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Andrew Jackson

Presidency

What famous exchange of toasts did Jackson and Calhoun engage in?

In April 1830, political leaders held an annual dinner in honor of Thomas Jefferson’s birthday at the Indian Queen’s Hotel. President Jackson believed that too many of the politicians agreed with the nullification doctrine sometimes associated with Jefferson’s Kentucky Resolutions. Calhoun, for example, had been a proponent of nullification when a federal law infringed too much on a state’s power.

Jackson gave the toast: “Our Union—it must be preserved.” Calhoun then spoke after Jackson with the following toast in a trembling voice: “The Union—next to our liberty the most dear.”



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