Old Hickory (1939)

John Elliott: Elderly Jackson Supporter

Quotes 

• Dissenter in Montage : [various prominent men's opinions on the tariff issue spliced together in a montage]  If you ask me, Jackson hasn't the nerve to speak.

  Elderly Jackson Supporter : Gentlemen, the whole country is waiting for Jackson.

  Colonel Ed Livingston : It's time Andy came out in the open.

  Vice President John C. Calhoun : Gentlemen, we must force the decision from the President.

• Narrator : A Jefferson Day dinner was arranged, the President formally invited. It was a political trap!, planned by those willing to split the Union rather than submit to the tariff of abominations.

  Robert Hayno : We'll soon smoke Old Hickory out.

  Vice President John C. Calhoun : All we need is the President's endorsement and the country's split open like a melon.

  Robert Hayno : It's all arranged: first I deliver the Jefferson Day eulogy emphasizing the fact that all the great leaders who framed the Constitution were believers in state's rights.

  Vice President John C. Calhoun : An out and out endorsement of Carolina's stand.

  Robert Hayno : Calhoun, we've got it.

  Vice President John C. Calhoun : Definitely. For, right there we call on the worthy sucessor of Jefferson, another firm believer in state's rights. What else can Jackson say?

  Robert Hayno : [advancing further into the dinner during Jackson's introduction]  The President of the United States.

  [Everyone claps as Jackson stands up] 

  Andrew Jackson : Gentlemen, our Federal Union must and shall be preserved.

  [takes a drink] 

  Andrew Jackson : Excuse me, please.

  [walks away] 

  Vice President John C. Calhoun : Mr. President...

  Andrew Jackson : [turning around]  Well?

  Vice President John C. Calhoun : [sharply]  What will your friends in South Carolina think?

  Andrew Jackson : I've already prepared a proclamation for my friends in South Carolina. It will be enforced, by arms if necessary.

  Robert Hayno : [dismayed]  Arms? Against your own people?

  Andrew Jackson : [sternly]  Against my own flesh and blood if they try to destroy the Union.

  Vice President John C. Calhoun : [aghast]  Do you mean to say that you're going to force this abominable tariff on the South?

  Andrew Jackson : It's not a question of the tariff, we can modify that. The issue you've brought up is disunion.

  [gallantly] 

  Andrew Jackson : This country is an asylum for the weak and the oppressed, to find refuge and support. And as long as I retain my strength, it shall remain united.

  [infuriated] 

  Andrew Jackson : And if you, sir, continue along the line you're going, by the eternal, I'll try you for treason and hang you as high as Haman!

  Elderly Jackson Supporter : Three cheers for Old Hickory!

  [All the men at the dinner cheer 'Hooray!' three times]