Comparisons often fall apart, as this one does. Jackson was a state Supreme Court justice, congressman, senator and general before becoming president. This is Mr. Trump’s first government experience. Jackson destroyed the nation’s central bank. Mr. Trump seeks to roll back onerous banking regulations.
But here’s an apt comparison: Both presidents were opposed by nullifiers—politicians who hold that certain federal laws are “null, void, and no law, nor binding” in their states, as an 1832 South Carolina convention declared.
Jackson’s foes opposed what they called the “Tariff of Abominations,” which levied high duties on raw materials Southerners needed. States, they said, had a right to ignore federal law and halt the collection of the unpopular tariffs at their ports. Washington could legislate, but states could make federal laws inoperative within their borders.
Mr. Trump’s nullifier opponents include governors, mayors and sheriffs who refuse to obey federal laws and provide information about violent illegal aliens in their jails. They, too, believe they can declare a federal law null and void within their jurisdictions. Like Jackson’s adversaries, Mr. Trump’s antagonists have no constitutional ground to stand on.
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