Andrew Jackson and His Tennessee Lieutenants: A Study in Political Culture

(Hardback)

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Andrew Jackson and those Tennesseans who, along with him, were a major force in Tennessee and American political life can best be understood by examining the political culture they all shared. The ten men studied here were the children or grandchildren of immigrants from either the Scottish lowlands or the north of Ireland. All experienced the rise from the yeoman/artisan class to that of landed gentry, and all displayed in their adult lives the influence of that move from one socioeconomic class to another. This view of Jackson and his closest friends suggests a view of these men's motives; their values, attitudes, and beliefs were somewhat different than historians have pictured for us. These Jacksonians sought to preserve the world of their fathers while changing their place in the world. They looked back but moved ahead; they were self-interested but tempered always by a selfless ideal.

Reviews

[R]atner presents a provocative idea that should be borne in mind by future Jacksonian scholars. Also, the biographical sketches, particulary those of lesser-known figures like John Coffee and George Washington Campbell, should serve as useful sources.-The Journal of Southern History
A fine overview of a controversial, but admirable populist President and the equally colorful and honor-bound men who were his confidants and comrades in the nation's early western-looking development.-Scan-A-Book
"Ratner presents a provocative idea that should be borne in mind by future Jacksonian scholars. Also, the biographical sketches, particulary those of lesser-known figures like John Coffee and George Washington Campbell, should serve as useful sources."-The Journal of Southern History
"A fine overview of a controversial, but admirable populist President and the equally colorful and honor-bound men who were his confidants and comrades in the nation's early western-looking development."-Scan-A-Book
"[R]atner presents a provocative idea that should be borne in mind by future Jacksonian scholars. Also, the biographical sketches, particulary those of lesser-known figures like John Coffee and George Washington Campbell, should serve as useful sources."-The Journal of Southern History

Author Bio

LORMAN A. RATNER is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Tennessee and Adjunct Professor of History at the University of Illinois, Urbana.