“We want to fuck you! Also, we hate the tariff!” With that pithy summation of American presidential politics, a crowd of rapt admirers greets President-cum-rock-star Andrew Jackson in Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, a brief and raucous rock-’n’-roll musical chronicling the rise and subsequent frustration of our seventh president, who promised to be the voice of the people only to learn that the little folks are just as feckless, vain, and greedy as the swaggering potentates he railed against. George Will was more insightful and less obscene when he described Americans’ attitude toward the chief executive as caesaro-papism, but, as anybody who has ever seen Bill Clinton or George W. Bush work a room—to say nothing of savoring the now-faded glory of Barack Obama, back when they were chanting his name in the choruses of bespoke campaign songs—there is something to this president-as-rock-star business, and...

 
A new initiative for discerning readers—and our close friends. Join The New Criterion’s Supporters Circle.