merce, and manufactures should be equally favored, and that perhaps the only exception to this rule should consist in the peculiar encouragement of any products of either of them that may be found essential to our national independence." The promotion, so far as consistent with the Constitution, of "internal improvements and the diffusion of knowledge," was characterized as "of high importance." For those who had dreaded the election of a military hero as president, there was the assurance that no increase of the army would be sought, and that friendly relations with foreign nations would be cultivated. A "just and liberal policy" towards the Indians was also promised.

The declaration regarding the civil service, on the other hand, was well calculated to "make half the office-holders in the country quake in their slippers." 1 "The recent demonstration of public sentiment inscribes on the list of executive duties, in characters too legible to be overlooked, the task of reform, which will require particularly the correction of those abuses that have brought the patronage of the federal government into conflict with the freedom of elections, and the counteraction of those causes which have disturbed the rightful course of appointment and have placed or continued power in unfaithful or incompetent hands." The phraseology was cumbrous, but the meaning was soon made clear.

Parton, Jackson, III., 172.

Rarely have the chief questions which were to engage the attention of an administration been more accurately foreshadowed. Benton calls the inaugural "a general chart of democratic principles." 1 That it "straddled" two of the most important issues was inevitable, in view of the fact that Jackson, who was on record as having favored both protection and internal improvements, was now the leader of a party bound eventually to oppose both those policies. The absence of any allusion to the Bank of the United States would seem to indicate that Jackson had not yet come to regard that institution as a national menace.

The breach with Adams was complete. Jackson refused to call upon the retiring president, and the two were never reconciled. Adams, on his part, while "complaining not at all of the measure meted out to him," " confided to his diary his expressions of ill-humor and chagrin. With Calhoun the relations of Jackson continued friendly. The secret of the cabinet appointments was well kept. Webster wrote on January 17 that Jackson answered no letters, and that the membership of the cabinet was as well known in Boston as at Washington-that is, not at all. A month later he notes that "the typographical crowd" Hill of New Hampshire, Kendall of Kentucky, and others-" is assembled in great force," and that Van Buren will probably be secretary of state; beyond that, "nothing is yet determined." As to the policy of the new administration, the public were equally in the dark, though Webster doubtless expressed the general opinion when he wrote that Jackson would "bring a breeze with him," but that no one could tell which way it would blow.1

The cabinet appointments were announced in the Telegraph February 26.2 The leading portfolio, that of secretary of state, was given to Martin Van Buren. Van Buren had been in the Senate from 1821 to 1828, resigning to become governor of New York, which position he held only from January 1 to March 12, 1829. He had been the leading spirit in the Albany Regency, and, after the defeat of Crawford, one of the most prominent supporters of Jackson. A tour in the south in the spring of 1827 had done something to insure the adherence of Crawford to Jackson's standard. Van Buren's skill in manipulating politics had already earned him the sobriquet of "the little magician," while Adams found in him "much resemblance" to Burr. He did not take up the duties of his new office until April 4, the business of the department being conducted in the interim by James A. Hamilton, a son of Alexander Hamilton and a strong Jackson supporter.

Calhoun had written in January that he hoped

1 Webster, Private Corresp., I., 467, 470.

Parton, Jackson, III., 174. Webster knew of the list February 23; Letters (Van Tyne's ed.), 141.

for "an able, sound man" at the head of the treasury department, as an important step in the direction of tariff revision. The new secretary, Samuel D. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, had been a member of the House of Representatives most of the time since 1813. He was a friend of Calhoun, an active disseminator of the "corrupt bargain" charge, and a capable man of business. He was said to have been urged by the entire Pennsylvania delegation in Congress, after that state had failed to receive the first place. The secretary of war was John H. Eaton, of Kentucky, a senator from that state since 1818, a warm personal friend of Jackson, and brother-in-law of Lewis. There was particular opposition to his name when the list was announced, and it was reported that McLean would be substituted. John Branch, the secretary of the navy, had been governor of North Carolina, and twice senator. He was a friend of Calhoun, and had voted against the confirmation of Clay as secretary of state. John M. Berrien, of Georgia, the attorney-general, had been in the Senate since 1824. It had been expected that John McLean, postmaster - general, who had held office since 1823, would continue under Jackson; but he refused to approve the policy of a "clean sweep" in his department, and was made an associate justice of the supreme court, succeeding Judge Trimble, of Kentucky. John Pope, of Kentucky, who had wanted to be attorney-general, was also an applicant for Trimble's place.2 William T. Barry, of Kentucky, who had been "slated" for the justiceship, accepted the postmaster-general's place.

3

The Senate met in executive session immediately after the inauguration, and sat until March 17. On the 6th the executive nominations made during the previous session, and which had not been acted on, were withdrawn. The members of the cabinet, all of whom were at the time, or had lately been, members of Congress, were confirmed. With the exception of Van Buren, the cabinet was a weak one, and its members had not been accustomed to working together. Jackson, on the other hand, declared it to be "one of the strongest, as I believe, that ever has been in the United States." 4 A ruling principle in selection was opposition to Clay. Branch, Berrien, Eaton, Ingham, and Barry were avowed antiClay men. Calhoun, who was expected to stand high in the executive councils, was understood to be represented by Ingham, Branch, and Berrien, though neither of these was his first choice. As regards geographical representation, the north and the south had each two members, and Kentucky