# Racial Views of the Presidents **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624 "2009-07-29T01:17:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/1 "2009-07-29T01:17:39Z")
What were the racial views of the US Presidents before JFK? I’d like the opinions of all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/2 "2009-07-29T01:29:04Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > What were the racial views of the US Presidents before JFK? I’d like the opinions of all of them. Several were slave owners; [here’s a list](http://www.nas.com/~lopresti/ps.htm) Jackson is famous among other things for [the Trail of Tears](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears) In more recent times Truman [was said to hold anti-Semitic views.](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/truman-diary-reveals-antisemitism-and-offer-to-step-down-586582.html) A huge proportion of presidents would hold views that we would view as racist or prejudiced today, just look at how long Jim Crow went on before federal invention. Had you any specific presidents or periods in mind? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/3 "2009-07-29T02:02:09Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Several were slave owners; [here’s a list](http://www.nas.com/~lopresti/ps.htm) > > Jackson is famous among other things for [the Trail of Tears](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears) > > In more recent times Truman [was said to hold anti-Semitic views.](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/truman-diary-reveals-antisemitism-and-offer-to-step-down-586582.html) > > A huge proportion of presidents would hold views that we would view as racist or prejudiced today, just look at how long Jim Crow went on before federal invention. Had you any specific presidents or periods in mind? Thank you and I was asking for all the Presidents. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/4 "2009-07-29T02:31:41Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Thank you and I was asking for all the Presidents. _All_ of the presidents? You could write a book on the subject. [Here’s one.](http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4cgAtt6kqeoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA9&dq=Presidents+racism&ots=n9g1X_melU&sig=jkcsfrQrwtEcTwDHUlTON1nG97g) Among some of the more notable examples; Andrew Johnson has been called a “fervent white supremacist” ([http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/01/AR2006120101509.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/01/AR2006120101509.html)) and attempted to blocked civil rights legislation during the reconstruction; > [@](#): > > The Radicals’ first step was to refuse to seat any Senator or Representative from the old Confederacy. Next they passed measures dealing with the former slaves. Johnson vetoed the legislation. The Radicals mustered enough votes in Congress to pass legislation over his veto–the first time that Congress had overridden a President on an important bill. They passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which established Negroes as American citizens and forbade discrimination against them. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/andrewjohnson/](http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/andrewjohnson/) More info: [Civil Rights Act of 1866 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1866) Wilson was certainly racist, a supporter of Jim Crow he is quoted as saying among other things; “If the colored people made a mistake in voting for me, they ought to correct it.” > **[Woodrow Wilson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson#Wilson_and_race)** > > Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only Democrat to serve as president during the Progressive Era, when Republicans dominated the presidency and legislative branches. As president, Wilson made significant economic reforms and led the United States through World War I. He was the leading architect of the League of Nations, and his stance on foreign policy came to be known as Wilsoniani... Even FDR [signed Executive Order 9066](http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5154), for the creation of Japanese Internment Camps. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/5 "2009-07-29T02:51:46Z")
Then there’s Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves, but eventually freed most of them, and appears to have had an actual love affair (as opposed to a sex-slave relationship) with one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/6 "2009-07-29T03:17:11Z")
