Andrew Jackson

For other uses, see Andrew Jackson (disambiguation).

Andrew Jackson
File:Andrew Jackson.jpeg
7th President of the United States
In office March 4 1829 – March 4 1837
Vice President	John C. Calhoun (1829-1832), None (1832-1833), Martin Van Buren (1833-1837)
Preceded by	John Quincy Adams
Succeeded by	Martin Van Buren
Personal details
Born	200px March 15 1767 Lancaster County, South Carolina
Died	June 8, 1845(1845-06-08) (aged 78) Nashville, Tennessee
Resting place	200px
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic-Republican and Democratic
Spouse(s)	Widowed. Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson. (Niece Emily Donelson Jackson and daughter-in-law Sarah Yorke Jackson were first ladies)
Parent	200px
Occupation	Farmer (Planter), Soldier (General)
Signature

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837). He was also military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), a founder of the modern Democratic Party, and the eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. He was a polarizing figure who dominated American politics in the 1820s and 1830s. Nicknamed "Old Hickory" because he was renowned for his toughness, Jackson was the first President primarily associated with the frontier (although born in South Carolina, he based his career in Tennessee).

Early life and career

Andrew Jackson was born to Presbyterian Scots-Irish immigrants Andrew and Elizabeth Jackson in Lancaster County, South Carolina, on March 15 1767. He was the youngest of three brothers and was born just weeks after his father's death. Both North Carolina and South Carolina have claimed Jackson as a "native son," because the community straddled the state line, and there was conflicting lore in the neighborhood about his exact birth site. Jackson himself always stated definitively he was born in a cabin just inside South Carolina. Having received a sporadic education, Jackson, at age thirteen and during the American Revolutionary War, joined a local regiment as a courier.

Jackson refusing to clean a British officer's boots (1876 lithography)

Andrew and his brother Robert Jackson were taken as prisoners, and they nearly starved to death. When Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer, the irate redcoat slashed at him, giving him scars on his left hand and head, as well as an intense hatred for the British. Both boys contracted smallpox while imprisoned, and Robert died days after his mother secured their release. Jackson then became an orphan at age 15. Jackson's entire immediate family died from war-time hardships that Jackson also blamed upon the British. Jackson was the last U.S. President to have been a veteran of the American Revolution, and the only President to have been a prisoner of war.

Jackson went to Tennessee in 1787. Though he could barely read law, he found he knew enough to become a young lawyer on the frontier. Since he was not from a distinguished family, he had to make his career by his own merits; and soon he began to prosper in the rough-and-tumble world of frontier law. Most of the actions grew out of disputed land-claims, or from assaults and battery. He was elected as Tennessee's first Congressman, upon its statehood in the late 1790s, and quickly became a U.S. Senator in 1797 but resigned within a year. In 1798, he was appointed judge on the Tennessee Supreme Court. [1]

Military career

War of 1812

Main articles: Creek War and Battle of New Orleans

Jackson became a colonel in the Tennessee militia, which he had led since the beginning of his military career in 1801. During the War of 1812, in 1813, Northern Creek Band chieftain Peter McQueen killed 400 men, women, and children in what became known as the Fort Mims Massacre (in what is now Alabama). Jackson commanded in the campaign against the Northern Creek Indians of Alabama and Georgia, also known as the "Red Sticks." Creek leaders such as William Weatherford (Red Eagle), Peter McQueen, and Menawa, who had been allies of the British during the War of 1812, violently clashed with other chiefs of the Creek Nation over white encroachment on Creek lands and the "civilizing" programs administered by U.S. Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins.

In the Creek War, a theatre of the War of 1812, Jackson defeated the Red Stick Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Jackson was aided by members of the Southern Creek Indian Band, who had requested Jackson's aid in putting down what they considered to be the "rebellious" Red Sticks, and some Cherokee Indians, who also sided with the Americans. 800 Northern Creek Band "Red Sticks" Indians were massacred. Jackson spared Weatherford's life from any acts of vengeance. Sam Houston and David Crockett, later to become famous themselves in Texas, served under Jackson at this time. Following the victory, Jackson imposed the Treaty of Fort Jackson upon both his Northern Creek enemy and Southern Creek allies, wresting 20 million acres (81,000 km²) from all Creeks for white settlement.

