[As I’ve done for each of the last few years, this week I’ve started 2024 by AmericanStudying a few anniversaries for the new year. Leading up to this special post on the 200th anniversary of a frustratingly familiar election.]
I wrote at
length about the controversial 1824 election and what it might (and hopefully
won’t) foreshadow about the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections in
this post. Much of what I’d want to say today is captured there, so I’d ask
you to check out that prior post if you would and then come on back here for
one more thought.
Welcome
back! As that post and many
others I’ve written reflect clearly, I’m no fan of Andrew Jackson, but I
would nonetheless note a couple distinct differences between him and The Former
Guy who is hoping 2024 will be a repeat of 1824: I believe Jackson was truly
dedicated to expanding democracy and opportunities to working-class
white Americans; and as far as I know he never commissioned nor committed
over acts of treason against the United States. The latter is why I believe all
Americans of conscience have to oppose Trump’s reelection campaign; and the
former is why it’s so frustrating to me that many working-class Americans see
Trump as someone who likewise has their best interests at heart, whereas he has
demonstrated time and time again that his only interests are those of himself
and his close criminal cohort. And yet, the one definite commonality between
these two figures—full-throated endorsements of white supremacy at every turn—might
just be enough to return Trump to the presidency that it already helped him
gain once. Let’s hope that’s not a 2024 prediction!
Next
series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. What
do you think?
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