President Trump hung a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office on Tuesday, The New York Times reports, an apparent nod to the populist sentiments of the new administration.
Trump’s rise has often been compared to the populist election of Jackson, including by some of the new president’s own team.
Chief White House strategist Steve Bannon called Trump’s inauguration speech on Friday “Jacksonian,” saying it struck the populist and patriotic tones Jackson was known for.
Trump has also expressed admiration for the seventh president, as well, calling Jackson “an amazing figure in American history — very unique so many ways,” through a spokesperson last week.
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Jackson, a former military officer and U.S. senator, was known for his fiery temper and bombastic rhetoric. After he lost his first presidential bid in 1824, for example, he claimed the system was “rigged.”
Jackson’s legacy is also rife with controversy. He signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, paving the way for what is now known as the “Trail of Tears” shortly after his presidency ended, in which the Cherokee Nation was removed from its lands east of the Mississippi in the massive forced migration.
Last year, the Treasury Department announced plans for a new $20 bill that would bump Jackson’s portrait for that of Harriet Tubman.