Jackson's service in the War of 1812 against the United Kingdom was conspicuous for its bravery and success. He was a strict officer, but was popular with his troops. It was said he was "tough as old hickory" wood on the battlefield, which gave him his nickname. The war, and particularly his command at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, made his national reputation. He advanced in rank to Major General. In the battle, Jackson's 4,000 militiamen and 16 heavy cannons behind barricades of cotton bales opposed 10,000 British regulars marching across an open field, led by General Edward Pakenham. The battle was a total American victory. The British had over 2,000 casualties to Jackson's 13 killed and 58 wounded or missing.

First Seminole War

Main article: Seminole Wars

Jackson served in the military again during the First Seminole War when he was ordered by President James Monroe in December 1817[2] to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek Indians. Jackson was also charged with preventing Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves. Critics later alleged that Jackson exceeded orders in his Florida actions. His directions were to "terminate the conflict." Jackson believed the best way to do this, would be to seize Florida. Before going, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished." Monroe gave Jackson orders that were purposely ambiguous, sufficient for international denials.

A bust of Andrew Jackson at the Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida, where Jackson was sworn in as territorial governor.

Jackson's Tennessee volunteers were attacked by Seminoles, but this left their villages vulnerable, and Jackson burned them and their crops. He found letters that indicated that the Spanish and British were secretly assisting the Indians. Jackson believed that the United States would not be secure as long as Spain and Great Britain encouraged American Indians to fight and argued that his actions were undertaken in self-defense. Jackson captured Pensacola, Florida with little more than some warning shots and deposed the Spanish governor. He illegally tried, and then captured and executed two British subjects, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot who had been supplying and advising the Indians. Jackson's action also struck fear into the Seminole tribes as word of his ruthlessness in battle spread.

The executions combined with Jackson's attack and seizure over a country they were not at war with created an international incident, and many in the Monroe administration called for Jackson to be censured. However, Jackson's actions were defended by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, an early believer in the Manifest Destiny. When the Spanish minister demanded a "suitable punishment" for Jackson, Adams wrote back "Spain must immediately [decide] either to place a force in Florida adequate at once to the protection of her territory, ... or cede to the United States a province, of which she retains nothing but the nominal possession, but which is, in fact, ... a post of annoyance to them." Adams used Jackson's conquest, and Spain's own weaknesses, to convince the Spanish (in the Adams-Onís Treaty) to cede Florida to the United States. Jackson was subsequently named its territorial governor.

Election of 1824

Main article: United States presidential election, 1824

The Tennessee legislature nominated Jackson for president in 1822. It also made him a Senator again in the United States Senate. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republican Party in Congress had boycotted the nominating caucus; those that adhered to it backed William H. Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A convention in Pennsylvania nominated Jackson for president almost a month later, on March 4. Gallatin critiqued Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshippers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office." Thomas Jefferson, who would later write to William Crawford in dismay at the outcome of the election, wrote to Jackson in December of 1823:

"I recall with pleasure the remembrance of our joint labors while in the Senate together in times of great trial and of hard battling, battles indeed of words, not of blood, as those you have since fought so much for your own glory & that of your country; with the assurance that my attamts continue undiminished, accept that of my great respect & consideration."

Biographer Robert V. Remini said that Jefferson "had no great love for Jackson." Daniel Webster wrote that Jefferson told him in December of 1824 that Jackson was a dangerous man unfit for the presidency. Historian Sean Wilentz described Webster's account of the meeting as "not wholly reliable."

During his first run for the presidency in 1824, Jackson received a plurality of both the popular and electoral votes. Since no candidate received a majority, the election decision was given to the House of Representatives, which chose John Quincy Adams as president in 1825. Jackson denounced it as a "corrupt bargain" because House Speaker Henry Clay gave his votes to Adams, who then appointed Clay Secretary of State. Jackson later called for the abolition of the Electoral College. Jackson's defeat burnished his political credentials, however, since many voters believed the "man of the people" had been robbed by the "corrupt aristocrats of the East."

