Trump’s Presidency and Behavior:

As Compared to Jackson, Nixon, and Biden

Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was one of those presidents who didn’t just tweak the traditions he inherited—he bulldozed several of them and replaced them with a new model of executive power. If Washington, Jefferson, and Madison built the early presidency, Jackson re‑engineered it into something far more assertive and personal. There are some similarities between Jackson and Trump.  However, Jackson did not use the presidency for his own benefit.

Before Jackson, presidents generally saw themselves as stewards of the constitutional system, not as tribunes of the people.  Jackson claimed he alone represented the entire nation, not Congress or the courts.  Jackson used popular support as a political weapon, something earlier presidents avoided. And he treated the presidency as an independent power base rather than a modest executive office.  This shift laid the groundwork for the modern, personality‑driven presidency.

Jackson asserted that the president’s interpretation of the Constitution was equal to Congress’s and the Court’s.  This was a major break from the Founders’ vision of a restrained executive.

He introduced the “spoils system” on a national scale.  Before Jackson, presidents generally kept existing civil servants unless there was a clear reason to remove them.  Jackson replaced large numbers of federal officeholders with political loyalists.  He treated government jobs as rewards for party service.  This helped create the modern party machine.

Jackson openly defied the Supreme Court.  Earlier presidents sometimes disagreed with the Court, but they did not openly undermine its authority.  He famously refused to enforce Worcester v. Georgia, which protected Cherokee sovereignty.  He asserted that each branch could interpret the Constitution independently.  Using this argument, he used executive power to pursue Indian removal despite legal and moral objections.  This was a dramatic break from the tradition of respecting judicial authority.

Jackson broke with tradition by expanding presidential power, using the veto as a political tool, rewarding loyalists with government jobs, challenging the Supreme Court, treating the presidency as a direct democratic mandate, and building a mass political party around himself.

Despite Jackson’s abuse of his presidential power, he is remembered as a great president.  While his personality was based on personal confidence, he did not use the office for his personal betterment.  While in hindsight his policies may be questionable, his goals were viewed by him and his followers as best for the nation.

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Richard Nixon Bottom of Form

Richard Nixon and Donald Trump share controversial presidencies.  Both are marked with scandal, impeachment, and divisive leadership.  The similarities end there.  Nixon was secretive and manipulative, using operatives.  Trump is brash, outspoken, and confrontational.  He uses social media to connect directly with his base and his critics.  Trump likes to be in the news, whereas Nixon operated behind the scenes. 

Nixon had to deal with the Watergate scandal where a criminal conspiracy, illegal surveillance, and obstruction of justice eventually came to light.  This scandal ultimately led to impeachment proceedings and his 1974 resignation.  Trump has been the subject of two impeachment proceedings and ongoing criminal indictments related to the January 6 riots in Washington, D.C.  He is also a convicted felon regarding his business practices, and the loser in a sexual assault civil case.  Trump’s legal challenges are broader than Nixon’s.  Nixon’s problems were contained within his manipulation of government offices to cover up the president’s involvement in the Watergate burglary.

Nixon was able to achieve détente with the Soviet Union, opened relation with China and managed domestic unrest without military intervention.  Trump has focused on “America First” using trade tariffs to gain deals with other nations.  He has withdrawn from international agreements, alienating many traditional allies.  Nixon’s approach to foreign affairs was strategic and secretive.  Trump’s approach is direct and transactional.

Both Nixon and Trump experienced historically low approval ratings.  Just before his resignation, Nixon’s approval rating fell to 36%.  Trump’s approval ratings have recently dropped to under 40%. 

While Nixon and Trump share scandals, impeachment proceedings, and polarization, they are very different in style, context, and legal resolution.  Although Nixon resigned in disgrace, his presidency was marked by many foreign policy achievements.  While Trump claims to have resolved numerous wars, and views himself as the “peace president” the state of America’s involvement in national conflicts makes his claims questionable.  Like Jackson, Nixon may have been a flawed person, but his interests as president served America.

Joe Biden

Since the Republican leadership has questioned the ethics of the Biden administration, a comparison between the two presents stark differences.  Did Joe Biden use his political clout for family benefit?  This claim has been investigated several times and will be examined later in this article.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are very different people and ran very different presidencies.  Biden expanded the Affordable Care Act (ACA), increased subsidies, and proposed a public option to improve accessibility to healthcare.  Donald Trump has sought to repeal and then replace the ACA.  He has introduced the American Health Care Act, which reduces federal involvement and increases state control of health policies.  He has proposed direct payment to Americans in lieu of supporting insurance programs.

