Editing Andrew Jackson (section)

==Legacy==
{{Further|List of memorials to Andrew Jackson}}
[[File:Andrew Jackson statue County Courthouse KC Missouri.jpg|thumb|left|The [[equestrian statue]] of Jackson commissioned by Judge [[Harry S. Truman]] and developed by [[Charles Keck]] in 1934 on display in front of the Jackson County Courthouse in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]]]

Jackson's legacy is controversial and polarizing.{{sfn|Adams|2013|pp=[{{Google Books|id=_z2JMnBpTqgC|pg=PA1|plainurl=yes}} 1–2]}}{{refn|name=JacksonsShiftingLegacy|{{cite web|last=Feller|first=Daniel|title=Andrew Jackson's Shifting Legacy|url=https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/andrew-jackson%27s-shifting-legacy|website=The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History|date=February 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103063436/https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/andrew-jackson's-shifting-legacy|archive-date=November 3, 2014}}}}{{sfn|Sellers|1958|p=615}} His contemporary, [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], depicted him as the spokesperson of the majority and their passions.{{sfn|Tocqueville|1840|pp=392–394}} He has been variously described as a frontiersman personifying the independence of the American West,{{sfn|Turner|1920|p=252–254}} a slave-owning member of the Southern gentry,{{sfn|Cheathem|2014a|loc=[{{Google books|id=ZdStAAAAQBAJ|pg=PP19|plainurl=yes}} Introduction, §9]}} and a [[populist]] who promoted faith in the wisdom of the ordinary citizen.{{sfn|Watson|2017|p=218}} He has been represented as a statesman who substantially advanced the spirit of democracy,{{sfn|Remini|1990|p=6}} and upheld the foundations of American [[constitutionalism]],{{sfn|Brogdon|2011|p=273}} as well as an autocratic [[demagogue]] who crushed political opposition and trampled the law.{{sfn|Nester|2013|p=2–3}}

In the 1920s, Jackson's rise to power became associated with the idea of the "common man".{{sfnm|Adams|2013|1p=[{{Google Books|id=_z2JMnBpTqgC|pg=PA8|plainurl=yes}} 8]|Ward|1962|2p=82}} This idea defined the age as a populist rejection of social elites and a vindication of every person's value independent of class and status.{{sfn|Ward|1962|pp=82–83 }} Jackson was seen as its personification,{{sfn|Murphy|2013|p=[{{Google Books|id=nyIQMv2ODoMC|pg=PA261|plainurl=yes}} 261]}} an individual free of societal constraints who can achieve great things.{{sfn|Fish|1927|p=337-338}} In 1945, [[Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.]]'s influential ''Age of Jackson'' redefined Jackson's legacy through the lens of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]],{{sfn|Adams|2013|pp=[{{Google Books|id=_z2JMnBpTqgC|pg=PA3|plainurl=yes}} 3–4]}} describing the common man as a member of the working class struggling against exploitation by business concerns.{{sfnm|Cheathem|2013|1p=5|Cole|1986|2p=151}}

