Trashing the White House
Andrew Jackson became the President of the United States in the election of 1828. Jackson saw his election as a victory for the common man. In the 1824 election, Jackson received the most popular votes but failed to gain electoral victory. The election went to the House of Representatives, where John Quincy Adams gained the Presidency through a series of political deals. Jackson held a grudge against the “powers that be” from that time on.
At Jackson’s inauguration, the White House was thrown open to the “common man.” Kegs of beer were brought in, free food was available; men were crawling through the windows to celebrate their conquest of the establishment. They trashed the place.
Jackson used his philosophy of the common man to hire Federal employees. Jackson believed that any good citizen could do the job, therefore, the most important criteria for employment was their support for Jackson. He cleared the Federal payroll for his supporters, and this became American tradition for the next fifty years. “The spoils system” began with his administration.
In the late nineteenth century, President’s recognized that there was a need for a professional class of government employees, and civil service was instituted in the US. While there remains thousands of political appointments for each new administration, there is the constant of the civil service employees that serves as the backbone of the government.
Enter Donald Trump, choosing Andrew Jackson as his Presidential role model.
Like Jackson, Trump’s ultimate job qualification is loyalty to Trump. While there are a myriad of examples of this, three recent incidents stand out. James Comey, who was specifically asked to pledge loyalty to Donald Trump, in a dinner which Comey took as an “interview” to keep the FBI directorship. Comey declined, and ultimately lost his position.
Vice President Pence needed a new National Security Advisor. He asked that Jon Lerner, a top advisor to United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, be split between the UN and his office. Trump blocked the move; Lerner worked for a pro-Rubio organization during the election, proving his “disloyalty” to Trump. Pence was forced to choose someone else.
And this past week, Trump picked Admiral Ronny Jackson, White House physician, to head the Veterans Administration. Jackson, a surgeon with battlefield experience, was the leader of the seventy-member White House medical team. He was picked to lead the 400,000 employee VA, based on what ultimately seems to be his personal relationship with the President. Now, as allegations fly about his past bad acts, Jackson has withdrawn from the nominating process, his reputation in tatters.
The allegations against Dr. Jackson were easily found, and a critical Navy Inspector General report was on file. But Trump never had these things checked out, and literally threw “his friend” Jackson to the wolves. To Trump, he was a doctor, he was a friend, and he looked good on TV. That was all the qualifications that Jackson needed to gain the nomination.
The historic view of Andrew Jackson’s Presidency has changed in the past twenty years. When I was in school in the 1960’s, Jackson was seen as a powerful President who led “the people” to the fore. Today, Jackson is seen through his actions, including defying the Supreme Court and forcing the euphemistic “Indian Removal,” better known as the Trail of Tears, where hundreds of thousands of Native Americans were forced out of their homes and marched out of the way of American expansion. Thousands died in the process.
Trump has chosen that as his role model, and he probably is getting what he deserved. Andrew Jackson opened the White House, and it got trashed. So did Trump.
