When he is
calm, his judgment is good; when angry, it is usually bad.... His
patriotism is no more to be questioned than that of Washington. He is
the greatest General we have and, except Washington, the greatest we
ever had."
To this characterization of Andrew Jackson by his greatest American
contemporary it is impossible to make noteworthy addition. His was a
character of striking contradictions. His personal virtues were
honesty, bravery, open-heartedness, chivalry toward women,
hospitality, steadfastness. His personal faults were irascibility,
egotism, stubbornness, vindictiveness, and intolerance of the opinions
of others. He was not a statesman; yet some of the highest qualities
of statesmanship were in him. He had a perception of the public will
which has rarely been surpassed; and in most, if not all, of the great
issues of his time he had a grasp of the right end of the question.
The country came to the belief that the National Bank should not be
revived. It accepted and perpetuated Van Buren's independent treasury
plan.
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