Woodrow Wilson was [pretty clearly a racist](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_10_34/ai_98125294/). But with other presidents, their personal views weren’t necessarily reflected in their actions. As noted above, Truman may have not liked Jews, but he recognized the new state of israel immediately, helping it gain legitimacy on the international stage. Truman also desegregated the U.S. armed forces. Eisenhower wasn’t particularly progressive on matters of race, but he committed federal troops to enforce the court-ordered desegregation of the schools in Little Rock. Theodore Roosevelt’s brand of nationalism didn’t seem to include African-Americans or Asian-Americans, but it didn’t automatically exclude them, either. Warren Harding, who may have been the worst President ever, famously went to Birmingham, Alabama in 1921 to make a speech calling for full civil rights for black people – which was pretty damn gutsy. And Calvin Coolidge, whose writings seemed to oppose whites and non-whites mixing, also opposed the restrictions that blocked Japanese from immigrating to the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/7 "2009-07-29T03:26:28Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Woodrow Wilson was [pretty clearly a racist](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_10_34/ai_98125294/). > > But with other presidents, their personal views weren’t necessarily reflected in their actions. As noted above, Truman may have not liked Jews, but he recognized the new state of israel immediately, helping it gain legitimacy on the international stage. Truman also desegregated the U.S. armed forces. Eisenhower wasn’t particularly progressive on matters of race, but he committed federal troops to enforce the court-ordered desegregation of the schools in Little Rock. Theodore Roosevelt’s brand of nationalism didn’t seem to include African-Americans or Asian-Americans, but it didn’t automatically exclude them, either. Warren Harding, who may have been the worst President ever, famously went to Birmingham, Alabama in 1921 to make a speech calling for full civil rights for black people – which was pretty damn gutsy. And Calvin Coolidge, whose writings seemed to oppose whites and non-whites mixing, also opposed the restrictions that blocked Japanese from immigrating to the U.S. Theodore Roosevelt served with black regiments the “Buffalo Soldiers” in the Spanish American war and thought highly of them (see also; [http://www.history.army.mil/documents/spanam/bssjh/shbrt-bssjh.htm](http://www.history.army.mil/documents/spanam/bssjh/shbrt-bssjh.htm)]. He was also the first to invite an African-American (Booker T. Washington) to the White House, and the first to appoint a Jewish (Oscar S. Straus) cabinet member. It can be argued that the overall public view prevented him from being any more progressive, as opposed to any prejudices on his part. More info here: [Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Theodore_Roosevelt#Race) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/8 "2009-07-29T03:35:12Z")
Missed the edit window; Hoover has also been praised for his (at the time) progressive views: > [@](#): > > “He appreciated talent. He didn’t care whether the man who had it was of his political persuasion. He was absolutely color-blind as to race, and he didn’t care anything about denomination.” Like most historical figures when we subject him to standards of today he doesn’t come off all that favourably, though. More info here: > **[News Archives](https://www.findarticles.com/news/)** > > Explore the News Articles featuring Technology, Business, Entertainment, and Science & Health topics. Access reports, insights, and stories. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/9 "2009-07-29T04:09:45Z")
Wasn’t Warren Harding supposedly part black? Or was this a rumor, intended to be derogatory, which was circulated about him by his opponents? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/10 "2009-07-29T04:19:36Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Wasn’t Warren Harding supposedly part black? Or was this a rumor, intended to be derogatory, which was circulated about him by his opponents? A rumour, although of course there is no way to know for sure. > [@](#): > > During the campaign, rumors spread that Harding’s great-great-grandfather was a West Indian black person and that other blacks might be found in his family tree. In an era when the one-drop rule meant any black blood made a person black, and participation of black people in politics in the South was effectively prohibited, Harding’s campaign manager responded, “No family in the state (of Ohio) has a clearer, a more honorable record than the Harding’s, a blue-eyed stock from New England and Pennsylvania, the finest pioneer blood.”[7] The rumors, based perhaps on no more than local gossip, were circulated by historian William Estabrook Chancellor.[8] The rumors may have been sustained by a statement Harding allegedly made to newspaperman James W. Faulkner on the subject, perhaps meaning to be dismissive: “How do I know, Jim? One of my ancestors may have jumped the fence.”[9] > **[Warren G. Harding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_G._Harding)** > > Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular presidents at the time of his death. After that, a number of scandals were exposed that greatly damaged his reputation. > Harding lived in rural Ohio all his life, except when political service took him elsewhere. As a young man, he bought The Marion Star and built it into a success... ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/11 "2009-07-29T04:30:35Z")
