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Thanks, But No Thanks: Silas Wright, Part II

© John S. Cooper

Wright soon faced his next crisis. He had to make a decision on the national bank issue. Wright had always been opposed to the Bank of the United States, and banking interests in general. He supported Jackson’s plans to remove all federal funds from the Bank of the United States, but disagreed with Jackson’s methods. He wanted President Jackson to wait until Congress came back in session, but Jackson chose to do it immediately while Congress was out of session.

When Congress again convened, the attacks on President Jackson for removing the federal funds from the B.U.S. were angry and vicious. Democrats supporting Jackson rose to his defense but Wright, a strong supporter of Jackson, remained silent. Vice President Van Buren, Wright’s close friend and political mentor, questioned his silence on this crucial issue. Wright, showing his strong feelings of inadequacy, told Van Buren that there were many men much better able to defend the President.

Van Buren reminded Wright of his duty, and Wright joined the debate in support of the President. Wright’s participation on Jackson’s behalf offered little benefit to the President because Wright was not a very effective speaker, which is why Wright had initially left Jackson’s defense to other senators who were better orators. As a speaker, Wright was unemotional and unpersuasive. Daniel Webster, considered one of the greatest orators ever to sit in the Senate, called Silas Wright “the most inferior man in debate that sat in the Senate.” While that evaluation may be overly harsh, he certainly had it right when he placed Wright among the worst speakers in Congress.

In 1836, President Jackson issued the Specie Circular. This was an order that government lands could be purchased only with specie, (hard currency such as gold or silver coins). Jackson published this order to end the land speculation in the west that had been fueled by the easy money provided by state banks fattened with federal funds pulled out of the Bank of the United States and placed in “pet” state banks owned by supporters of Andrew Jackson.

Wright had long opposed banking interests, especially the Bank of the United States. He was also highly partisan in his support of Andrew Jackson. Calling land speculation “public gambling,” he wholeheartedly supported President Jackson on the inflammatory issue. Later the same year, he supported Vice President Van Buren in his race for the Presidency. Van Buren was already President when the Specie Circular, along with a world-wide depression, and some probable attempts by the leaders of the Bank of the United States to promote a recession and discredit Jackson, caused the first major economic depression in our history.

Silas Wright

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