New York – President Donald Trump made puzzling claims about Andrew Jackson and the Civil War in an interview, suggesting he was uncertain about the origin of the conflict while claiming that Jackson was upset about a war that started 16 years after his death.
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Trump, who has at times shown a shaky grasp of U.S. history, said he wonders why issues “could not have been worked out” in order to prevent the secession of 11 Southern states and a war that lasted four years and killed more than 600,000 soldiers.
“People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?” Trump said in an interview with The Washington Examiner, according to a transcript released Monday. “People don’t ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?”
Trump ruminated after lauding Jackson, the populist president whom he and his staff have cited as a role model. He suggested that if Jackson had been president “a little later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War.”
“He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, ‘There’s no reason for this,'” Trump continued.
But Jackson died in 1845, and the Civil War didn’t begin until 16 years later, in 1861.
Jackson was a slave-holding plantation owner. Some historians do credit him with preserving the union when South Carolina threatened to secede in the 1830s over an individual state’s ability to void federal tariffs. That controversy, though, was not about slavery, and the eventual compromise that preserved states’ rights is viewed as a milestone on the way to the Civil War.
The Civil War was decades in the making, stemming from disputes between the North and South about slavery and whether the union or states themselves had more power. The question over the expansion of slavery into new western territories simmered for decades and Southern leaders threatened secession if anti-slavery candidate Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860.
After Lincoln won without carrying a single Southern state, Southern leaders believed their rights were imperiled and seceded, forming the Confederate States of America. War erupted soon afterward as the North fought to keep the nation together.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for an explanation of Trump’s reasoning.
Trump, during an African-American history month event, seemed to imply that the 19th century abolitionist Frederick Douglass was still alive. Trump said in February that Douglass “is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice.”
While justifying the need for a southern border wall, Trump said last week that human trafficking is “a problem that’s probably worse than any time in the history of this world,” a claim that seemed to omit the African slave trade.
An audio excerpt from the interview was played Monday on Zito’s show on Sirius XM radio. The full exchange:
TRUMP: They said my campaign is most like, my campaign and win was most like Andrew Jackson with his campaign. And I said, “When was Andrew Jackson?” It was 1828. That’s a long time ago. That’s Andrew Jackson. And he had a very, very mean and nasty campaign. Because they said this was the meanest and the nastiest. And unfortunately it continues.
ZITO: His wife died.
TRUMP: His wife died. They destroyed his wife and she died. And, you know, he was a swashbuckler. But when his wife died, you know, he visited her grave every day. I visited her grave actually, because I was in Tennessee.
ZITO: Oh, that’s right, you were in Tennessee.
TRUMP: And it was amazing. The people of Tennessee are amazing people. Well, they love Andrew Jackson. They love Andrew Jackson in Tennessee.
ZITO: Yeah, he’s a fascinating —
TRUMP: I mean, had Andrew Jackson been a little later, you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart, and he was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, “There’s no reason for this.” People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, you think about it, why?
ZITO: Yeah —
TRUMP: People don’t ask that question. But why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?
When Michelle stated that the founding fathers were all foreign born, no one blinked. Only Presidents who were real students of history were Wilson and Reagan in the modern era, the rest depended on their aides.
Trump is just as ignorant as his most fervent followers, as can easily be glimpsed by the endless ill-informed and just plain dumb comments posted here by his frum fan club. (One need look no further for a damning indictment of the “education” doled out by our heimishe yeshivas than the overwhelming support for Trump that exists in the yeshivishe velt.)
Meanwhile, while all the mindless Trump groupies insist that the Orange One has accomplished many great things during his first hundred days, the fact is that on every one of his signature campaign issues — the Wall, immigration reform, repeal of Obamacare, etc. — he’s been an abject failure. It’s like watching a slow child trying to make sense of a somewhat complex mathematical question on an elementary school test.
There’s no end to the sheer stupidity of the Orange Yutz. He’s a disgrace to the Presidency and will long be remembered as a dolt. BTW, slave owning Andy Jackson is also remembered for ignoring decisions made by the Supreme Court and committing genocide against American Indians, especially the Seminole and the Cherokee peoples. A real populist dog.
Do his other claims have the same merit?
Wow!!!
Why couldn’t things be worked out? What kind of a deal would he like? slavery being allowed only in some states? limited forms of slavery?
Well Jews were more successful in the CSA than the USA at the time.
It’s important to learn the whole history.
The CSA Secretary of the Treasury was a Sfardic Jew.
No Jew was in any USA adminisration before the civil war or for another 75 years after.