Overview

A timely, ""solidly researched [and] gracefully written"" (The Wall Street Journal) biography of President Andrew Jackson that offers a fresh reexamination of this charismatic figure in the context of American populism--connecting the complex man and the politician to a longer history of division, dissent, and partisanship that has come to define our current times. Andrew Jackson rose from rural poverty in the Carolinas to become the dominant figure in American politics between Jefferson and Lincoln. His reputation, however, defies easy description. Some regard him as the symbol of a powerful democratic movement that saw early 19th-century voting rights expanded for propertyless white men. Others stress Jackson's prominent role in removing Native American peoples from their ancestral lands, which then became the center of a thriving southern cotton kingdom worked by more than a million enslaved people. A combative, self-defined champion of ""farmers, mechanics, and laborers,"" Jackson railed against East Coast elites and Virginia aristocracy, fostering a brand of democracy that struck a chord with the common man and helped catapult him into the presidency. ""The General,"" as he was known, was the first president to be born of humble origins, first orphan, and thus far the only former prisoner of war to occupy the office. Drawing on a wide range of sources, The First Populist takes a fresh look at Jackson's public career, including the pivotal Battle of New Orleans (1815) and the bitterly fought Bank War; it reveals his marriage to an already married woman and a deadly duel with a Nashville dandy, and analyzes his magnetic hold on the public imagination of the country in the decades between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. ""By assessing the frequent comparisons between Jackson and Donald Trump...the hope is that a fresh understanding of the divisive times of 'the country's original anti-establishment president' might shed light on our own"" (The Christian Science Monitor).

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9781982191108

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Reviews

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE FIRST POPULIST: In this comprehensive and evenhanded biography, historian Brown (The Last American Aristocrat) makes a convincing case that Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was the most consequential American leader between Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. . . . Thoroughly researched and fluidly written, this accessible presidential biography will appeal to admirers of Ron Chernow and Doris Kearns Goodwin. --Publishers Weekly Brown's approach offers an often revealing view of how Jackson, drawing on reserves of charisma and ferocity, leveraged his identity as a political outsider to claim widespread popular support. . . . An instructive exploration of a controversial and enduringly relevant president. --Kirkus Reviews Brown profiles the rise and career of the seventh U.S. President, scrutinizing in particular Jackson's reputation as a populist. . . . Brown juggles the personal and political controversies surrounding Jackson to reveal, as much as possible, what drove the man. --Booklist In this brisk and vividly written biography of Andrew Jackson, David S. Brown gives us a fresh, compelling portrait of Old Hickory. --David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, authors of Henry Clay: The Essential American and The Rise of Andrew Jackson: Myth, Manipulation, and the Making of Modern Politics In a narrative influenced by recent US politics, David S. Brown's The First Populist revisits the contentious question of whether Andrew Jackson was a democratic populist or a charismatic strongman. Then, as now, Brown finds that the line between the two is not always clearly drawn. --Mark Cheathem, author of Andrew Jackson: Southerner David Brown's new book on Jackson is a fine piece of work, both engaging and informative. --Donald Hickey, author of Glorious Victory: Andrew Jackson and the Battle of New Orleans Solidly researched [and] gracefully written. . . . Mr. Brown reminds us that in the Age of Jackson 'common-man democracy's erratic energy collaterally legitimized Indian removal, slavery expansion and the troubling growth of presidential fiat.' --Wall Street Journal Compelling. . . . [Brown] succeeds in placing his subject in the context of his fraught times. . . . By assessing the frequent comparisons between Jackson and Donald Trump, Brown is positioning his reexamination of Jackson as a particularly timely one. The hope is that a fresh understanding of the divisive times of 'the country's original anti-establishment president' might shed light on our own. --Christian Science Monitor Brown deftly conveys what made Jackson so popular and polarizing. . . . The result is a kaleidoscopic approach, connecting moments in Jackson's life to future episodes as well as to his legacy. . . . The First Populist offers a complex portrait of Jackson, one that escapes the simplifications of polemic or hagiography. . . . Brown's life of Jackson deserves to be commended for its combination of accessibility and rigor. As Andrew Jackson continues to capture the imagination of politicians and to scandalize the public, this biography is an excellent guide for anyone interested in coming to grips with our divisive seventh president. --Los Angeles Review of Books

