Andrew Jackson was everything most Americans admired: a patriot, a self-made man, and a war hero. On March 4, 1829, thousands of farmers, laborers, and other ordinary Americans crowded into the nation’s capital to hear Jackson’s Inaugural Address. After Jackson’s speech, a crowd joined him at a White House reception. They filled the elegant rooms of the mansion, trampling on the carpets with muddy shoes, spilling food on sofas and chairs. They were there to shake the hand of the general who seemed just like them.

To deal with his rivals and the public, Jackson relied on his "kitchen cabinet," an unofficial group of friends and advisers. His Secretary of State was Martin Van Buren, a leader in party affairs. Eventually, he would become vice president. The secretary of war was John H. Eaton. Beyond them, there were not many other executive secretaries, so Jackson turned to friends and political allies. He included Auditor of the U.S. Treasury Amos Kendall and Second Auditor of the Treasury Major William B. Lewis for financial advice. He also included Isaac Hill, a U.S. Senator and editor of the New Hampshire Patriot. He also valued the input of two other newspaper men, Francis P. Blair, Sr., editor of the Washington Globe, and Duff Green, editor of the United States Telegraph.

The Founders of the nation feared a tyrannical President. They believed that only a strong Congress could best represent the people. Jackson felt that the Congress was not representing the people, and that they were acting like an aristocracy. Jackson took the view that only the president could be trusted to stand for the will of the people against the aristocratic Congress. Jackson's weapon was the veto, which he used more times than any of the six previous presidents combined.

Democrats carried the spirit of democracy into government. They wanted to open government jobs to people from all walks of life. They were disturbed that the federal government had become a bureaucracy, a system in which nonelected officials carry out laws. Democrats argued that ordinary citizens could handle any government job. Jackson fired many federal workers and replaced them with his supporters. The discharged employees protested strongly. They charged that Jackson was acting like a tyrant, hiring and firing people at will. Jackson responded that a new set of federal employees would be good for democracy.

One Jackson supporter explained it another way: “To the victors belong the spoils.” In other words, because the Jacksonians had won the election, they had the right to the spoils, or the benefits of victory, such as handing out government jobs to supporters. The practice of replacing government employees with the winning candidate’s supporters became known as the spoils system.

Jackson’s supporters worked to make the political system more democratic as well. They abandoned the unpopular caucus system. In this system, major political candidates were chosen by committees made up of members of Congress. The caucuses were replaced by nominating conventions in which delegates from the states selected the party’s presidential candidate. The Democrats held their first national party convention in 1832 in Baltimore, Maryland. The convention drew delegates from each state in the Union. The delegates decided to nominate the candidate who could gather two-thirds of the vote, and Jackson won the nomination. This system allowed many people to participate in the selection of political candidates.