From 1824-1865, America was ruled by various presidents whose achievements in leadership are highly praised. This paper will discuss three presidents who I believe did the best job in that period. The presidents will include Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and John Tyler.
Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He was a revered politician and an army general who was instrumental in winning the Battle of New Orleans against the British in 1815. As a president, he successfully relocated the native Indian tribes living in the Southeast of the Mississippi river to the Southwest (Clark & Remini, 2009).He was elected as president in 1828.
During his tenure as president, the country was faced by various adversities. Although one of the greatest achievements in his rule was paying off the entire national debt in 1835, the accomplishment was short lived. In 1837 to 1844, the country experienced a severe depression that caused the country to be in debt ten times. Following Jefferson’s vision of an agricultural republic, Andrew Jackson worked hard to destroy the Bank of America, which he viewed as a concentrating on enriching the industrialists and commercial entrepreneurs and disregarding the farmers. The elites heavily criticized Jackson, but he successfully withdrew money from the Bank and invested it in smaller banks.
This helped in stimulating economic growth in different sectors including manufacturing and agriculture. However, in 1837, there was a panic after Jackson issued the Specie Circular that saw many banks collapse (Clark & Remini, 2009).
Another crisis that rocked his administration was the nullification crisis also known as the secession crisis. In 1828-1832, there were disagreements in the government over tariffs. The Southerners criticized the tariffs because they believed the tariffs were making goods to be more expensive in the south than in the north of the country. At this point, the country was facing the risk of secession of South Carolina and Jackson vowed to send forces to the region.
In his address, he said, “the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, is inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded ” (Story, 2005 p.547). He continued and out rightly objected to any state seceding from the union, “The Constitution… forms a government not a league… To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States is not a nation” (Story, 2005 p.552). This led to the Southerners agreeing to a reduced compromised rate and war was averted.
John Tyler was the 10th head of state in the United States of America. His persistent confidence and activism accounts for his accomplishments while in office. He was always open and kind to the citizens. He led the nation during a time of global financial crisis and facilitated a durable alliance that realigned the states politics for decades (Walker, 2001). In 1842, Tyler made it simple for America to trade with other nations through the Treaty of Wanghia. It is through the treaty that United States gained the privilege of extraterritoriality and its economy improved (Walker, 2001).
Another chief achievement of John Tyler rests on the field of foreign principles. He brought into law the resolution for Texas annexation three days before his resignation and this created a new chapter in the country’s history. It is through John Tyler that vice presidents in the United States were given the right to assume all powers of a president during presidential vacancies. He also practiced the veto for ten times. John Tyler ended the Seminole war, organized for the nation’s first trade mission, and enlarged the Monroe doctrine to involve Hawaii (Henretta, Edwards & Self, 2011).
John Tyler faced a challenge in his presidency since he did not have a vice president. The constitution at that time had no provisions for a vice president position and as a result, the citizens claimed that Tyler was just but an acting president. He fought against this view and won legitimacy. Another challenge faced by John Tyler is the fact his entire cabinet resigned from work in 1841. The United States citizens referred to him as “His Accidency” since they did not think that at one time he would be their head of state. To respond to these challenges, Tyler stayed strong and dedicated himself more to lead the nation (Walker, 2001).
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of America. He served as president from 1861 until 1865 when he was assassinated. During his tenure, he led a country that was facing great military, constitutional, and moral crises. He is remembered for his actions in averting secession, ending slavery and restructuring the financial and economic structures. Lincoln was from a poor background, but this did not deter his resolve to be successful, making him one of the greatest presidents of the United States (McPherson, 2009).
To the South, his election marked the beginning of secession. By the time he was being inaugurated, seven states had seceded and this marked the start of the civil war and his struggle to reunite the country. In his struggle to accomplish this, he faced opposition from the confederates as well as people on his side. During the civil war, he issued a suspension of habeas corpus and closed down many of the confederate ports. He extended his presidential powers, but practiced them with restraint (McPherson, 2009).
One of the greatest challenges he faced was leading the army where he made poor military decisions that led to the Union defeat in Virginia at the battle of Bull Run. During the civil war, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862 that resulted to many slaves being freed. His cabinet was always arguing with many fighting amongst themselves and this undermined the fight for reunification of the states (McPherson, 2009).
The preservation and restoration of the Union was the main aim of Lincoln though he faced a lot of criticism, with the help of the Union forces. During the last days of the war, his plea was to see the country rise from the ashes of the South. In one of his most memorable quote, he addressed a gathering and said, “With malice toward none; with charity for all” (Mott, 2007 p.90). Abraham Lincoln was successful in re uniting the states, but he did not live to implement his plans for reconstruction of the country. On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth at the Ford’s theater assassinated him and this made him to be regarded a martyr by many including his opponents (McPherson, 2009).
Conclusion
The above three presidents were very instrumental in shaping the history of the country and are thus ranked among the greatest presidents who ruled between 1824 and 1865.
References
Clark, W. K., & Remini, R. V. (2009). Andrew Jackson: Great Generals. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Henretta, A., Edwards, R., & Self, O. (2011). America’s History. New York: Bedford Martins.
McPherson, J. M. (2009). Abraham Lincoln. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mott, M. B. (2007). Lincoln. New York: Martin B. Brown.
Story, J. (2005). Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States: with a preliminary review of the constitutional history of the colonies and states, before the adoption of the Constitution. Clark: Law book Exchange.
Walker, J.C. (2001). John Tyler: a president of many firsts. Blacksburg: McDonald & Woodward.