easily pushed around.

253 Electoral Votes in total, 127 needed to win.

Candidate: Andrew Jackson Nathan Alarie Political Party: Union Party Republican Party Electoral Votes: 175 78

On November 3rd, the nation went to the ballot box to vote for their next president. The turnout rate was low, hovering in the mid-sixties, which was mainly attributed to the fact that the public believed Jackson was destined to win. They were correct, as Jackson was declared the next president of the United States after the votes were counted, winning 175 Electoral Votes to Alarie's 78. Despite his southern background, Jackson won large swathes of the north and west, while winning a majority in many southern states as well. While Alarie dominated Quebec and Ontario, he struggled to win a majority of the Electoral Votes elsewhere. Outside of the Canadien states, Alarie only won a majority in Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania. Thus the Fifth President of the United States was selected with little controversy and the United States continued its path of progressivism and government expansion.

When President Andrew Jackson was sworn in on February 10th, 1813, he was met with an excited crowd of over fifty thousand citizens that were eager to see the "common man" enter the White House. In a rousing speech, Jackson declared that he would usher in a continued age of "progress and prosperity, following the ideals left by America's Father." This was the first reference that placed Samuel Kim, the nation's first president, as the "Father" of the United States and it left a favorable impression on the crowd. After the Oath of Office, the new president proceeded to throw one of the biggest parties ever thrown by a president. The public was invited to join the festivities within the White House (though, certain corridors and rooms were sealed off to prevent any theft or damage) and the people eagerly obliged. In what would be known as the "Three Days of Jubliee" by historians, thousands of Americans celebrated and partied for three straight days in and around the White House. The festivities were so loud and prominent that Representative Nathaniel Bonapart commented, "From the halls of the Capitol, I could hear the National Anthem being sung by drunk citizens on the streets. Yet, it is only one in the afternoon." It is also rumored that the "Three Days of Jubliee" created the first drink called "milk tea," which was a mix of creamer, green tea, sugar, and ice...

After the celebrations died down and the mess at the White House was cleaned (which took approximately five whole days, according to the logs of the White House staff), President Jackson went to work. During the weekdays, he focused on pushing forth his policies through Congress, while during weekends, he met with the American people frequently and listened to their concerns and problems. Modeling himself off of President Kim, Andrew Jackson was a keen listener and a tangible friend to normal Americans. In fact, a number of his policies were implemented mainly due to his interactions with the common folks (such as the expansion of federally funded hospitals, scholarships for students from poor families, translators for immigrants, etc.). However, many of his policies were his own, and they would go onto change American history much like Hamilton.

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Jackson implemented the Food, Alcohol, and Drug Administration (FADA) to regulate the purity of alcohol, ensure that rotten and spoiled food were not sold at markets, and provide further administrative capabilities to the American Society of Medicine (which would be one of the closest partners to the FADA) a year after entering office. The FADA would go onto become one of the most necessary federal agencies, as it would grow to provide quality control in the food processing industries and restaurants, along with preventing the widespread sales of moonshine and black market drugs. While the scope of the FADA was limited when Jackson created the agency, it would become a powerful arm of the federal government. Additionally, Jackson fought corruption everywhere within the government and expanded the powers of the Department of Internal Affairs to work in conjunction with the FBI to investigate and arrest any corrupt officials. Under Jackson's presidency, hundreds would be investigated and imprisoned for major offenses ranging from embezzlement to election fraud. The North Carolinian also appointed the first female cabinet member, Elizabeth Marshall, who would go on to serve as the first female Secretary of the Treasury. This earned some outcry from the conservative members of Congress and society, but Jackson pushed her nomination through with sheer force and will. It certainly helped that Marshall, who was an extremely wealthy businesswoman and a keen entrepreneur, was well-known to the public. Jackson also adopted some of Alarie's own policies, such as creating a federal program to lend out newly invented farming equipment to farming cooperatives and starting an "employment group" to help new immigrants find jobs upon arriving in the United States. Moreso, the most notable domestic policies under the Jackson presidency was the subsidization of railroads and telegraphs, which allowed the two to explode in growth during Jackson's eight years in office (by the end of 1820, there would be over a thousand miles of railroad tracks in the United States, along with similar amounts of telegraph lines). Debatably, the Homestead Act of 1819 was also an important act that would grant land to millions of settlers out in the west...