Election of 1828

Main article: United States presidential election, 1828

The Tennessee legislature again nominated Jackson for the presidency. He resigned from United States Senate in 1825. Jackson allied himself with Vice President John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, and former supporters of William H. Crawford; together they built a coalition that handily defeated the reelection of John Quincy Adams in 1828. His supporters called themselves "Jackson Men," or Jacksonians.

Presidency 1829-1837

Spoils system

Main article: Spoils system

When Jackson became President, he implemented the theory of rotation in office, declaring it "a leading principle in the republican creed." He believed that rotation in office would prevent the development of a corrupt bureaucracy. In addition, Jackson's supporters wanted to give the posts to fellow party members, as an incentive to continue and support the party, and as a reward to strengthen party loyalty. In practice, this meant replacing federal employees with friends or party loyalists. By the end of his term, Jackson had dismissed less than twenty percent of the original federal employees. While Jackson did not start the "spoils system", he did indirectly encourage its growth for many years to come.

Opposition to the National Bank

Main article: Second Bank of the United States

As president, Jackson worked to take away the federal charter of the Second Bank of the United States (it would continue to exist as a state bank). The Second Bank had been authorized, during James Madison's tenure in 1816, for a 20 year period. Jackson opposed the national bank concept on ideological grounds. In Jackson's veto message (written by George Bancroft), the bank needed to be abolished because:

File:AJ~bank.JPG

Democratic cartoon shows Jackson fighting the monster Bank. "The Bank," Jackson told Martin Van Buren, "is trying to kill me, but I will kill it!"

• It concentrated an excessive amount of the nation's financial strength into a single institution
• It exposed the government to control by "foreign interests"
• It served mainly to make the rich richer
• It exercised too much control over members of the Congress
• It favored Northeastern states over Southern and Western states

Jackson followed Jefferson as a supporter of the ideal of an "agricultural republic" and felt the bank improved the fortunes of an "elite circle" of commercial and industrial entrepreneurs at the expense of farmers and laborers. After a titanic struggle, Jackson succeeded in destroying the bank by vetoing its 1832 re-charter by Congress and by withdrawing U.S. funds in 1833.

The bank's money-lending functions were taken over by the legions of local and state banks that sprang up. This fed an expansion of credit and speculation. At first, as Jackson withdrew money from the Bank to invest it in other banks, land sales, canal construction, cotton production, and manufacturing boomed. However, due to the practice of issuing notes that were not backed by gold or silver reserves, there was soon rapid inflation and mounting debts by the states. Then, in 1836, Jackson issued the specie circular, which required that government lands be bought in hard specie. Because banks lacked hard specie to issue in return for notes, many of them collapsed. This was a direct cause for the Panic of 1837, which threw the national economy into a deep depression. The commercial progress of the nation's economy was noticeably dented by the resulting failures, and it took years to recover from the damage.

1833 Democratic cartoon shows Jackson destroying the devil's Bank

The U.S. Senate censured Jackson on March 27 1834 for his actions in defunding the Bank of the United States; the censure was later expunged when the Jacksonians had a majority in the Senate.

Nullification crisis

Main article: Nullification crisis

Another notable crisis during Jackson's period of office was the "nullification crisis," or "secession crisis," of 1828 – 1832, which merged issues of sectional strife with disagreements over tariffs. Critics alleged that high tariffs (the "Tariff of Abominations") on imports of common manufactured goods made in Europe made those goods more expensive than ones from the northern U.S., thus raising the prices paid by planters in the South. Southern politicians thus argued that tariffs benefited northern industrialists at the expense of southern farmers. The issue came to a head when Vice President John C. Calhoun, in the South Carolina Exposition and Protest of 1828, supported the claim of his home state, South Carolina, that it had the right to "nullify"—declare illegal—the tariff legislation of 1828, and more generally the right of a state to nullify any Federal laws which went against its interests. Although Jackson sympathized with the South in the tariff debate, he was also a strong supporter of a strong union, with considerable powers for the central government. Jackson attempted to face down Calhoun over the issue, which developed into a bitter rivalry between the two men. Particularly infamous was an incident at the April 13 1830 Jefferson Day dinner, involving after-dinner toasts. Jackson rose first and voice booming, and glaring at Calhoun, yelled out "Our federal Union: IT MUST BE PRESERVED!", a clear challenge to Calhoun. Calhoun glared at Jackson and yelled out, his voice trembling, but booming as well, "The Union: NEXT TO OUR LIBERTY, MOST DEAR!" The next year, Calhoun and Jackson broke apart from one another, the first time a US President and US Vice-President had ever done so, and Calhoun resigned in 1832 to serve as a US Senator in South Carolina as well.