"""Solidly researched [and] gracefully written.'"" --Wall Street Journal ""Compelling. . . . [Brown] succeeds in placing his subject in the context of his fraught times. . . . By assessing the frequent comparisons between Jackson and Donald Trump, Brown is positioning his reexamination of Jackson as a particularly timely one. The hope is that a fresh understanding of the divisive times of 'the country's original anti-establishment president' might shed light on our own."" --Christian Science Monitor ""Kaleidoscopic . . . . The First Populist offers a complex portrait of Jackson, one that escapes the simplifications of polemic or hagiography. . . . [and] deserves to be commended for its combination of accessibility and rigor."" --Los Angeles Review of Books ""Thoroughly researched and fluidly written, this accessible presidential biography will appeal to admirers of Ron Chernow and Doris Kearns Goodwin."" --Publishers Weekly ""Brown's approach offers an often revealing view of how Jackson, drawing on reserves of charisma and ferocity, leveraged his identity as a political outsider to claim widespread popular support. . . . An instructive exploration of a controversial and enduringly relevant president."" --Kirkus Reviews"

Solidly researched [and] gracefully written.' -Wall Street Journal Compelling. . . . [Brown] succeeds in placing his subject in the context of his fraught times. . . . By assessing the frequent comparisons between Jackson and Donald Trump, Brown is positioning his reexamination of Jackson as a particularly timely one. The hope is that a fresh understanding of the divisive times of 'the country's original anti-establishment president' might shed light on our own. -Christian Science Monitor Kaleidoscopic . . . . The First Populist offers a complex portrait of Jackson, one that escapes the simplifications of polemic or hagiography. . . . [and] deserves to be commended for its combination of accessibility and rigor. -Los Angeles Review of Books Thoroughly researched and fluidly written, this accessible presidential biography will appeal to admirers of Ron Chernow and Doris Kearns Goodwin. -Publishers Weekly Brown's approach offers an often revealing view of how Jackson, drawing on reserves of charisma and ferocity, leveraged his identity as a political outsider to claim widespread popular support. . . . An instructive exploration of a controversial and enduringly relevant president. -Kirkus Reviews

Solidly researched [and] gracefully written.' --Wall Street Journal Compelling. . . . [Brown] succeeds in placing his subject in the context of his fraught times. . . . By assessing the frequent comparisons between Jackson and Donald Trump, Brown is positioning his reexamination of Jackson as a particularly timely one. The hope is that a fresh understanding of the divisive times of 'the country's original anti-establishment president' might shed light on our own. --Christian Science Monitor Kaleidoscopic . . . . The First Populist offers a complex portrait of Jackson, one that escapes the simplifications of polemic or hagiography. . . . [and] deserves to be commended for its combination of accessibility and rigor. --Los Angeles Review of Books Thoroughly researched and fluidly written, this accessible presidential biography will appeal to admirers of Ron Chernow and Doris Kearns Goodwin. --Publishers Weekly Brown's approach offers an often revealing view of how Jackson, drawing on reserves of charisma and ferocity, leveraged his identity as a political outsider to claim widespread popular support. . . . An instructive exploration of a controversial and enduringly relevant president. --Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

David S. Brown teaches history at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of eight books, including In the Arena: Theodore Roosevelt in War, Peace, and Revolution; A Hell of a Storm: The Battle for Kansas, the End of Compromise, and the Coming of the Civil War; The First Populist: The Defiant Life of Andrew Jackson; The Last American Aristocrat: The Brilliant Life and Improbable Education of Henry Adams; and biographies of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Richard Hofstadter.

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