Andrew Jackson Expansion of Power or Abuse of Power
Andrew Jackson can be credited for being either one of the best presidents or one of the worst. It can go either way depending on the ideals of the viewer. Many historians believe that Andrew Jackson abused and overstepped the rights to his presidency, whereas others believe that he expanded and enhanced political power. Jackson greatly influenced and enhanced the power of the presidency. Jackson once declared that while each member of Congress represented a specific regional group, only the president represented all the people of the United States. During Jackson 's term he greatly increased the power of the presidency but believed that it was subject to the will of the people. Jackson carried through an unprecedented program of domestic reform, moving toward a hard-money currency policy, and checking the program of federal internal improvements. Although Jackson 's presidency was subject to many changes, he disapproved of many actions by Congress and vetoed twelve bills, more then all the previous presidents combined. Many of these bills sought to increase federal spending on domestic improvements. The democrats believed that the states, not the national government, should pay for such projects. Overall Jackson 's strong actions won him much praise from the people and in the election of 1828 and 1832 he won a lot of popular votes. He believed himself to be the people 's man and established during his presidency many goals for the expansion and benefit of America. One goal that Jackson believed to be very important was the termination of the Bank of the United States, the "monster bank", which he viewed as a tool for the elitists; he attacked the bank and was successful in destroying it. But aside from that he also accomplished many other things during his presidency. He successfully resolved the nullification crisis in which South Carolina threatened to secede from the Union. He also strengthened the Democratic Party and institutionalized the party system in