In response to South Carolina's threat, Congress passed a "Force Bill" in 1833, and Jackson vowed to send troops to South Carolina in order to enforce the laws. In December 1832, he issued a resounding proclamation against the "nullifiers," stating that he considered "the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed." South Carolina, the President declared, stood on "the brink of insurrection and treason," and he appealed to the people of the state to reassert their allegiance to that Union for which their ancestors had fought. Jackson also denied the right of secession: "The Constitution...forms a government not a league.... To say that any State may at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the United States is not a nation."

The crisis was resolved when Jackson sent warships to Charleston, South Carolina, and enforced Congress acts through the Force Bill.

Passage of the Force Bill depended on the vote of Henry Clay. Clay would finally yield to those urging him to save the day. He introduced a plan to reduce the tariff gradually until 1842, by which time no rate would be more than 20%. The Compromise Tariff of 1833 was to be a resolution to the Nullification Crisis. On March 1, 1833, Congress passed the Force Bill and the compromise tariff and Jackson signed both. The South Carolina Convention then met and rescinded its nullification ordinance. The Force Bill was then nullified because Jackson no longer had a need for it. Henry Clay had saved the day.

"Indian Removal"

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of Andrew Jackson's presidency was his policy regarding American Indians. Jackson was a leading advocate of a policy known as "Indian Removal," signing the Indian Removal Act into law in 1830. The Act authorized the President to negotiate treaties to purchase tribal lands in the east in exchange for lands further west, outside of existing U.S. state borders.

Jackson never publicly advocated removing American Indians by force, but he devoted considerable energies to the negotiation of removal treaties. Nearly seventy Indian treaties—many of them land sales—were ratified during his presidency, the most of any administration.

While frequently frowned upon in the North, the Removal Act was popular in the South, where population growth and the discovery of gold on Cherokee land had increased pressure on tribal lands. The state of Georgia became involved in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokees, culminating in the 1832 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Worcester v. Georgia) which ruled that Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands. Jackson is often quoted (regarding the decision) as having said, "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!" Whether or not he actually said it is disputed.

In any case, Jackson used the Georgia crisis to pressure Cherokee leaders to sign a removal treaty. A small faction of Cherokees led by John Ridge negotiated the Treaty of New Echota with Jackson's administration. Ross was not a recognized leader of the Cherokee Nation, and this document was rejected by most Cherokees as illegitimate. Over 15,000 Cherokee signed a petition in protest; it was ignored by the Supreme Court. In 1838, 1,600 Cherokee remained on their lands. The terms of the treaty were then enforced by Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren, who ordered 7,000 armed troops to remove them. This resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 Cherokee on the "Trail of Tears."

Jackson's assassination attempt by Richard Lawrence

In all, more than 45,000 American Indians were relocated to the West during Jackson's administration. During this time, the administration purchased about 100 million acres (400,000 km²) of Indian land for about $68 million and 32 million acres (130,000 km²) of western land. Jackson was criticized at the time for his role in these events, and the criticism has grown over the years. Remini characterizes the Indian Removal era as "one of the unhappiest chapters in American history."

Assassination attempt

On January 30 1835 an unsuccessful attack occurred in the United States Capitol Building; it was the first assassination attempt made against an American President. Jackson was crossing the Capitol Rotunda following the funeral of South Carolina Congressman Warren R. Davis when Richard Lawrence approached Jackson and attempted to fire two pistols, which both miraculously misfired. Jackson proceeded to attack Lawrence with his cane, prompting his aides to restrain him. Davy Crockett was also there to help restrain Lawrence. As a result, Jackson's statue in the Capitol Rotunda is placed in front of the doorway in which the attempt occurred. Lawrence was later found to be mentally ill, having accused Jackson of preventing him from becoming King of England.