Lincoln’s personal views on race are difficult to assess. His political career was based on the opposition of slavery to the territories, but he famously campaigned on respecting the constitutional recognition for slavery in the slave states. He also took the position that freed slaves should be re-patriated to Africa, since whites and blacks could not live together. That view today would be seen as an extreme racist view. At the time, however, it was considered a moderate view within the Republican Party, and was likely in touch with moderate popular opinion in the North. And on the other hand, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and also signed the 13th Amendment when passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification - something no other President has done, since the President is not involved in the amending process. Doris Kearns Goodwin addresses the issue of Lincoln’s views in her book, [Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b_0_5?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=team+of+rivals&x=0&y=0&sprefix=team+), at pp. 207-208: > [@](#): > > There is no way to penetrate Lincoln’s personal feelings about race. There is, however, the fact that armies of scholars, meticulously investigating every aspect of his life, have failed to find a single act of racial bigotry on his part. Even more telling is the observation of Frederick Douglass, who would become a frequent public critic of London’s during his presidency, that of all the men he had met, Lincoln was “the first great man that I talked with in the United States freely, who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color.” This remark takes on additional meaning when one realizes that Douglass had met dozens of celebrated abolitionists, including Wendall Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, and Salmon Chase. Apparently, Douglass never felt with any of them, as he did with Lincoln, an “entire freedom from popular prejudice against the colored race.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/12 "2009-07-29T04:57:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Then there’s Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves, but eventually freed most of them, and appears to have had an actual love affair (as opposed to a sex-slave relationship) with one of them. He DIDN’T free most of them. Just a few of them, in fact. George Washington freed all his slaves, but only posthumously. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/13 "2009-07-29T05:03:42Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > He DIDN’T free most of them. Just a few of them, in fact. > > George Washington freed all his slaves, but only posthumously. He left some of them for Martha, stipulating that they be freed upon her death. Needless to say she freed them herself, so there wouldn’t be a strong motivation for her demise. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/14 "2009-07-29T08:33:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Theodore Roosevelt … was also the first to invite an African-American (Booker T. Washington) to the White House Lincoln preceded him by inviting Frederick Douglass to the White House in 1863. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/15 "2009-07-29T08:45:55Z")
I stand corrected, said the man in the orthopaedic shoes. Still, it was unusual enough to cause a hubbub. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/16 "2009-07-29T08:53:53Z")
Many, like Jefferson and Lincoln, had evolving (not necessarily evolved) views on race. Their opinion of blacks/Indians/others at age 30 wasn’t necessarily the view they had at 50 or at (in Jefferson’s case) 80. Jackson certainly didn’t see Indians as fully human, but his greatest hatred was possibly for the English. He was the youngest of three sons of Ulster Scot emigrants, and the Scots Irish generally had little love for the English to begin with. During the Revolution one of his brothers (Hugh) was killed in battle, the other (Robert) died of disease contracted on a British prison ship; while nursing him and other prisoners their mother developed the disease and died also. Meanwhile a British officer occupying the Jackson house assaulted him with a sword (and by rumor sexually\*) when he refused to polish the officer’s boots, leaving a permanent scar on Jackson’s face and ear. Thereafter he hated the English with a passion, once as a judge hanging two Englishmen for the crime of “trespassing” when _they were the men who brought charges_ in his court. So if English counts as a race (can’t think of why it would, but then it’s as much of a genetic difference as any other ‘race’), I think this bears mention. Though he hated them in battle and vowed to kill them, he came to respect William Weatherford, the Creek chief, and some of the other chiefs after their conference and forcing their surrender. I’ve wondered if his repercussions may not have been even bloodier had most of the Creek chiefs not had as much Scottish blood as Creek. (If they’d been part Creek and part English- and there were some who were- he’d have problem kept fighting til every one of them were dead.) [Only AJ knew for sure and even if true I doubt he’d have told it, but it was a rumor; there were some vicious rumors that make the Obama birth certificate/Bristol Palin rumors all pale by comparison about Jackson by his opponents and even more vicious ones by Jackson’s people about his opponents] ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/17 "2009-07-29T13:21:49Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > What were the racial views of the US Presidents before JFK? I’d like the opinions of all of them. Gee, you’re not the least bit modest in your demands, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/18 "2009-07-29T14:31:24Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > He left some of them for Martha, stipulating that they be freed upon her death. Needless to say she freed them herself, so there wouldn’t be a strong motivation for her demise. IIRC, he freed _all_ those which he owned at the time of his death. Martha owned slaves of her own, and it’s true that she freed them before she died. Washington was the only slaveholding President to free his slaves. Here’s an article I wrote a few years ago about him; the portion beginning with the paragraph headed “One states’ rights issue in particular bothered Washington” discusses his evolving views on slavery: [George Washington: Hero of the Confederacy](http://www.historynet.com/george-washington-hero-of-the-confederacy.