This well written book focuses on the personal life of Jackson especially the role of his beloved niece and nephew. Jackson's life story is fascinating and, in many ways, the issues of his times were a "dress rehearsal" for the Civil War. ( )

I found this book good reading. It is magnificently researched, with really extensive page notes and a 13-page bibliography. Meacham effectively shows that there is much admirable about Jackson and his presidency, even tho Jackson's Indian removal policy is morally indefensible and Jackson was oblivous to the moral wrong of slavery. The book is nicely chronaolgical, and I found it was eminently readable--'dry' subjects like the war against the U.S. Bank and the removal of Government funds therefrom being ably and not over-exhaustingly presemted. I liked the book better than i expected to, since I did read Remini's magisterial three-vlume biogrphy of Jackson, and Schlesinger's The Age of Jackson--but that has been a while ago, and I found this book reading I much enjoyed ( )

Andrew Jackson is one of my favorite figures in American History. Unfortunately, this book doesn't really explain why.

American Lion concentrates on Jackson's presidency. Maybe it really was that unremarkable, but Meacham spends too much time doting on the largely uninteresting affairs of his associates and not enough discussing foreign policy or the forced removal of Native Americans beyond the Mississippi. Of the issues that are discussed at length was South Carolina's first attempt at seccession, and the destruction of the Second Bank of the US.

Jackson was very much a populist...Meacham tells us time and again that he was an ally of the people against the mechanations of the powerful elite. This laid the foundations of the Democratic Party. I didn't think he did a good job explaining how and why that mattered...how the common man benefited from the Bank destruction, or what they were thinking in the North when Calhoun and his cronies were trying to make a case for destroying the Union.

Meacham seemed intent on building sympathy for Jackson, beginning with the death of his beloved wife and the health problems and untimely deaths suffered by Jackson's inner circle and himself. I think Jackson would have mocked that characterization. He was a consummate hard-ass, who expected history to judge him favorably even if he was in a daily struggle. Kind of like this book. ( )

This was a pretty good book about former president Andrew Jackson. The biography was thorough and the reader really did get a chance to see what type of president Andrew Jackson was and the close people around him. The book did get a little slow at times which made it difficult to finish but it was worth it because there is a great deal of knowledge in this book that the reader gains. This is a great book for anyone who is particularly interested Andrew Jackson or American history. ( )

meacham is a first rate talker and presents his topic very well.