How Did Andrew Jackson Affect The Economy

Andrew Jackson served as America’s seventh president from 1829 to 1837. Over the course of his presidency, he utilized his role as president to thwart many congressional actions through veto power, a power he used more than any president until his time. Jackson viewed himself as the sole champion of the people, standing in between congressional attempts to favor special interests. Nearly one hundred years after Jackson left office, Progressive president Franklin Roosevelt took office during a time of economic ruin. In line with ideas laid out by earlier Progressive presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt believed that large corporations, and the eventual economic destruction they caused, simply could not be dealt with at a
Roosevelt believed this solution was insufficient, and soon, the Great Depression would provide evidence of this. Regarding America's changing economic and social landscape, Roosevelt claims that statesmanship has always involved redefining rights when there is a changing order. He says, “New conditions impose new requirements upon government and those who conduct government.” Roosevelt explains that the government cannot sit idly by without adapting to the changing conditions of the country. However, he recognizes that this increase in executive power is not ideal. Roosevelt claims that “it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us.” However, sometimes unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, so he asks Congress for “broad executive power to wage a war against this emergency” (Roosevelt, “First Inaugural Address,” 733). On the other hand, Jackson rejected such broad executive power that does not come from the
Jackson laid out a view of federalism that many Progressive presidents, including Roosevelt, disagreed with due to the changing economic conditions. Jackson claims, “The great mass of legislation relating to our internal affairs, was intended to be left where the Federal Convention found it—in the state governments” (Jackson, “First Annual Message,” 291). Jackson recognized that state governments were the ones who should draft the majority of legislation regarding internal affairs. However, with industrial capitalism rising, many progressive presidents believed states could not effectively handle large corporations. In fact, Theodore Roosevelt, the first Progressive president and one from whom Franklin Roosevelt drew many ideas, argues that it was a mistake by local legislatures to try to deal with national economic issues at a local level. Instead, he argues that “executive power [is] the steward of the public welfare.” Instead of dealing with domestic legislation at a state level, as Jackson articulates, Progressive presidents such as Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt argue that dealing with rising industrialism is the job of the enlightened administrators in the executive