Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/510

 492 ANDREW JACKSON for the civil authority, or temper, deemed requi- site in the office of president ; and very few be- lieved that the favor which his military successes had produced for him in his own state would find much support in other parts of the Union." But in the ensuing presidential election of 1824 Jackson received 99 electoral votes, 84 being cast for John Quincy Adams, 41 for William II. Crawford, and 37 for Henry Clay. No candidate having received a majority, the choice devolved upon the house of representa- tives, and Adams was elected. Jackson then apparently retired from public life ; but the entire opposition to the administration of Adams supported him for the presidency in 1828, and he was elected, receiving 178 elec- toral votes, while only 83 were cast for Adams. The contest which thus resulted was among the most bitter in American history. Jack- son's whole public career was severely assailed, and his private life was not spared. The cir- cumstances of his marriage were grossly mis- represented, and it is said with fatal effect on Mrs. Jackson, who died only a few days after it was known that her husband had been chosen president. Assuming the presidential office, March 4, 1829, he commenced a course of vigorous government, which he maintained for eight years. Mr. Calhoun, who had been vice president under Adams, and reelected when Jackson was chosen president, headed an influential section of the democratic party, and expected to succeed his chief, who had avowed his intention not to be a candidate for re- election. The president was personally alien- ated from Calhoun on being informed that he had been his enemy in the Monroe cabinet at the time of the Seminole war, and became po- litically hostile in consequence of Calhoun's assertion of the doctrine of nullification. The democratic party, outside of South Carolina, supported the president; and in 1831 a new cabinet was appointed. Mr. Ingham, secretary of the treasury, and a friend of Calhoun, made way for Mr. McLane; Mr. Branch, another friend of Calhoun, left the navy department, which was taken by Mr. Woodbury ; and Mr. Berrien, attorney general, was succeeded by Mr. Taney. Mr. Van Buren gave up the state department to Mr. Livingston, and was appoint- ed minister to England ; and Mr. Eaton retired from the war department, which was taken by Gen. Cass. Scandal attributed these changes, and the rupture that had preceded them, to the influence of Mrs. Eaton, wife of the secretary of war, with whom the wives of the Calhoun leaders, as well as many other ladies, refused to associate. Her husband was an old and in- timate friend of the president, who zealously espoused Mrs. Eaton's side of the quarrel. When the question of Mr. Van Buren's confir- mation came before the senate, in 1832, it was decided in the negative by the casting vote of Calhoun. When congress in 1832 rechartered the bank of the United States, President Jackson vetoed the bill, July 10. His course relative to appointments gave much offence, as numer- ous removals were made on political grounds alone, and the vacancies were filled by the selec- tion of ardent partisans; and this proceeding was the more censured, because the president had advised Monroe to disregard party in ma- king appointments to office. The followers of Calhoun had now become "nullifiers," and threatened open resistance to the government. They demanded the reduction of duties to the extent of the disavowal of the protective prin- ciple, threatening that South Carolina would nullify the revenue laws if they should not be repealed. A state convention of South Caroli- na was held at Columbia in 1832, which took measures for resisting the tariff laws. Jackson was opposed to a high tariff, and was ready to continue his constitutional exertions in behalf of such modifications of existing laws as would leave no reasonable ground for complaint on the part of South Carolina ; but while the tariff laws endured, he was determined that they should be rigidly enforced ; and he early let it be understood that he would show no quarter to active disuuionists. The presidential elec- tion of 1832 came on while the troubles con- cerning the United States bank, nullification, and removals from office were at their height. Jackson had reconsidered his intention not to be a candidate, and was formally nominated, Van Buren being the democratic candidate for vice president. His chief opponent was Mr. Clay, who represented the interests of the friends of the national bank and of protec- tion. Mr. Wirt was nominated for the presi- dency by the anti-masonic party. The con- test, though vigorous, was less personal than that of 1828. When the election was over, it was found that Jackson had been support- ed by every state but seven, Clay receiving the votes of six states, and Wirt those of Ver- mont only. The nullification crisis occurred in the interval between the decision of the con- test of 1832 and Jackson's second inauguration. The president issued his proclamation against the nullifiers on Dec. 10, 1832 ; and the " force bill," to enable him to maintain the supremacy of the laws, was passed. Fortunately, a com- promise was effected, under the lead and influ- ence of Clay, by which the tariff was essen- tially modified, and an excuse for not proceed- ing to extremities was afforded to South Caro- lina. Jackson's second term of service was even a more exciting period than his first. The "bank war" was renewed with vigor. He recommended in his annual message of 1832 that the stock in the bank owned by the gov- ernment should be sold ; and though the house of representatives had declared in favor of continuing the deposits of the public money in the bank, the president resolved upon their re- moval. This was effected on Sept. 22, 1833, when an order was issued by Mr. Taney, secre- tary of the treasury, directing the collectors to cease making deposits in the bank, as no re- moval of money actually on deposit was con-