Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States and the first Democrat to serve in that office.
Mary ManciniNASHVILLE – State Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Mancini said Tuesday it’s time for Democrats to have a “conversation” about continuing to identify President Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, founder of the national Democratic Party, with state Democrats’ annual fundraiser.
Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, ushered in the age of the “common man,” but he also was a slaveholder whose role in the forced removal of Cherokees from the Southeastern U.S. remains controversial.
The debate is now playing out openly after Mancini announced Tuesday that Jackson’s name remaining on the fundraiser was up for discussion.
Her announcement took many Tennessee Democrats by surprise, although a number of other states, including Georgia, have removed not only Jackson’s name for their fundraisers but also founding father Thomas Jefferson, a slaveholder, as well.
But in Jackson’s home state?