elected President by
such an overwhelming expression of the popular choice as made the
triumph of 1828 seem a little thing. Against all the politicians and all
the interests he had dared to appeal to Caesar, and the people, his
unseen ally, had in an instant made his enemies his footstool.

It was characteristic of the man that he at once proceeded to carry the
war into Africa. Biddle, though bitterly disappointed, was not yet
resigned to despair. It was believed--and events in the main confirm the
belief--that he contemplated a new expedient, the use of what still
remained of the financial power of the Bank to produce deliberate
scarcity and distress, in the hope that a reaction against the
President's policy would result. Jackson resolved to strike the Bank a
crippling blow before such juggling could be attempted. The Act of
Congress which had established the Bank gave him power to remove the
public deposits at will; and that power he determined to exercise.

A more timid man would have had difficulty with his Cabinet. Jackson
overcame the difficulty by accepting full personal responsibility for
what he was about to do. He did not dismiss the Ministers whose opinion
differed from his, he brought no pressure to bear on their consciences;
but neither did he yield his view an inch to theirs. He acted as he had
resolved to act, and made a minute in the presence of his Cabinet that
he did so on his own initiative. It was essential that the Secretary of
the Treasury, through whom he must act, should be with him. McLane had
already been transferred to the State Department, and Jackson now
nominated Taney, a strong-minded lawyer, who was his one unwavering
supporter in the struggle. Taney removed the public deposits from the
United States Bank. They were placed for safe keeping in the banks of
the various States. The President duly reported to Congress his reasons
for taking this action.

In the new House of Representatives, elected at the same time as the
President, the Democrats were now predominant; but the Senate changes
its complexion more slowly, and there the "Whigs" had still a majority.
This majority could do nothing but exhibit impotent anger, and that they
most unwisely did. They refused to confirm Taney's nomination as
Secretary to the Treasury, as a little later they refused to accept him
as a Judge of the High Court. They passed a solemn vote of censure on
the President, whose action they characterized, in def