Andrew Jackson and Richard Nixon

Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was elected into office in 1829 with the popular vote of "more nearly than any of his predecessors" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/aj7.html) and was in office until 1837. He was a very strong president with a strong grasp on his own views and used his power of veto "more than the first six presidents put together" (http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/bio/public/Jackson.htm).

Foreign Policy:
Many know Andrew Jackson as the major general in the War of 1812 when he defeated the British in New Orleans. That was a major experience he had which was the reason for his strong opposition against the British and to his strong defense of American interests. His time in the War of 1812 was one of the earliest foreign policy experiences he had. A second experience occurred when he forced "the French government to pay long-overdue spoliation claims" and to reopen "the British West Indian trade" (http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0151440-0). Another issue was with Texas's desire to become independent. "He was reluctant to split the Democratic party in a domestic controversy over the expansion of slavery or to go to war with Mexico" (http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0151440-0). However, this issue was not resolved and Jackson ended up leaving this problem of the annexation of Texas for one of his successors to make a decision on.

Economy:
Andrew Jackson believed in a strong Union and therefore he openly opposed South Carolina's nonacceptance of the 1832 tariff. They thought that the tariff was much too high and therefore passed an Ordinance of Nullification (which declared the tariff invalid in South Carolina). But Jackson, with his strong views, issued a presidential proclamation and with his popularity in Congress, a compromise tariff was passed in 1833. Another important issue was to whether recharter the Bank of the United States or not. Jackson to Van Buren once said, "The bank is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/aj7.html). Therefore, before his final decision was made, Jackson had greatly weakened the Bank by withdrawing millions of dollars. His opinion was that Congress did not have the power to have created this bank in the first place and that the Bank's only purpose was to benefit the rich by weakening the middle and poor working class. So Jackson used one of his many vetoes (which Congress did not have the necessary votes to override) and the Bank ceased to exist after 1836 when its charter expired.

Richard Nixon, the thirty-seventh president of the United States, and was in office from 1969 to 1974. As many know, he was the first president to resign due to the Watergate Scandal. Before his presidency, he was the vice president to Eisenhower. Though they were never personally close, Nixon's experience as vice president helped him gain knowledge on foreign policy.

Foreign Policy:
Immediately after his election to the presidency, he began the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (also known as SALT) with the Soviet Union. With the talks ending in 1972, what resulted were two treaties. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. Although the U.S. had a superiority in nuclear arms, "indications showed that the Soviet Union was developing weapons that could undermine the American posture. This, along with the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Communist China, created additional complications for U.S. strategic planners" (http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?vendorId=FWNE.fw..st195500.a#FWNE.fw..st195500.a). These negotiations helped to calm those fears of the American people down. Nixon's next big foreign policy step was in 1972. In February of that year, he made a historic trip to Beijing where he was accepted by Mao Zedong. This statement reversed "the U.S. policy of not recognizing the Communist government" (http://ap.grolier.com/article?assetid=0209110-0&templatename=/article/article.html). Nixon, alone, stepped down from his presidential plane and offered his hand to Premier Chou En-lai "to consummate one of the most historic handshakes in diplomatic history, in what Henry Kissinger termed 'splendid solitude'" (http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/nixon_in_china.html).

Economy:
Nixon's worries were mainly of foreign policy when he came into office. However, with the recession, the economy was to be fixed also. In 1971 in a televised speech, he amazed the world by announcing a "series of measures that contradicted everything he was supposed to believe in--wage and price controls, abandonment of the international gold standard, depreciation of the dollar, and deficit spending" (http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/matnix.html). This however was the right move to make even after he predicted that, "This will put the Democrats in a hell of a spot, this whole speech" (http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/matnix.html). The economy was on a rise in 1972 and Nixon won the next election by a landslide. However, another economic problem occurred with imported energy. Due to the U.S. participation in the Yom Kippur War with the Israelites, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries announced a sharp price raise. Therefore, Nixon asked the people take the course of voluntary rationing. "In the month of November 1973, Nixon proposed an extension of Daylight Savings Time and a total ban on the sale of gasoline on Sunday's. But the biggest legislative initiative was the approval by Congress on November 13 of a Trans-Alaskan oil pipeline, designed to supply 2,000,000 barrels of oil a day" (http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2002/arab.html). Thankfully, the Arabs later lifted this embargo.

I believe that though both presidents were great, they also were human and made mistakes. Overall, if I were to compare the acts of each president in one sentence, it would be: Andrew Jackson was involved in both foreign policy and the economy; however, during his presidency, he was most known for his economic stands, specifically against the charter of the Bank. Richard Nixon though he too was involved in both foreign policy and the economy, was most known for his foreign policies, mostly of SALT and of his recognition of China's government.