Abstract
AbstractDonald Trump’s embrace of Andrew Jackson as his presidential model made Jackson a centerpiece for debate as a kind of stand‐in for American history at large. The Trump camp acclaimed his aggressive nationalism and insurgent populism, while critics condemned him for exemplifying American xenophobia, bigotry, and racism. Both portraits reduced Jackson to caricature. While Trump praised him for purportedly raising tariffs and rattling sabers, critics charged him with originating Indian genocide, reducing public policy to private vendetta, and practicing unbridled personal violence. Thus, the resemblance between Jackson and Trump, touted by both sides for opposite reasons, rested on historical facts that were oversimplified and often demonstrably untrue. Politicians and pundits led in distorting the record, but scholars were acquiescent and even directly complicit in warping evidence to propound a shallow historical analogy for political effect.
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