Dear Donald Trump From Andrew Jackson

By Jack Le Moine

This is a letter President Jackson might have written to President Trump had he still been alive.

Dear Donald Trump,

We are a lot alike. As you can see from the article on my becoming President just concluded yesterday, I, too, came into office on a wave of populist revolt against the establishment elite. And like you, I was not considered qualified to be President. Henry Clay called me, “a mere military chieftain”. The ladies of The View called you, “a reality tv star” – interesting label coming from them.

We both had to confront “The Deep State”. This was not such a big problem for me. I immediately fired all the bureaucrats and replaced them with my supporters. Those pesky Civil Service rules really hampered you. The newspapers were filled with intelligence leaks attacking you and your administration. I was shocked that immediately upon your telephone conversations with foreign leaders, transcripts were leaked – especially parts which made you look bad. If that had been done to me, heads would have rolled, Civil Service rules or no.

We both had our faults. You had a history of shady business deals. I owned a plantation worked by slaves. After all this time, I must admit that slavery made my record worse than yours.

Then there are the feuds. My God, you had a lot of them. However, you never killed anybody. I did. If I were still alive I would show you what a personal feud really is like.

When it came to banks, I closed down the Second Bank of the United States. Before you became President, you almost ran some of them out of business with your unprecedented debts. – But you came through and saved both the banks and yourself. Good job!

The biggest difference between us though, was honesty. I practiced that virtue all my life. You, not so much.

All in all, how I wish I were still alive in 2020 and could run against you. Being President again would be such fun!

Yours truly, Andrew Jackson