Books and Manuscripts

Andrew Jackson Deplores Journalists and Pamphleteers Who Slander Him and His Family in the Lead-up to the 1828 Presidential Election

"...they will fight or lie for those who pay them best--& as long as their employers pay them well--poor men, I lament their want of principle & proper regard for truth--Truth is mighty and will ultimately prevail, when the Slanders, propagated by these hired panders of power against me or my family, will recoil upon their own heads, & fall harmless at my feet..."

Hermitage, May 30, 1827. One sheet folded to make four pages, 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (251 x 200 mm). Lengthy autograph letter, signed by Andrew Jackson, to William Douglass, a friend and political supporter from Louisville, Kentucky, advising Douglass on a career path for his son, and lamenting against journalists and pamphleteers who slander his and his family's name; addressed on integral leaf by Jackson, with "Gen. Jackson", seemingly in another hand, scratched out; docketed on integral leaf, postmark stamp and original red wax seal on same. Creasing from contemporary folds; sello tape repairs along fore-edge of second page, just touching a few letters, and along folds on fourth page; remnants from old mount in fore-edge corners of fourth page. This letter is printed in Volume VI of The Papers of Andrew Jackson: 1825-1828 (p. 327-328, University of Tennessee Press, 1980).

"My Dear Sir
I have recd your letter of the 6th instant by your son, I assure you it will give me pleasure to render him any service or attention in my power.

I have attended the examinations of the Students ever since Doctor Lindsley presided over the College, and with truth can say, that the Students did honor to themselves, & the institution, & gave conclusive evidence of the ability & attention of the professors-- Your son on every examination, gave evidence of both talents & application--I have no doubt he will graduate at our next commencement in October, with credit to himself, at which, I would be happy to see you, when I would expect the pleasure of seeing you at the Hermitage.

In the choice of a profession for your son, I would recommend you to let him pursue the best of his genius, & choose for himself--he has capacity, with application, to Succeed in any profession--from what I know of him he possesses that necessary ambition to excell in whatever he undertakes, I would therefore ap-probate his studying of law, this being his choice, affords evidence, that it is best suited to his tastes & to his genius.

I have recd the news paper & pamphlet you have mentioned, but until the receipt of your letter, did not know to whom I was indebted for them--for this act of kindness I tender you my thanks--These publications conclusively show the want of principle of the authors, & with what facility they can misrepresent things, & propagate fals-hood (sic), knowing it to be such--Swiss like they will fight or lie for those who pay them best, & as long as their employers pay them well--poor men, I lament their want of principle & proper regard for truth--Truth is mighty and will ultimately prevail, when the Slanders, pro-pagated by these hired panders of power against me or my family, will recoil upon their own heads, & fall harmless at my feet--Under present circumstances, it is gratifying to me to be informed that I still retain the good opinion of your good Citizens, which is evidence that the tissue of Slander and misrepresentations of my enemies, has had no injurious effect on your State--against me, & is recoiling upon the head on my slanderers.

Mrs. J & myself are happy to hear from Mr. Blackburn & his family & to receive their salutations, present us respectfully to them.

Should fortune throw Mrs. J & myself near you, it will give us pleasure to visit you, & your family, to whom present us affectionately--with regard to your son, it will at all times afford me pleasure to serve him, in any way I may have it in my power, & only regret that I have not had more of his company at the Hermitage.

accept assurances of my great respect & believe me your friend

Andrew Jackson

Mr. William Douglass"

As the bitter 1828 presidential election gained momentum in mid-1827, Andrew Jackson writes to a family friend and political supporter, in Louisville, Kentucky, deploring journalists and pamphleteers who slandered Jackson and his family. Although the election was a year and half away, the campaign season had already begun to shape into what is considered one of the ugliest in American history. Jackson once again faced John Quincy Adams in a rematch of the controversial election of 1824 that had landed Adams in the White House. Jackson's supporters deemed Adams's win a result of a "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Speaker of the House Henry Clay. According to them Clay steered votes in the House election in return for the cabinet position of Secretary of State. Jackson's supporters cried corruption and the resulting animosity fractured the Democratic-Republican party and laid the ground for a deeply volatile upcoming election season.

The campaign of 1828 started almost immediately as Adams's presidency began, and was characterized by its mudslinging personal attacks in the press that grew more caustic as the election approached. Jackson, the undisputed nominee for the newly forming Democratic Party, ran as a populist representing the everday American and campaigned on a vow to clean out the corrupt corridors of Washington--characterized in Adams's presidency. Promoting his own war record, patriotism, and opposition to corruption, Jackson campaigned and successfully cobbled together a diverse coalition of Northerners, Westerners, and Southerners, disillusioned with what they viewed as Adams's overreaching agenda.

Seeking a way to puncture Jackson's incredible popularity, the Adams camp attacked Jackson with scandalous charges, and called into question his military record and moral fitness for the presidency by labeling him a murderer, tyrant, and adulterer--which Jackson reacts to in this letter. The last charge of adultery was especially bruising for Jackson and his wife Rachel, as the circumstances of their marriage in the 1790s came under intense public scrutiny. Due to her unfinalized divorce when she met and married Jackson in the 1790s the press labeled them adulterers and bigamists, and villified Jackson as a predator. Their early relationship aroused intense speculation in the partisan press and provided intense political fodder for Jackson's opponents, that resulted in severe emotional distress for Rachel. The first article concerning their marriage appeared less than two months before this letter, on March 23, in the pro-Adams Cincinnati Gazette. Edited by Adams supporter and friend of Clay, Charles Hammond, the piece called Jackson the paramour in the affair, and labeled Rachel an adulteress. Hammond followed up his article with more sordid revelations in his campaign journal, Truth's Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor, and in his later pamphlet, View of General Jackson's Domestic Relations, in Reference to his Fitness for the Presidency. For the next year and a half the scandal was widely reported in partisan newspapers across the nation, and was endlessly debated with moral fervor by both camps, often with Jackson himself assisting sympathetic editors in their responses.

Although Jackson won the 1828 election in a landslide, the partisan attacks left him incredibly bitter, and when Rachel died suddenly days before his inauguration, he blamed the campaign as contributing to her death.

William Douglass (1780-1839) was a Louisville, Kentucky businessman, and friend of Andrew and Rachel Jackson. His son, to whom Douglass requests advice from Jackson, was George Lattimore Douglass (1808-89). Following his graduation, George returned to Louisville to engage in law and business. Mr. Blackburn is Gideon Blackburn (1772-1838), a Presbyterian minister living in Louisville at the time, who had served under Jackson as a chaplain during the Natchez Expedition in 1813.