Introduction It was March 4 1837 and Andrew Jackson was no longer president of the United States After eight years in office he’d just handed over the presidency to his loyal vice president Martin Van Buren The festivities exhausted seventy-year-old Jackson whose health was failing He planned to stay at the White House for a few days afterward gathering his strength for the journey home to Tennessee This wood engraving depicts President Martin Van Buren’s inauguration in the US Senate chamber 6
The White House in Jackson’s time The next day while Jackson rested a few friends stopped by to visit him Among them were Missouri senator Thomas Hart Benton and Frank Blair a newspaper publisher and a member of Jackson’s informal circle of advisers The men reminisced about Jackson’s presidency They talked about what Jackson had accomplished and someone asked Jackson if he had any regrets Only two Jackson supposedly replied I regret I was unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C Calhoun Why would a president say such a thing about his colleagues in Congress In modern times if such a remark by the president were made public it would likely bring instant condemnation 7
But such a statement was not out of character for Jackson He had built his career with tough actions and strong words Like a lion he could be both a stalwart protector and a ruthless predator It was no secret that Jackson disliked Clay and Calhoun Clay had been a thorn in Jackson’s side for two decades criticizing Jackson’s military leadership stealing in Jackson’s view the presidency from him in 1824 and opposing his economic policies Jackson thought Clay known as the Great Compromiser was untrustworthy and opportunistic As for Calhoun Jackson found him haughty and cruel on a personal level and dangerously divisive on a political one Jackson believed Calhoun’s strident support for states rights jeopardized the Union And Jackson had in fact once threatened to hang Calhoun for it Jackson’s strong language at the end of his presidency fit perfectly with his public persona Jackson had been a wild youngster a ferocious soldier and a John C Calhoun 8
passionate iron-willed and heavy-handed political leader He made it clear that in retirement he would remain the same barely tamed American lion he’d always been Henry Clay 9
