American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

This biography does what it sets out to do--tell about Andrew Jackson's White House years--very well. I would have liked a little more information about the times before and after those years. This book really developed the idea of Jackson as a reformer, and also focused on Jackson's belief that the presidency should be directed by the will of the people. Also, this work is based mostly on private papers, especially those of the Donelson family (Jackson's wife's nephew and niece), so I felt the personal intrigues section was overdone and the parts about policies and how those politics may have affected the economy (especially in regards to the way Jackson killed the Bank) was underdone. This book definitely made me more curious about Jackson's life and I will be reading more about Jackson in the future.