This 1966 work is a short biography from the author of the extensive three volume biography of Andrew Jackson that won the 1984 National Book Award. I actually thought I was reading the one-volume abridgment of that set, until I found [book: The Life of Andrew Jackson] listed in an author search.I’m happy to have read the wrong book because this smaller volume has done nothing but pique my desire to read more of a president about whom I’d previously known nothing. Here Jackson is presented as a fast-learning politician, adept at using public support to propel his agenda past a divided Congress (and a perennially jealous Henry Clay). Remini tells of how Jackson used his temper craftily to simultaneously inspire and shame soldiers and congressmen alike, and how Jackson was a steady defender of women friends who had been wronged in a hyper-political press. Remini writes only briefly here about the forced migration of Indians from their native Florida, and his slave ownership, but these items are explored in detail within books previously mentioned.I’m still not sure what I think of Andrew Jackson, but the presentation of his persona through this book has pretty much guaranteed I’ll be turning to Remini for more.
