Added to these fine qualities was his chivalrous devotion to his wife, the unvarying respect he showed to the other sex, and the purity of his own character. Such a man cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence upon those with whom he comes in contact. In Jackson's estimation, the only living person whose views were right upon every question was himself. He was intolerant of opposition, and merciless in his enmity of a personal opponent. He made mistakes, as was inevitable, and some of them wrought great injury; but even his opponents respected while they feared him, and the qualities which we have indicated gave him a warm place not only in the affection of his own generation but in the generations that came after him.
When his tempestuous career came to a close, Jackson retired to his home, known as the Hermitage, in Tennessee, where he passed his declining years in quiet and peace. He became a devout Christian, and died of consumption, June 8, 1845.
"TO THE VICTORS BELONG THE SPOILS."
It need hardly be said that when Jackson became President he shared his authority with no one. He made up his cabinet of his personal friends, and, on the principle of "To the victors belong the spoils," that an administration to be successful must be composed of those of the same political faith with its head, he began a system of removals from office. The total number of such removals made by his predecessors was seventy-four, some of which were for cause. A year after his inauguration, Jackson had turned 2,000 office-holders out, and, since their successors were obliged in many instances to remove subordinates, in pursuance of the same policy, it will be seen that the President adopted no halfway measures.
He regarded the members of his cabinet as simply clerks, and, when he wished to consult with trusted friends, called together a certain number of boon associates, who became known as his "Kitchen Cabinet."
JACKSON'S FIGHT WITH THE UNITED STATES BANK.
One of the President's unbearable aversions was the United States Bank. He believed that its strength had been exerted against him, and in his first message to Congress, in December, 1829, he charged that it had failed to establish a uniform and sound currency and that its existence was contrary to the spirit of the Constitution. Its charter would expire in 1836, and Congress passed an act renewing it for fifteen years. Jackson vetoed the measure, and the two-thirds majority necessary to pass it again could not be obtained.
By law the deposits of the bank were subject to the secretary of the treasury, who could not remove them without giving Congress his reasons for the step. Jackson ordered his secretary to remove the deposits, and when he very properly refused, the President removed him. He made Roger B. Taney, afterward chief justice of the United States, his new secretary of the treasury, and that pliable official promptly transferred the deposits to certain banks that had been selected.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1832.
Although the fight caused much excitement, and the action of Jackson was bitterly denounced, it added to his popularity, as was proven in the presidential election of 1832, when the following electoral vote was cast: Andrew Jackson, 219; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, National Republican, 49; John Floyd, of Georgia, Independent, 11; William Wirt, of Maryland, Anti-Masonic, 7. For Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, Democrat, of New York, received 189 votes; John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, National Republican, 49; Henry Lee, of Massachusetts, Independent, 11; Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, Anti-Masonic, 7; William Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 30. On the popular vote, Jackson had more than a hundred thousand in excess of all the others in a total of one million and a quarter. It was a great triumph for "Old Hickory."