Administration and Cabinet

File:Andrew jackson head.gif

Official White House portrait of Jackson.

The Jackson cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	Andrew Jackson	1829–1837
Vice President	John C. Calhoun	1829–1832
	None	1832–1833
Martin Van Buren	1833–1837
Secretary of State	Martin Van Buren	1829–1831
	Edward Livingston	1831–1833
Louis McLane	1833–1834
John Forsyth	1834–1837
Secretary of the Treasury	Samuel D. Ingham	1829–1831
	Louis McLane	1831–1833
	William J. Duane	1833
Roger B. Taney	1833–1834
Levi Woodbury	1834–1837
Secretary of War	John H. Eaton	1829–1831
Lewis Cass	1831–1836
Attorney General	John M. Berrien	1829–1831
	Roger B. Taney	1831–1833
Benjamin F. Butler	1833–1837
Postmaster General	William T. Barry	1829–1835
Amos Kendall	1835–1837
Secretary of the Navy	John Branch	1829–1831
	Levi Woodbury	1831–1834
Mahlon Dickerson	1834–1837

Supreme Court appointments

• John McLean – 1830
• Henry Baldwin – 1830
• James Moore Wayne – 1835
• Roger Brooke Taney (Chief Justice) – 1836
• Philip Pendleton Barbour – 1836
• John Catron – 1837

Major Supreme Court cases

• Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia, 1831
• Worcester v. Georgia, 1832
• Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge, 1837

States admitted to the Union

• Arkansas - June 15, 1836
• Michigan - January 26, 1837

Family and personal life

Daguerreotype of Andrew Jackson (1844/1845)

The tomb of Andrew and Rachel Jackson located at their home The Hermitage.

Jackson met Rachel Donelson Robards after her divorce from her first husband, Colonel Lewis Robards; Jackson and Mrs. Robards quickly married. Mr. Robards returned two years later without ever having finalized the divorce. Rachel quickly divorced her first husband and then legally married Jackson. This remained a sore point for Jackson, who deeply resented attacks on his wife's honor. Jackson fought 103 duels, many nominally over his wife's honor. Charles Dickinson, the only man Jackson ever killed in a duel, had been goaded into angering Jackson by Jackson's political opponents. In the duel, fought over a horse-racing debt and an insult to his wife on May 30, 1806, Dickinson shot Jackson in the ribs before Jackson returned the fatal shot. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart that it could never be safely removed. Jackson had been wounded so frequently in duels that it was said he "rattled like a bag of marbles". At times he would cough up blood, and he experienced considerable pain from his wounds for the rest of his life.

Rachel died of an unknown cause two months prior to Jackson taking office as President. Jackson blamed John Quincy Adams for Rachel's death because the marital scandal was brought up in the election of 1828. He felt that this had hastened her death and never forgave Adams.

Jackson had two adopted sons, Andrew Jackson Jr., the son of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson, and Lyncoya, a Creek Indian orphan adopted by Jackson after the Creek War. Lyncoya died in 1828 at age 16, probably from pneumonia or tuberculosis.

The Jacksons also acted as guardians for eight other children. John Samuel Donelson, Daniel Smith Donelson and Andrew Jackson Donelson were the sons of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson who died in 1804. Andrew Jackson Hutchings was Rachel's orphaned grand nephew. Caroline Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, and Anthony Butler were the orphaned children of Edward Butler, a family friend. They came to live with the Jacksons after the death of their father.

The widower Jackson invited Rachel's niece Emily Donelson to serve as hostess at the White House. Emily was married to Andrew Jackson Donelson, who acted as Jackson's private secretary and in 1856 would run for Vice President of the United States on the American Party ticket. The relationship between the President and Emily became strained during the Petticoat Affair, and the two became estranged for over a year. They eventually reconciled and she resumed her duties as White House hostess. Sarah Yorke Jackson, the wife of Andrew Jackson Jr., became co-hostess of the White House in 1834. It was the only time in history when two women simultaneously acted as unofficial First Lady. Sarah took over all hostess duties after Emily died from tuberculosis in 1836.

Jackson remained influential in both national and state politics after retiring to "The Hermitage," his Nashville home, in 1837. Though a slave-holder, Jackson was a firm advocate of the federal union of the states, and declined to give any support to talk of secession.