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/19 "2009-07-29T14:55:13Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > IIRC, he freed _all_ those which he owned at the time of his death. Martha owned slaves of her own, and it’s true that she freed them before she died. > > Washington was the only slaveholding President to free his slaves. Here’s an article I wrote a few years ago about him; the portion beginning with the paragraph headed “One states’ rights issue in particular bothered Washington” discusses his evolving views on slavery: [George Washington: Hero of the Confederacy](http://www.historynet.com/george-washington-hero-of-the-confederacy.htm) > [@](#): > > Privately, however, Washington could – and did – lead by example. In his will, he arranged for all of the slaves he owned to be freed after the death of his wife, Martha. He also left instructions for the continued care and education of some of his former slaves, support and training for all of the children until they came of age, and continuing support for the elderly. [http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/meet\_george/index.cfm/ss/101/](http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/meet_george/index.cfm/ss/101/) > [@](#): > > Washington freed his slaves after he died in 1799. **"Upon the decease of my wife** it is my Will & desire that all the Slaves **which I hold in my own right** shall receive their freedom," he stated in his will. (bolding mine) > **[News Archives](https://www.findarticles.com/news/)** > > Explore the News Articles featuring Technology, Business, Entertainment, and Science & Health topics. Access reports, insights, and stories. He certainly had trepidations about slavery, but there were also practical legal considerations in not releasing all his slaves upon his death; > [@](#): > > His will, drafted a year later, said otherwise. He wrote that he wished he could free all the slaves at Mt. Vernon, but couldn’t because some belonged to his wife’s heirs, and he didn’t want to divide families. Unless Martha or her heirs freed the Custis slaves as well, families would be broken up. Wiencek believes George was trying to persuade Martha to use her influence on her heirs to free the Custis slaves–but she did not. Washington also stipulated that the freed children be taught reading, writing and a trade. [http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/articles/hurrelbrinck.html](http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/articles/hurrelbrinck.html) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624/20 "2009-07-29T15:00:19Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Jackson certainly didn’t see Indians as fully human, but his greatest hatred was possibly for the English. He was the youngest of three sons of Ulster Scot emigrants, and the Scots Irish generally had little love for the English to begin with. During the Revolution one of his brothers (Hugh) was killed in battle, the other (Robert) died of disease contracted on a British prison ship; while nursing him and other prisoners their mother developed the disease and died also. Meanwhile a British officer occupying the Jackson house assaulted him with a sword (and by rumor sexually\*) when he refused to polish the officer’s boots, leaving a permanent scar on Jackson’s face and ear. Thereafter he hated the English with a passion, once as a judge hanging two Englishmen for the crime of “trespassing” when _they were the men who brought charges_ in his court. > So if English counts as a race (can’t think of why it would, but then it’s as much of a genetic difference as any other ‘race’), I think this bears mention. > > Though he hated them in battle and vowed to kill them, he came to respect William Weatherford, the Creek chief, and some of the other chiefs after their conference and forcing their surrender. I’ve wondered if his repercussions may not have been even bloodier had most of the Creek chiefs not had as much Scottish blood as Creek. (If they’d been part Creek and part English- and there were some who were- he’d have problem kept fighting til every one of them were dead.) Jackson was a much mroe complicated character than most leftist or antiracist histories writen today admit. In fact, his hatred of Indians was founded largely on the fact that several major tribes were allies of the British or heavily influenced by them (to the detriment of the still-fledgling United States). His adoped son was AmerIndian, for example. He seemed to really hate some tribes (who were close to England’s heart) and not others, for another. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/racial-views-of-the-presidents/504624.md?page=2)