Analysis Of Andrew Jackson And The Search For Vindication, By James C. Curtis

Malorie Broussard
HIST 1302
November 17, 2016
Renée Celeste
Vindicate Or Be Vindicated
“Impetuosity, boastfulness, recklessness, daring” (19) – all traits that described Andrew Jackson as a human and as our country’s seventh president. Moreover, this is what James C. Curtis thinks of Jackson. In Curtis’s biography, Andrew Jackson and the Search for Vindication, Curtis describes Jackson’s life from birth to death in a psychological way through his tenacious personality and lifelong quest for power. Through his martial fame, heroism, and presidency, he was considered a “sick man” (53).
Persuaded by Professor Peter Carroll of Stanford, James Curtis was intrigued by Jackson’s personal down falls. “While often critical of the hero, I have tried

In 1815, Jackson led his out numbered army to defeat the British in The Battle of New Orleans. Prideful of his victory, he had wished “[his mother] could have lived to see this day” (66). Growing up the youngest and named after his dead father, he never wanted to disappoint his mother. For those reasons Andrew Jackson seemed to always feel like he had to prove himself self to people, more so himself. Yet, the Battle of New Orleans “made him the outstanding hero of the conflict, and perhaps the most popular man in America” (Wiltse

Curtis portrays Jackson as he sees him. From research and scholarly help, he grasps an inside on how Jackson felt on certain stressful situations. This psychological aspect of history is fascinating to me and stands out over other bibliographies. Jackson, when pronounced the new president after two elections, said “‘[he was] filled with gratitude, still [his] mind [was] depressed’” (92). He was coming into a presidency characterized my negative personal attacks and mourning over the death of his wife. Although Jackson was a fighter, his emotions could not win this battle. The negative aspect of this work is the tone of the book. Curtis seems to be very one sided and only expresses the way Jackson felt. I would have liked to see how other people he influenced thought of his decisions. Unlike Cady Stanton’s biography, this book gets only the opinion from Jackson point of view. For example, in Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Radical for Woman’s Rights, Lois Banner, author, investigated into Stanton’s later family who were still alive which gave Banner a more personal insight into her