Jackson Spain for her lax administration, and his coun- sel prevailed. It was a happy solution, for Jack- son's conduct w'as pleasing to the majority of the Western people, and a reprimand might have made him president before his time. Monroe's position had been a delicate one. He wished Jack- son to believe that he was friendly, but he re- fused to assume responsibility for the attack on Pensacola, and he did not come openly to the defense of the General. After the excitement had blown over and the United States had acquired Florida, the President made amends of a kind by appointing Jackson to be the first governor of the new territory. Resigning his military com- mission on June i, 1821, Jackson accepted the position because its tender was looked upon as a public vindication of his conduct and because he thought it would enable him to furnish offices to some of his friends (Bassett, Correspondence, III, 1928, p. 65). In the latter expectation he was largely disappointed, and his experiences as governor were otherwise embarrassing. Tact rather than courage was the qualification which the position required, and he was never noted for this virtue. Before the end of the year he gave up the post in disgust and retired to "The Her- mitage" to become once more a private citizen. Meanwhile, Monroe had been elected presi- dent for a second term in 1820. The time had come when men might turn their attention to the election of 1824, and it was with an unwonted interest that they did so. The great panic of 1819 had left the West economically prostrate and the hordes of debtors sent up a cry for re- lief. In many states the legislatures passed vari- ous measures for their benefit, including, in some cases, the establishment of state-owned, state- operated banks whose paper money was to be used for the succor of the needy (T. H. Benton, Thirty Years' View, I, 1854, p. 5). In Tennes- see, as well as Kentucky and Alabama, such in- stitutions were established. Ambitious politicians saw the opportunity offered by the situation and demagoguery was rife. Jackson was one of the few who opposed the state bank in Tennessee. It was also opposed by the two candidates for the governorship of the state in 1821. Of these, Edward Ward, wealthy and educated, was looked upon as the aristocratic candidate, and William Carroll as representing the democracy. Jackson supported Ward, who was overwhelmingly de- feated (T. P. Abernethy, "Andrew Jackson and the Rise of Southwestern Democracy/' Ameri- can Historical Review, Oct. 1927, pp. 67-68). Thus the hero of New Orleans aligned himself with the conservative interests in his state at the time the great popular movement which bears Jackson his name was getting under way. Though his presidential campaign was already on foot, he made no attempt to conceal his views. When he returned to "The Hermitage" in 1821, a group of three old friends who resided in or near Nashville constituted themselves a con- fidential committee for political purposes. Of these, William B. Lewis [q.v.] was a neighbor who had married a ward of Jackson; John H. Eaton [q.vJ] was a satellite who had defended the General when the Seminole affair was before the Senate in 1819; and John Overton [q.v.] had lodged with Jackson at the widow Donelson's in frontier days and had remained a loyal friend and business associate during all the intervening years. He furnished most of the initiative, Eaton contributed diplomatic ability, and Lewis was the informal secretary and general busybody. To- gether they supplied the press with favorable ma- terial, formed connections in other states, and secured Jackson's nomination by the Tennessee legislature in 1822. There were similar groups elsewhere who saw the opportunity to organize the masses, so lately stirred to political conscious- ness by the panic, and thrust the old-time poli- ticians from the seats of power. Thus the Jack- son movement was launched as a popular cause in spite of the unpopular stand which he took at the same time in the politics of his own state. The explanation is that he was known as a suc- cessful general and Indian fighter, a son of the frontier with the romance of the pioneer about him, and an expansionist, and that few people outside the state knew or cared anything about Tennessee politics. In the state all factions were anxious to see the favorite son become president of the nation. The presidential movement de- veloped smoothly until 1823, when it became nec- essary for Tennessee to elect a new senator. The incumbent, Col. John Williams, had fought Jack- son bitterly during the Seminole controversy of 1818-19, and the friends of the latter did not think that they could afford to permit the return of such an enemy. But no man could be found with sufficient strength to defeat him, and the only recourse was to put forward Jackson him- self. He objected, for he had been in the Senate once before. His friends insisted, however, and he finally gave way. The result was that, in 1823, for a second time Jackson occupied a seat in the Senate of the United States. Just as in 1798, he accepted the place in order to prevent the election of an opponent, and held it only long enough to secure the succession of a friend. This time he took a more active part in the proceed- ings of the body and registered his vote on the leading measures. It is notable that he favored 530'