Mark R. Cheathem is a professor of history at Cumberland University, where he also directs the Papers of Martin Van Buren. He is the author of The Coming of Democracy: Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson and several other books on the Jacksonian era, including Andrew Jackson and the Rise of the Democratic Party and Andrew Jackson, Southerner.From Cheathem's Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: Why did you decide to focus on the 1824-1840 period in your new book?Learn more about The Coming of Democracy at the Johns Hopkins University Press website.
A: My main interest is in Jacksonian-era politics, and I wanted to write about one of the key elections during that period. Originally, I intended to write specifically about the 1840 presidential election, which historians often hail as the first modern presidential campaign.
As I researched, however, it became apparent that while 1840 was a pivotal year, it was the culmination of developments stretching over several presidential campaigns.
So, I started at what I considered the beginning of the story rather than the end. The Log Cabin and Hard Cider Campaign of 1840 is still prominent, but I think readers will have a better understanding of how the U.S. arrived at the campaign than if I had stuck with my original idea.
Q: What do you see as some of the most important changes in presidential campaigning during those years, and what led to those changes?
A: The most obvious changes to me are...[read on]
Writers Read: Mark R. Cheathem.
--Marshal Zeringue