Staring at the Andrew Jackson portrait in the Oval Office must have had a stochastic effect. Like Nixon talking to portraits, Trump decided he’d go out with a bang. As his hero, Trump perhaps read about the second inaugural on 4 March 1829. Trump would never hold such an “open house” rather choosing to turn the Capitol into one.
After Jackson’s swearing-in ceremony and address to Congress, the new president returned to the White House to meet and greet a flock of politicians, celebrities and citizens. Very shortly, the crowd swelled to more than 20,000, turning the usually dignified White House into a boisterous mob scene. Some guests stood on furniture in muddy shoes while others rummaged through rooms looking for the president–breaking dishes, crystal and grinding food into the carpet along the way. (White House staff reported the carpets smelled of cheese for months after the party.) In an attempt to draw partygoers out of the building, servants set up washtubs full of juice and whiskey on the White House lawn.
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While Jackson pursued numerous reforms designed to eliminate waste and corruption, his presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party "spoils system" in American politics. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly relocated most members of the Native American tribes in the South to Indian Territory. The relocation process dispossessed the Indians and resulted in widespread death and disease. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term.
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On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson became the first United States president-elect to take the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol.[158] In his inaugural speech, Jackson promised to respect the sovereign powers of states and the constitutional limits of the presidency. He also promised to pursue "reform" by removing power from "unfaithful or incompetent hands." At the conclusion of the ceremony, Jackson invited the public to the White House, where his supporters held a raucous party. Thousands of spectators overwhelmed the White House staff, and minor damage was caused to fixtures and furnishings. Jackson's populism earned him the nickname "King Mob."[159]
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Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is a rock musical with music and lyrics written by Michael Friedman and a book written by its director Alex Timbers.[1]
The show is a comedic historical rock musical about the founding of the Democratic Party. It redefines Andrew Jackson, America's seventh President, as an Emo rock star and focuses on populism, the Indian Removal Act, and his relationship with his wife Rachel.
Near the end, the musical reviews Jackson's legacy and the views attributed to him. Some believe he was one of America's greatest presidents, while others believe him to be an “American Hitler.” The final scene shows Jackson receiving an honorary doctorate at Harvard. He reflects upon his achievements and his questionable decisions. The show telescopes out and we get a bird's-eye view of Jackson's damning legacy and our collective culpability ("Second Nature").
en.wikipedia.org/
Calls for the 25th Amendment to be invoked came amid fears that Trump would incite more violence following the riots that damaged parts of the Capitol and left four people dead.
thehill.com/...
They took a dump on the seat of American democracy — literally.
Some of the unhinged pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday defecated inside the historic building and “tracked” their feces in several hallways, the Daily News has learned.
A source close to Sen. Chuck Schumer said staffers to the New York Democrat found out about the fecal fiasco on Thursday.
The vile attackers, whose violent invasion of the Capitol left four people dead, apparently went No. 2 in a bathroom and then smeared their extremist excrement around the building, leaving behind brownish “foot-prints,” the source said.
It’s undeniable at this point. The United States is witnessing a coup attempt—a forceful effort to seize power against the legal framework. The president has caused the interruption of the process that would certify his removal from office. The mechanics of constitutional government have been suspended. Americans are in danger of losing constitutional government to a degree unmatched even during the Civil War, a period when secession itself did not postpone either the holding of elections or the transition of power between presidents.
The moment we face as Americans, in other words, compares more closely to the August 1991 coup that attempted to remove President Mikhail Gorbachev from the head of the Soviet Union or the 1993 armed standoff between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Russian legislature.
Yet right up until this moment a chorus of voices was telling us not to worry.
The past several years have been a boom industry for political scientists who work on topics like coups and democratic erosion, including several of the experts quoted in the Post piece. As the United States has entered seemingly uncharted democratic waters, journalists and readers alike have decided that standard horse-race journalism is not up to the task of interpreting politics.
As tensions have risen, however, there has been a profound divide between those who believed that, in the end, institutions would save us—that the United States’ democratic traditions would be preserved—and those who were clear that we faced a period that could end with a standoff of this magnitude.
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