People have frequently compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. But there’s another, strangely more apt comparison to make: Donald Trump is a lot like former president Andrew Jackson.
Jackson was America’s seventh president, and ran as an outsider candidate (having made his name as a celebrated officer in the War of 1812, and then in… real estate), a lot like how Trump came into wealth and fame. And just like Trump, Jackson was described by his critics as too hot-headed and vulgar. “I was born for a storm, and calm does not suit me,” Jackson replied to this criticism, which goes to show how much more articulate people were back then, even the so-called vulgar ones.
Thomas Jefferson’s criticism of Jackson may ring some bells: “He has had very little respect for laws and constitutions.” Like Trump wants to kick out undocumented immigrants from America, Jackson forcibly relocated Native Americans on the Trail of Tears. During this march, one in four of the Native Americans died.
Trump hasn’t shot anyone and gotten away with it, but Jackson did. It seems crazy that we would one day have Trump’s face adorning our currency, but a lot of crazy things have happened in American politics lately.