Jackson believed he alone embodied the will of the people

Meacham argues that Jackson's most consequential and lasting idea was his conviction that, as the only nationally elected official, he personally represented the American people in a way Congress, elected piecemeal by separate states and districts, could not. This belief led him to act with unusual boldness: he was the first president to make regular, aggressive use of the veto, treating it not as an emergency brake but as an ordinary tool for blocking legislation he judged contrary to popular interest.

Jackson's opponents found this claim alarming and even dangerous, mocking him as "King Andrew" for what looked like monarchical overreach dressed in democratic language. Meacham treats this tension seriously rather than resolving it in Jackson's favor: the same logic that let Jackson defend ordinary citizens against entrenched elites also let him justify sweeping unilateral action with little patience for institutional restraint.

Takeaway: Jackson's populism cut both ways — it empowered a more assertive presidency and normalized the idea that one man's will could stand in for millions.