Furthermore, Jackson strengthened the American Navy from fifty-five ships to nearly eighty ships by the end of his term in office. With America's influence spreading across the globe and numerous Spanish colonies in the Americas in revolt, the fifth president emphasized the necessity to "talk softly, but carry a big stick." This was the core of his foreign policy methods and his policies allowed America to double its size through the Louisiana Purchase. Spain finally managed to quash liberal rebels within Spain proper after a decade long civil war and was completely bankrupt. At the same time, it was facing multiple rebellions in its colonies and the Spanish populace was on the verge of another revolt. As a result, the Spanish government sold the Louisiana Territory and parts of New Spain to the United States after President Jackson offered $40 million following the Spanish proposal. The southern borders were placed at the Mayo River, the Conchos River, and the Salado River, which was done intentionally as Spain hoped the rebels in New Spain (the Mexican Revolution began in 1817 after King Federinand attempted to remove criollos from the colonial administration and raised taxes) would clash with American settlers, thus creating tense relations between the two groups (in reality, this never happened as American settlers did not reach the area until years after the treaty was signed and America was all too happy to fund republican revolutionaries on its borders). Thus, Jackson's greatest legacy was a foreign one, as it cemented the idea of "Pax Americana" and set up the stage for America to grow into a global superpower by 1865...

At the same time, Jackson also helped establish a lasting peace with the Free Sioux Nation after the Louisiana Purchase. A close friend of Native Americans (to the point where he even adopted a young Native American girl, Sacagawea, as his daughter), Jackson was horrified at the bloody, decades-long conflict between the two sides. When Hamilton directed the military to violently crush the Sioux, Jackson fiercely opposed the move and attempted to find a peaceful end to the war. After being elected president, he worked quickly to bring the violence in the West to a close. In a surprising move, he personally visited the Sioux Nation in 1819 and ironed out a compromise between the two sides (this sudden peace treaty would be due to the Sioux Nation being exhausted after years of warfare and Spain’s withdrawal from the area). Sioux would remain an autonomous territory within the United States for thirty years and enter the nation as a single state afterward. In a show of goodwill, Jackson removed most military units near the Sioux-American border and sent aid to help restore the devastated parts of the “Lakota Territory” (the new name of the Sioux Nation). His works to improve relations between Native American tribes (specifically, the more nomadic ones in the west) and America would make him one of the highest-ranked presidents amongst Native Americans in the future. Unfortunately, Jackson would be unable to completely neuter the resentment among some of the more bellicose Indian warriors, which would result in thousands of them aligning with the British during the Anglo-American War...

Jackson's approach to foreign policy would also secure the independence of Venezuela (the First Republic of Venezuela declared its independence in 1812 after Caracas was captured from Royalists forces following the 1812 Venezuelan Earthquake) and the Federation of South America (which declared its independence in 1814). Though both countries were not recognized by Spain, after the Louisiana Purchase of 1818, the United States forced the issue on Spain, and ultimately, the Iberian nation was "convinced" to stop its wars against the two independent nations (though neither would be recognized by Spain until 1844). With the sovereignty of the new American nations secured, President Jackson extended a warm hand of friendship and provided them with economic support, which would go ways to stabilize the two nations. However, trouble continued to brew for Venezuela, as Simon Bolivar, the commanding general of the Venezuelan Army, started another invasion of New Granada that was ordered by President Miranda (the Second Invasion of New Granada, the first one happened while Spain and Venezuela were still at war with one another) shortly after the agreement between the United States and Spain. Thus, Spain resumed its bloody war against its former colony, while also dealing with an armed revolution in New Spain...

Unintentionally, Jackson fostered Spain's hatred of the American Republic (due to America's rapid expansion and its support for revolutionaries in Spanish colonies), a hatred that would contribute to Spain's entry in the Anglo-American War on the side of the British...

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List of American Presidents:

1780-1788 Samuel Kim (Independent)

1788-1796 Thomas Jefferson (Republican)

1796-1804 James Madison (Republican)

1804-1812 Alexander Hamilton (Unionist-Front)

1812-? Andrew Jackson (Unionist)