The Battle over the Charter of the Second Bank of the United States and Its Lasting Impact on the American Economy Late one night in July 1832, Martin Van Buren rushed to the White House where he found an ailing President Andrew Jackson weakened but resolute. Thundering against his political antagonists, Jackson bellowed: "The Bank, Mr. Van Buren, is trying to kill me, but I shall kill it!"With those famous words, Jackson formally declared "war" against the Second Bank of the United States and its president Nicholas Biddle. The Bank of the United States, which held the majority of Federal monies, had been established as a means of centralizing and stabilizing American currency and the economy, particularly during the country's vulnerable early years. Jackson and his allies viewed the bank as both elitist and a threat to states' rights. Throughout his first term, Jackson had attacked the bank viciously but failed to take action against the institution. Congress' decision to recharter the bank forced Jackson to either make good on his rhetoric and veto the recharter or sign the recharter bill and be condemned as a hypocrite. In The Bank War: Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Biddle, and the Fight for American Finance, historian Paul Kahan explores one of the most important and dramatic events in American political and economic history, from the idea of centralized banking and the First Bank of the United States to Jackson's triumph, the era of "free banking," and the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Relying on a range of primary and secondary source material, the book also shows how the Bank War was a manifestation of the debates that were sparked at the Constitutional Convention--the role of the executive branch and the role of the federal government in American society--debates that endure to this day as philosophical differences that often divide the United States.

Examines Jackson's role in destroying the Second Bank of the United States and the effect of his actions on the power of the Presidency

The definitive biography of a larger-than-life president who defied norms, divided a nation, and changed Washington forever Andrew Jackson, his intimate circle of friends, and his tumultuous times are at the heart of this remarkable book about the man who rose from nothing to create the modern presidency. Beloved and hated, venerated and reviled, Andrew Jackson was an orphan who fought his way to the pinnacle of power, bending the nation to his will in the cause of democracy. Jackson’s election in 1828 ushered in a new and lasting era in which the people, not distant elites, were the guiding force in American politics. Democracy made its stand in the Jackson years, and he gave voice to the hopes and the fears of a restless, changing nation facing challenging times at home and threats abroad. To tell the saga of Jackson’s presidency, acclaimed author Jon Meacham goes inside the Jackson White House. Drawing on newly discovered family letters and papers, he details the human drama–the family, the women, and the inner circle of advisers– that shaped Jackson’s private world through years of storm and victory. One of our most significant yet dimly recalled presidents, Jackson was a battle-hardened warrior, the founder of the Democratic Party, and the architect of the presidency as we know it. His story is one of violence, sex, courage, and tragedy. With his powerful persona, his evident bravery, and his mystical connection to the people, Jackson moved the White House from the periphery of government to the center of national action, articulating a vision of change that challenged entrenched interests to heed the popular will– or face his formidable wrath. The greatest of the presidents who have followed Jackson in the White House–from Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to FDR to Truman–have found inspiration in his example, and virtue in his vision. Jackson was the most contradictory of men. The architect of the removal of Indians from their native lands, he was warmly sentimental and risked everything to give more power to ordinary citizens. He was, in short, a lot like his country: alternately kind and vicious, brilliant and blind; and a man who fought a lifelong war to keep the republic safe–no matter what it took.

Reveals how the Rothschild Banking Dynasty fomented war and assassination attempts on 4 presidents in order to create the Federal Reserve Bank • Explains how the Rothschild family began the War of 1812 because Congress failed to renew a 20-year charter for their Central Bank as well as how the ensuing debt of the war forced Congress to renew the charter • Details Andrew Jackson’s anti-bank presidential campaigns, his war on Rothschild agents within the government, and his successful defeat of the Central Bank • Reveals how the Rothschilds spurred the Civil War and were behind the assassination of Lincoln In this startling investigation into the suppressed history of America in the 1800s, Xaviant Haze reveals how the powerful Rothschild banking family and the Central Banking System, now known as the Federal Reserve Bank, provide a continuous thread of connection between the War of 1812, the Civil War, the financial crises of the 1800s, and assassination attempts on Presidents Jackson and Lincoln. The author reveals how the War of 1812 began after Congress failed to renew a 20-year charter for the Central Bank. After the war, the ensuing debt forced Congress to grant the central banking scheme another 20-year charter. The author explains how this spurred General Andrew Jackson--fed up with the central bank system and Nathan Rothschild’s control of Congress--to enter politics and become president in 1828. Citing the financial crises engineered by the banks, Jackson spent his first term weeding out Rothschild agents from the government. After being re-elected to a 2nd term with the slogan “Jackson and No Bank,” he became the only president to ever pay off the national debt. When the Central Bank’s charter came up for renewal in 1836, he successfully rallied Congress to vote against it. The author explains how, after failing to regain their power politically, the Rothschilds plunged the country into Civil War. He shows how Lincoln created a system allowing the U.S. to furnish its own money, without need for a Central Bank, and how this led to his assassination by a Rothschild agent. With Lincoln out of the picture, the Rothschilds were able to wipe out his prosperous monetary system, which plunged the country into high unemployment and recession and laid the foundation for the later formation of the Federal Reserve Bank--a banking scheme still in place in America today.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author of The First American comes the first major single-volume biography in a decade of the president who defined American democracy • "A big, rich biography.” —The Boston Globe H. W. Brands reshapes our understanding of this fascinating man, and of the Age of Democracy that he ushered in. An orphan at a young age and without formal education or the family lineage of the Founding Fathers, Jackson showed that the presidency was not the exclusive province of the wealthy and the well-born but could truly be held by a man of the people. On a majestic, sweeping scale Brands re-creates Jackson’s rise from his hardscrabble roots to his days as frontier lawyer, then on to his heroic victory in the Battle of New Orleans, and finally to the White House. Capturing Jackson’s outsized life and deep impact on American history, Brands also explores his controversial actions, from his unapologetic expansionism to the disgraceful Trail of Tears. Look for H.W. Brands's other biographies: THE FIRST AMERICAN (Benjamin Franklin), THE MAN WHO SAVED THE UNION (Ulysses S. Grant), TRAITOR TO HIS CLASS (Franklin Roosevelt) and REAGAN.