Part 3

Enduring the Best and the Worst: Jackson to Buchanan

IN THIS PART …

Check out our first strong president, Andrew Jackson, who challenged Congress and vetoed more legislation than all of his predecessors combined. Jackson stood up for the common person and did what he thought was right. James Polk is the other successful executive. He was an honest, dedicated president, who managed to add much of what is today the American Southwest.

Find out about the other presidents of this era, such as Martin van Buren, who was fairly unsuccessful, or presidents who died early in office, like William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor. To make matters worse, in the 1850s — a time when the country needed its best leaders to guide the country through the issues dividing the North and South — some of the worst presidents this country ever saw ran the country. They include presidents like Millard Fillmore, a dedicated racist, Franklin Pierce, an alcoholic, and James Buchanan, who let the union fall apart, thereby almost insuring the outbreak of the Civil War.