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66

Andrew Jackson

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:7,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
Andrew Jackson

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Auction Date:2011 Oct 12 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS as president, one page both sides, 8 x 9.75, April 20, 1834. Letter to his daughter-in-law Sarah Jackson. In full: “The letter of Andrew of the 4th gave me the pleasing intelligence of your safe delivery of a fine son, & his letter of the 7th advises me that you and the babe are doing well. I thank God for your safety, and that you are blessed with a fine boy, which I hope he will preserve with yourself, & keep you both in his holy keeping,—present to the sweet babe my blessing that it may be long preserved as a blessing to us all. I feel grateful to you & Andrew for the name—how does my sweet little Rachel relish her little brother which I suppose she must view as an intruder upon her rights in your attention. I hope she still continues to improve in sprightliness and in stature, I am anxious to see you all, and particularly to see the dear little stranger—kiss the dear children for me & present them with my blessing & present me affectionately to Andrew, and your brother & sister with all your household.

I cannot tell when congress may adjourn—you will see from the papers sent Andrew, that I have an unpleasant time with the majority of one of the most profligate senates that ever did exist, my protest which I have sent Andrew has brought them to stand, & the only reply they can make is, strain of abuse unworthy of their stations, and only suited to blackguards, & brothels; and which perfectly disgrace the senate. My health is not good, this morning I am troubled with a headache. Accept my dear daughter the assurance of my affectionate regard, and believe me your affectionate father, in haste.” Under his signature, Jackson pens a postscript, which reads: “Sarah—P.S. I shall expect to hear from you when restored to your health, & feet again which I hope will be soon–present me kindly to my friend Mrs. Thompson—A.J.”

In very good condition, with some splitting along the fragile intersecting folds (a couple folds pass through a single letter of the signature), partial separation along hinge, light show-through from text on opposing sides, light soiling, and a small area of staining to each page. The second integral page bears an address panel in another hand, and black seal remnant.

Jackson was separated from his newborn grandchild and, more importantly, mired in Washington politics and facing a Constitutional crisis via the first-ever censure of a US president when he wrote this letter. A still-gray area of Constitutional law, some legal experts maintain that the censure of a president violates a bill of attainder, finding the chief executive guilty of a crime without the benefit of a trial. None of that mattered in 1834, however, as Jackson found himself at odds with his political opponents, particularly Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, who disapproved of Jackson’s ‘tyrannical’ policies.

The political stress of this “unpleasant time,” as noted by the president, came to a head about three weeks earlier when the Senate reprimanded Jackson for allegedly assuming unconstitutional power by vetoing the National Bank’s re-chartering and ordering its deposits to be removed. In spite of the political wrangling, Jackson showed no sign of wavering from his stance, pointing the finger at Clay and his allies for abusing their senatorial power. Although Clay had hoped that the censure would ruin Old Hickory’s political career, it merely strengthened the president’s resolve, and his new vision of the presidency focused the purpose of the Democratic Party. A sentimental note by a sitting president penned during a time of an unprecedented political crisis.
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