Andrew Jackson Relatives Split Over Portrait’s Removal From Oval Office
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Joe Biden‘s driving a wedge between some of Andrew Jackson‘s descendants … there’s a split in the family over the new look in the Oval Office.
The rift stems from Biden’s decision to remove a portrait of our 7th president from the Oval, replacing Jackson with a painting of Benjamin Franklin. It’s a change from the layout during Donald Trump‘s time in the Oval.
Jackson’s great, great, great-granddaughter, Barbara Jackson, tells TMZ … she approves of Biden’s big change, because her relative did some really bad things.
She says Jackson did some good, but she can’t get over the fact he was a slave owner and was a fierce opponent of ending slavery.
Jackson’s great, great, great-grandson, Andy Jackson, tells TMZ … he’s unhappy and thinks his great-great-grandpa has a rightful place near the resolute desk.
Andy, Barbara’s cousin, says President Jackson should be remembered for his accomplishments — defeating the British in the War of 1812 and increasing suffrage — even if history doesn’t look kindly on his cruel policies on Native Americans.
There’s some common ground among Jackson’s relatives, who descend from his adopted son Andrew Jackson II … they both feel the decision was ultimately Biden’s to make, and they respect it.
Here’s a potential tiebreaker — Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage.
Howard Kittel, the President and CEO of Jackson’s former plantation turned museum, tells TMZ … he was disappointed to see the portrait taken down, but not surprised, given Jackson’s ties to slavery.
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There’s also a Lincoln bust that was removed from the White House, but it wasn’t Biden’s doing. It got carried away in the final days of Trump’s presidency.