--- title: Tavis Smiley on Why Andrew Jackson Is Right for Donald Trump description: Americans fearing President Donald Trump will take away their rights must remember the responsibility of being a citizen canonical: https://time.com/4770693/donald-trump-resistance/ author: Tavis Smiley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-09T17:59:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:19.521Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Americans Need to Resist and Resolve og:description: 'We always talk about rights, but never quite get around to responsibilities' og:url: https://time.com/4770693/donald-trump-resistance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33292997270ab5ad/6988cc940a4a22f5689ce17f/donald-trump-resistance-hillary-clinton-resist-jeff-sessions.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-AUSTRALIA-TRUMP-TURNBULL og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Americans Need to Resist and Resolve twitter:description: 'We always talk about rights, but never quite get around to responsibilities' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33292997270ab5ad/6988cc940a4a22f5689ce17f/donald-trump-resistance-hillary-clinton-resist-jeff-sessions.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tavis Smiley: Andrew Jackson Is the Perfect Icon of Selfishness for Trump ## Video: President Trump's Question About the Civil War Was Answered by Abraham Lincoln in 1865 [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump's Question About the Civil War Was Answered by Abraham Lincoln in 1865](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/10pJXRzk.m3u8) (0:35)  _Published 2017-05-01. In an interview with Salena Zito for the Washington Examiner that will air on Sirius XM on Monday afternoon, President Trump expressed his continued admiration for President Andrew Jackson_  by [Tavis Smiley](https://time.com/author/tavis-smiley/)  ## Tavis Smiley May 9, 2017 5:59 PM UTC  President Donald Trump leaves after speaking at a dinner to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea during WWII onboard the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum May 4, 2017 in New York, New York. President Donald Trump leaves after speaking at a dinner to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea during WWII onboard the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum May 4, 2017 in New York, New York.Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images  by [Tavis Smiley](https://time.com/author/tavis-smiley/)  ## Tavis Smiley May 9, 2017 5:59 PM UTC I know [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4591408/time-poy-donald-trump-andrew-jackson-jon-meacham/) is a big fan of [Andrew Jackson](http://time.com/4707867/donald-trump-henry-clay-andrew-jackson/), a president who was autocratic, authoritarian, paternalistic, xenophobic and an unapologetic supporter of slavery. I also know, though, that my grandmother, Big Mama, was fond of saying, “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” What she meant was: There’s some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us, so we should try hard not to judge people by their worst deeds. Jackson and Trump put Big Mama’s advice and admonition to the test — shrinking citizens’ rights rather than expanding them, blurring the line between nationalism and patriotism, craving greater personal and presidential power rather than returning it to the people, and appointing family and friends to positions of authority without proper regard to their qualifications. Jackson and Trump, then and now: our most selfish citizens. Yet their worst deeds do not absolve us. Though they do reveal a blind spot we share: We always talk about the rights of citizens, but never quite get around to the responsibilities. In times of selfish leaders, we must remember Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis’ declaration that “the most important \[political\] office… is that of \[the\] private citizen.” And in times when those leaders threaten our livelihoods, we must simultaneously remember the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre writing that to be an honest citizen, one must be afraid. Together, all of this raises a question: As American citizens — and therefore as office holders ourselves — what do we do with the fear that we now feel? To my mind, there are five things to focus and act on: Make sure that your definition of citizenship doesn’t begin and end with voting. Yes, voting is our most precious right as citizens. But for some of us, even that right still has to be protected in the era of Donald Trump and Attorney General [Jeff Sessions](http://time.com/4752856/jeff-sessions-hawaii-pacific-island-travel-ban/). Each of us must accept that the kind of government we want depends on what kind of citizens we intend to be _after_ we’ve cast our ballots. Make sure that your definition of citizenship includes understanding and empathy for the plight of other fellow citizens. Our destiny as a nation is inextricably linked together. You will never experience the fullness of your own humanity if you cannot respect and revel in the humanity of all others. Make sure that your definition of citizenship doesn’t diminish or consign others to second-class citizen status, especially those who are already living in communities wrestling with third-world conditions. If freedom was a commodity that only money could buy, the rich would live and the poor would die. Our democracy either works for all of us, or it works for none of us. In which case, we ought to stop lying to ourselves about living in a democracy, and just call it what it is — an oligarchy, a plutocracy. Make sure that your definition of citizenship isn’t just about [_resist_](http://time.com/4676825/democratic-resistance-tea-party/), but also about _resolve_. I’m all for resisting that which I am against, but I also resolve to advance an agenda of what I’m for, and to fight for what I believe. Right now, America needs visionaries, not mercenaries. Finally, make sure that your definition of citizenship is also accompanied by a dream. A dream of what our nation can become at its best. We have to imagine the America that we want to live in, and, while refusing to surrender our agency to be outraged, we must align our vision with our values and strive to turn our vulnerabilities into victories. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4770693/donald-trump-resistance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4770693/donald-trump-resistance/"},"headline":"Tavis Smiley: Andrew Jackson Is the Perfect Icon of Selfishness for Trump","datePublished":"2017-05-09T17:59:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:19.521Z","description":"'We always talk about the rights of citizens, but never quite get around to the responsibilities'","url":"https://time.com/4770693/donald-trump-resistance/","keywords":["politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33292997270ab5ad/6988cc940a4a22f5689ce17f/donald-trump-resistance-hillary-clinton-resist-jeff-sessions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tavis Smiley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tavis-smiley/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33292997270ab5ad/6988cc940a4a22f5689ce17f/donald-trump-resistance-hillary-clinton-resist-jeff-sessions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-AUSTRALIA-TRUMP-TURNBULL","caption":"US-AUSTRALIA-TRUMP-TURNBULL","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4770693/donald-trump-resistance/","name":"Tavis Smiley: Andrew Jackson Is the Perfect Icon of Selfishness for Trump"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump's Question About the Civil War Was Answered by Abraham Lincoln in 1865","description":"In an interview with Salena Zito for the Washington Examiner that will air on Sirius XM on Monday afternoon, President Trump expressed his continued admiration for President Andrew Jackson","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/10pJXRzk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-05-01T19:14:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/10pJXRzk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4770693/donald-trump-resistance/","duration":"PT35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4770693/donald-trump-resistance/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```