Trump has pulled back from environmental activism by withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement.  He has promoted fossil fuels such as coal, and one of his favorite sayings is, “Drill baby drill.”  He has also decimated the Environmental Protection Agency.  Biden, on the other hand, invested in renewable energy and implemented policies to reduce greenhouse gases.

Donald Trump has reduced the size and influence of the Department of Education.  His policies favor school choice and local controls.  Biden increased federal funding for public schools, expanded access to pre-school programs, and worked for student debt relief.

Donald Trump’s immigration policies have created significant backlash, as protesters focus on ICE enforcement tactics.  Trump’s stricter border enforcement has by all measures been successful in reducing the number of illegal immigrants entering the United States.  Biden tried to bring about progressive immigration reform but was blocked by the Republican controlled legislature. 

There are so many issues where Trump and Biden were opposites on policy and on governance strategies.  Biden emphasized unity, bipartisan cooperation, progressive social reform, multilateral foreign diplomacy, and post COVID economic recovery.  Trump has focused on removing government from regulatory practices, tax cuts, and America First.  Biden’s approach to economic recovery was just beginning as he ended his presidency.  The data supports the contention that the nation was doing better in job creation and GDP under Biden than under Trump.  Trump has done better in promoting wage growth, but the public has shown a lack of confidence in his ability to bring down the cost of living.

The claims that President Biden used his office to enrich his family started prior to 2019.  Investigations into these claims have been ongoing.  The House Oversight Committee has been investigating foreign business activities of Hunter Biden, James Biden and the involvement of Twitter in the Hunter Biden laptop conspiracy theory.  In August 2024, the House Committees released a report alleging impeachable conduct. 

The story presented is that James and Hunter Biden owned Paradigm a major hedge fund.  Hunter accepted a consulting job with Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.   Joe Biden was Vice President at this time.  At the same time, Hunter also co-founded BHR Partner, based in China.  When Biden became the presidential candidate in 2019 the Trump re-election committee, lead by Rudy Giulini, alleged financial impropriety and influence peddling.  A subsequent investigation by Trump’s attorney general, William Barr, could not substantiate Giulini’s claims. 

Then in late 2020, the New York Post reported that a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden had emails that referred to President Joe Biden.  There was much speculation and conspiracy mongering following the Post report.  To date, nothing was found that would implicate President Biden in Hunter’s business affairs.  To complicate matters, it was alleged by Alex Vindman that President Trump had tried to pressure Ukrainian President Zelenski into announcing that the Ukrainian government was investigating Hunter Biden. The Post story was investigated.  Former Twitter employees testified contradicting the claim. 

In June 2023, James Comer, head of the House Investigation Committee, released the committee findings on the Biden investigations.  The report did NOT find any evidence of wrongdoing or money directed from Hunter Biden to Joe Biden. Furthermore, Comer said he could not name any specific official policy decision by Biden that may have been directly influenced by foreign payments.  However, during this same period, the Justice Department accepted a plea deal where Hunter Biden pled guilty to federal tax offenses.  Many Republicans viewed the reduced plea as a “sweetheart” deal, claiming presidential interference with the Garland Department of Justice.  The final report of the committee found that the Justice Department had followed procedure.

Critics later focused on Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s partner and fellow Burisma board member, to show that Joe Biden was involved with Hunter’s Burisma business interests.  During testimony, Archer acknowledged that Hunter had talked with his father over the phone a dozen times while in meetings with business associates.  However, Archer said that Joe Biden “never once spoke about any business dealings.”  He characterized the calls as casual niceties. 

With all of the allegations, but no proof, the committee nevertheless held an impeachment hearing in September 2023.  The committee claimed to have ‘uncovered a mountain of evidence,” but could not present any as the inquiry continued. In November, Speaker Mike Johnson indicated that there was insufficient evidence to initiate formal impeachment proceedings.  Despite Johnson’s comments, in December, House Republicans unanimously approved a resolution to initiate formal impeachment proceedings.  All Democrats voted against the resolution.  On December 12, the key witness, Alexander Smirnov, admitted that he had fabricated the Burisma story about Joe and Hunter Biden (New York Times, Associated Press, CBS News).

Claims of financial gain by the President regarding Hunter Biden’s Chinese business contacts have also been investigated and found unsubstantiated.   There appears to be no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden.  Whether investigations into President Trump’s alleged illegal activities surrounding the January 6 riots or his retaining top secret documents would have resulted in convictions is unknown.  As recently as this week Judge Alien Cannon (a Trump appointee, whose decisions have been overturned by the Florida federal appeals court) has sealed the Jack Smith top secret documents investigation records.