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| Trump on the Civil War: ‘Why Could That One Not Have Been Worked Out?’ | Trump on the Civil War: ‘Why Could That One Not Have Been Worked Out?’ |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| President Trump mused in an interview that the Civil War could have been avoided if only Andrew Jackson had been around to stop it. Jackson had been dead 16 years and long out of office when the war started in 1861. | President Trump mused in an interview that the Civil War could have been avoided if only Andrew Jackson had been around to stop it. Jackson had been dead 16 years and long out of office when the war started in 1861. |
| Mr. Trump’s comments, among several he made about Jackson in an interview broadcast Monday on satellite radio, quickly drew condemnation from his critics and from historians who said they appeared to show the president profoundly misunderstanding American history. | Mr. Trump’s comments, among several he made about Jackson in an interview broadcast Monday on satellite radio, quickly drew condemnation from his critics and from historians who said they appeared to show the president profoundly misunderstanding American history. |
| “People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?” he told his interviewer, Salena Zito, a host on SiriusXM’s P.O.T.U.S. channel, who spoke to Mr. Trump for an article that was published on Sunday in The Washington Examiner. | “People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why?” he told his interviewer, Salena Zito, a host on SiriusXM’s P.O.T.U.S. channel, who spoke to Mr. Trump for an article that was published on Sunday in The Washington Examiner. |
| Mr. Trump followed up on the comment in a tweet on Monday night, arguing that Jackson saw the Civil War coming and would have prevented it had he not died 16 years earlier. | Mr. Trump followed up on the comment in a tweet on Monday night, arguing that Jackson saw the Civil War coming and would have prevented it had he not died 16 years earlier. |
| Mr. Trump has often professed admiration for the seventh president’s populism and visited his tomb in March. | Mr. Trump has often professed admiration for the seventh president’s populism and visited his tomb in March. |
| Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, called Mr. Trump’s comments on Jackson and the Civil War the “height of inaccurate historical revisionism.” | Julian E. Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, called Mr. Trump’s comments on Jackson and the Civil War the “height of inaccurate historical revisionism.” |
| We fact-checked Mr. Trump’s claims with the help of Jon Meacham, the historian whose 2008 biography, “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House,” won a Pulitzer Prize. | We fact-checked Mr. Trump’s claims with the help of Jon Meacham, the historian whose 2008 biography, “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House,” won a Pulitzer Prize. |
| President Trump is correct that the 1828 race between Andrew Jackson and the incumbent, John Quincy Adams, was hard-fought and often descended into ad hominem attacks on both sides. The insults leveled at Jackson’s wife, Rachel, were particularly vicious — she was accused of marrying Jackson before her divorce from her first husband, Lewis Robards, was final. | President Trump is correct that the 1828 race between Andrew Jackson and the incumbent, John Quincy Adams, was hard-fought and often descended into ad hominem attacks on both sides. The insults leveled at Jackson’s wife, Rachel, were particularly vicious — she was accused of marrying Jackson before her divorce from her first husband, Lewis Robards, was final. |
| The campaign took a notable toll on Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson. She died suddenly, shortly before Christmas in 1828. | The campaign took a notable toll on Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson. She died suddenly, shortly before Christmas in 1828. |
| “There’s no question that Jackson believed that the campaign had killed his wife,” Mr. Meacham said. “That’s basically right.” | “There’s no question that Jackson believed that the campaign had killed his wife,” Mr. Meacham said. “That’s basically right.” |
| Jackson died in 1845. The Civil War broke out in 1861. | Jackson died in 1845. The Civil War broke out in 1861. |
| Mr. Meacham said he thought that Mr. Trump may have been referring to the nullification crisis, which did occur during Jackson’s lifetime. | Mr. Meacham said he thought that Mr. Trump may have been referring to the nullification crisis, which did occur during Jackson’s lifetime. |
| The crisis, which began in 1832, was a conflict between the federal government and South Carolina, a Southern state that would later be instrumental in the movement for secession. | The crisis, which began in 1832, was a conflict between the federal government and South Carolina, a Southern state that would later be instrumental in the movement for secession. |
| During the crisis, President Jackson “took a firm stand on the side of the union,” Mr. Meacham said, adding, “There are two stray Trumpian ideas that collided into each other when he talked.” | During the crisis, President Jackson “took a firm stand on the side of the union,” Mr. Meacham said, adding, “There are two stray Trumpian ideas that collided into each other when he talked.” |
| Mr. Trump has questioned the necessity of the Civil War before, in an interview with Mr. Meacham before the election. At the time, President Trump said that he had “always felt that the South overplayed their hand,” he told Mr. Meacham. | Mr. Trump has questioned the necessity of the Civil War before, in an interview with Mr. Meacham before the election. At the time, President Trump said that he had “always felt that the South overplayed their hand,” he told Mr. Meacham. |
| Had Jackson been alive at the start of the Civil War, Mr. Meacham said, it would be difficult to predict his reaction. It would have brought his commitment to the Union into conflict with his identity as an unapologetic slave owner. Mr. Jackson was from Tennessee, which fought for the Confederacy. | |
| But any president would have had to contend with the South’s attempt to expand the institution of slavery into territory newly acquired by the United States. It’s what Mr. Meacham called the unavoidable historical question. | But any president would have had to contend with the South’s attempt to expand the institution of slavery into territory newly acquired by the United States. It’s what Mr. Meacham called the unavoidable historical question. |
| “The expansion of slavery caused the Civil War,” he said. “And you can’t get around that. So what does Trump mean? Would he have let slavery exist but not expand? That’s the counterfactual question you have to ask.” | “The expansion of slavery caused the Civil War,” he said. “And you can’t get around that. So what does Trump mean? Would he have let slavery exist but not expand? That’s the counterfactual question you have to ask.” |