Jackson's legacy has been variously used by later presidents. [[Abraham Lincoln]] referenced Jackson's ideas when negotiating the challenges to the Union that he faced during 1861, including Jackson's understanding of the constitution during the nullification crisis and the president's right to interpret the constitution.<ref name=WilentzLincoln>{{cite web |url=https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/andrew-jackson%27s-shifting-legacy |title=Abraham Lincoln and Jacksonian Democracy|last=Willentz |first=Sean |date=February 24, 2012 |publisher=The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511233733/https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essays/abraham-lincoln-and-jacksonian-democracy?period=5|archive-date=May 11, 2015}}</ref> Franklin D. Roosevelt used Jackson to redefine the Democratic Party, describing him as a defender of the exploited and downtrodden and as a fighter for social justice and human rights.{{sfn|Brands|2008|p=449–450}}<ref name=RooseveltJackson>{{cite web|first1=Franklin |last1=Roosevelt|title=Jackson Day Dinner Address, Washington D.C.|date=January 8, 1936|website=The American Presidency Project|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/jackson-day-dinner-address-washington-dc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629112817/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/jackson-day-dinner-address-washington-dc|archive-date=June 29, 2019}}</ref> The members of the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948-1955)|Progressive Party]] of 1948 to 1955 saw themselves as the heirs to Jackson.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/progressive-party-platform-1948|title=Progressive Party Platform of 1948 |website=The American Presidency Project |date=July 23, 1948 }}</ref> [[Donald Trump]] used Jackson's legacy to present himself as the president of the common man,{{sfn|Brown|2022|p=[{{Google Books|id=3t9IEAAAQBAJ|pg=PA367|plainurl=yes}} 367]}} praising Jackson for saving the country from a rising aristocracy and protecting American workers with a tariff.<ref>{{cite web|title=Remarks by the President on the 250th anniversary of the Birth of Andrew Jackson|date=March 15, 2017|publisher=[[whitehouse.gov]]|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-250th-anniversary-birth-president-andrew-jackson/ |first1=Donald |last1=Trump |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219181827/https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-250th-anniversary-birth-president-andrew-jackson/|archive-date=December 19, 2017}}</ref> In 2016, [[Barack Obama]]'s administration announced it was removing Jackson's portrait from the [[United States twenty-dollar bill|$20 bill]] and replacing it with one of [[Harriet Tubman]].{{sfn|Thompson|Barchiesi|2018|p=1}} Though the plan was put on hold during Trump's first presidency, [[Joe Biden]]'s administration resumed it in 2021.<ref>{{cite news|last=Crutsinger|first=Martin|date=January 25, 2021|title=Effort to put Tubman on $20 bill restarted under Biden|website=AP News|url=https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-biden-cabinet-harriet-tubman-voting-rights-jen-psaki-56c80108669b268ea3b11ce80b002899|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125205042/https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-biden-cabinet-harriet-tubman-voting-rights-jen-psaki-56c80108669b268ea3b11ce80b002899|archive-date=January 25, 2021}}</ref>

