Andrew Jackson Expands the President’s Power Over the Legislative Branch

Jackson fought the Second Bank of the United States from the time he took office, seeing his stance as aiding the common man against the aristocratics.

In June 1833, he informed his cabinet that the U.S. Government would soon withdraw its money from the Bank. This caused a torrent of opposition, mainly from the opposition Whigs but also from some fellow Democrats who were not convinced that bringing down the Bank would benefit either the economy or the people. Even some members of his own cabinet were unsure about whether the withdrawal scheme should proceed. September 10, 1833 was the day the Bank’s fate was sealed, as Jackson held a crucial cabinet meeting at which he presented a report favorable to his plan and announced that he would insist that it be acted upon.

Although the cabinet waffled, on September 19, the President released a statement to the press that on October 1, the deposits would be withdrawn and placed in state banks. However, his treasury secretary, William Duane, whose cooperation was essential (as the Executive Branch acted in financial matters through the Treasury Department), would not go along; nor would he agree to resign. Jackson was thus presented with a dilemma. A president appointed cabinet members (and many other federal officials), but the U.S. Senate confirmed them.

Did a President then have the right under the Constitution to dismiss such an official, or did he need to seek Senate approval? The question had never been raised before, as in previous administrations, according to Robert Remini’s biography Andrew Jackson, officials had resigned when told their services were no longer required. Jackson met the issue head on and determined that appointees of the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government fell completely under his authority; Congress had no role after confirmation. So Jackson fired Duane, and in so doing, added significantly to the powers of the presidency.

However, this famous incident was not the first time Jackson fired a federal appointee. He had done so just a few weeks earlier. Federal land offices around the country were patronage plums, and Jackson filled them with his supporters. Indiana’s Gen. Samuel Milroy was appointed by him in 1829 to the position of Register of the Land Office at Crawfordsville, Indiana. Jackson later regretted the choice and manifested an intention to remove Milroy, which caused friction between him and Indiana’s Democratic senators, William Hendricks and John Tipton, both of whom objected to Milroy’s proposed replacement by Charles Tyler, a resident of Washington. But this was to no avail, as both senators were open opponents of Jackson’s destruction of the Bank. Jackson demanded loyalty and was not a man who would tolerate opposition from within his party, so he decided to replace Milroy with Tyler anyway and assert his authority. He dismissed Milroy shortly before he fired Duane.

Then, on September 10, the very day of the cabinet meeting that sealed the Bank’s fate, Jackson appointed Tyler to the Indiana post. The President was in such a determined rush to have his way that he didn’t take the time to find out Tyler’s first name.

Autograph Document Signed, Washington, September 10, 1833. "I appoint __ Tyler Register for the Land office at Crawfordsville, Indiana – vice [succeeding] Genl Milroy removed." The order of the two dismissals (first Milroy, then Duane) is significant, as it indicates that Jackson’s intention to exercise strict control over the Executive Branch predated (and presaged) his firing of Duane. Eight months later, on May 21, 1834, the President sent a message to the Senate concerning eight persons appointed to land offices: "Commissions having been granted during the recess of the Senate to the following named persons for the offices respectively annexed to their names, I now nominate them to the same: …Charles Tyler to be Register of the Land Office for the District of Lands subject to sale at Crawfordsville, in the State of lndiana, in the place of James Milroy, removed…." This time he correctly identified "Charles" as Tyler’s first name but incorrectly identified Samuel Milroy as "James."

Jackson always looked at the big picture and was not a man to worry himself over such details as a man’s name. Days later, on June 12, the Senate consented to Tyler’s appointment. This small document exemplifies Jackson’s historic expansion of presidential power, as well as his strength of leadership within his own party.