The debate over Jackson's legacy{{mdash}}his significance as an outsider who represents the ultimate triumph of the "common man" or as a symbol of undemocratic racism and brutality{{mdash}}continues into the 21st century.{{sfnm|Barna|2020|1p=17|Freehling|2008|2p=104, fn 5}} The Indian Removal Act has been described as [[ethnic cleansing]].{{sfnm|Anderson|2016|1p=416|Carson|2008|2pp=9–10|Garrison|2002|3pp=2–3|Howe|2007|4p=423|Kakel|2011|5p=[{{Google Books|id=7Nt8DAAAQBAJ|pg=PA158|plainurl=yes}} 158]|Lynn|2019|6p=[{{Google Books|id=bqOfDwAAQBAJ|pg=PA78|plainurl=yes}} 78]}} To achieve the goal of separating Native Americans from the whites,{{sfnm|Perdue|2012|1p=6|Remini|1990|2pp=56–59}} coercive force such as threats and bribes were used to effect removal{{sfnm|Cave|2003|1p=1337|Howe|2007|2p=348}} and unauthorized military force was used when there was resistance,{{sfnm|Cave|2003|1p=1337}} as in the case of the Second Seminole War.{{sfn|Missall|Missall|2004|p=xv–xvii}} The act also has been discussed in the context of [[genocide]],{{sfnm|1a1=Cave|1y=2017|1p=[{{Google book|id=CI7DEAAAQBAJ|pg=PA192|plainurl=yes}} 192]|2a1=Gilo-Whitaker|2y=2019|2pp=[{{Google Books|id=V9GLDwAAQBAJ|pg=PA35|plainurl=yes}} 35–36]|3a1=Kalaitzidis|3a2=Streich|3y=2011|3p=[{{Google books|id=iunEEAAAQBAJ|pg=PA33|plainurl=yes}} 33]}} and its role in the long-term [[Genocide of indigenous peoples#United States colonization of indigenous territories|destruction of Native American societies]] and their cultures continues to be debated.{{sfnm|Ostler|2019|1pp=[{{Google books|id=6zeWDwAAQBAJ|pg=PA365|plainurl=yes}} 365]-[{{Google books|id=6zeWDwAAQBAJ|pg=PA366|plainurl=yes}} 366]|Perdue|2012|2p=3}}  In the last decade, white supremacist groups have used Jackson's image in their literature,<ref>{{cite web|title=White Supremacists Step Up Off-Campus Propaganda Efforts in 2018|website=Anti-Defamation League|year=2018|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/report/white-supremacists-step-campus-propaganda-efforts-2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121115535/https://www.adl.org/resources/report/white-supremacists-step-campus-propaganda-efforts-2018|archive-date=21 Jan 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Extremists, Groups, & Ideologies: Thomas Rousseau|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|year=2025|url=https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/thomas-rousseau/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116234401/https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/thomas-rousseau/|archive-date=16 Jan 2025}}</ref> and in 2020, anti-racist protestors in [[Washington D.C.]] attempted to pull down the [[Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson (Washington, D.C.)|Andrew Jackson statue]] in [[Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.|Lafayette Square]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Winsor |first=Morgan |date=2020-06-23 |title=Protesters try to topple Andrew Jackson statue near White House |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/protesters-topple-andrew-jackson-statue-white-house/story?id=71398486|website=ABC News |language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711070449/https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/protesters-topple-andrew-jackson-statue-white-house/story?id=71398486|archive-date=11 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Ostler|first=Jeffrey|title=Trail of Tears, Plural: What we don't know about Indian removal|magazine=Humanities|publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities|year=2024|volume=45|issue=3|url=https://www.neh.gov/article/trails-tears-plural-what-we-dont-know-about-indian-removal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114125654/https://www.neh.gov/article/trails-tears-plural-what-we-dont-know-about-indian-removal|archive-date=14 Jan 2025}}</ref>

Jackson was historically rated highly as a president, but his reputation began to decline in the 1960s.<ref name="Brands">{{cite web|last=Brands|first=H. W.|year= 2017|title=Andrew Jackson at 250: President's Legacy isn't Pretty, but Neither is History|website=The Tennessean|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2017/03/11/andrew-jackson-250-presidents-legacy-isnt-pretty-but-neither-history/98816804/|access-date=December 7, 2023}}</ref><ref name="FellerLegacy">{{cite web |url=https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/andrew-jackson%27s-shifting-legacy |title=Andrew Jackson's Shifting Legacy |last=Feller |first=Daniel |date=February 24, 2012 |publisher=The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |access-date=August 6, 2022}}</ref> His contradictory legacy is shown in [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States|scholarly rankings]]. In a [[C-SPAN]] poll of historians, Jackson was ranked the 13th in 2009, 18th in 2017, and 22nd in 2021.<ref name="CSPAN2021">{{Cite web|title=Total Scores/Overall Rankings {{!}} C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2021 {{!}} C-SPAN.org|url=https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall|access-date=July 1, 2021|website=www.c-span.org}}</ref> The Presidential Greatness Project, which surveys political scientists, found that Jackson was rated the 9th greatest president in 2014,{{sfn|Rottinghaus|Vaughn|2017}} falling to 15th in 2018{{sfn|Rottinghaus|Eady|Vaughn|2020}} and 21st in 2024,{{sfn|Rottinghaus|Vaughn|2024}} but he was rated the third most polarizing president after Barack Obama and [[George W. Bush]] in 2014{{sfn|Rottinghaus|Vaughn|2017}} and the second most polarizing after Donald Trump in both 2018{{sfn|Rottinghaus|Eady|Vaughn|2020}} and 2024.{{sfn|Rottinghaus|Vaughn|2024}}