Jackson was a lean figure standing at 6 feet, 1 inch (1.85 m) tall, and weighing between 130 and 140 pounds (64 kg) on average. Jackson also had an unruly shock of red hair, which had completely grayed by the time he became president at age 61. He had penetrating deep blue eyes. Jackson was one of the more sickly presidents, suffering from chronic headaches, abdominal pains, and a hacking cough, caused by a musket ball in his lung which was never removed, that often brought up blood and sometimes even made his whole body shake. After retiring to Nashville, he enjoyed eight years of retirement and died at the Hermitage on June 8, 1845 at the age of 78, of chronic tuberculosis, "dropsy" and heart failure.

In his will, Jackson left his entire estate to his adopted son, Andrew Jackson Jr., except for specifically enumerated items that were left to various other friends and family members. Jackson left several slaves to his daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

Jackson Square in New Orleans.

Memorials and movies

• Memorials to Jackson include a set of three identical equestrian statues located in different parts of the country. One is in Jackson Square in New Orleans, Louisiana. Another is in Nashville on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol. The other is in Washington, D.C. near the White House.
• Numerous counties and cities are named after him, including Jacksonville, Florida; Jackson, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; Jackson, Missouri; Jackson County, Oregon; Jacksonville, Oregon; Jacksonville, North Carolina; Jackson, Tennessee; Jackson County, Florida; Jackson County, Missouri; and Jackson County, Ohio.
• The section of U.S. Route 74 between Charlotte, North Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina is named the Andrew Jackson Highway.
• Jackson's portrait appears on the American twenty dollar bill. He has appeared on $5, $10, $50, and $10,000 bills in the past, as well as a Confederate $1,000 bill.
• Jackson's image is on the Blackjack postage stamp
• The story of Andrew and Rachel Jackson's life together was told in Irving Stone's best-selling 1951 novel The President's Lady, which was made into the 1953 film of the same title, starring Susan Hayward, Charlton Heston, John McIntire, and Carl Betz and directed by Henry Levin. The relationship between the two was also the basis of a successful documentary by the Public Broadcasting Service, called Rachel and Andrew Jackson: A Love Story.
• Heston played Jackson in the 1958 version of The Buccaneer, a film about the role of pirate Jean Lafitte in the Battle of New Orleans. E.H. Sothern played Jackson in the original 1938 version of the film.

Trivia

Andrew Jackson is depicted on the U.S. $20 bill

• Controversies about Jackson's birthplace went far beyond the dispute between North and South Carolina. Because his origins were humble and obscure compared to those of his predecessors, wild rumors abounded about Jackson's past. Joseph Nathan Kane, in his almanac-style book "Facts About the Presidents," lists no fewer than eight localities, including two foreign countries, that were mentioned in the popular press as Jackson's "real" birthplace including Ireland where both of Jackson's parents were born.
• During Jackson's Administration, the U.S. Government was, for the first and last time, debt-free.
• During the 1828 election, his opponents referred to him as a "Jackass." Jackson liked the name and used the jackass as a symbol for a while, but it died out. However, it later became the symbol for the Democratic Party. [3]
• Andrew Jackson was the first president to be born in a log cabin. He also was the first president to ride a railroad train while in office.
• Jackson is the only U.S. president to be a prisoner of war.
• Jackson held an open house party where a 1,400 pound (635 kg) wheel of cheddar cheese was served as refreshment. The cheese was consumed in two hours. [4]
• Of the first seven presidents, Jackson was the last of five Veterans of the American Revolution to become President (Washington and Monroe were in the Continental Army; Jefferson and Madison were Colonels in the Virginia Militia).
• Jackson was the first president to be the target of a known assassination attempt (see above, "Assassination Attempt").
• Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln's second vice-president and successor, greatly admired Jackson and wanted to be just like him when Johnson became president after Lincoln was assassinated.

  

  Statue of Andrew Jackson in Nashville, Tennessee.

• Jackson disliked paper money, preferring coins. Ironically, he is featured on the U.S. $20 bill.
• At President Andrew Jackson's funeral in 1845 his pet parrot was removed for swearing.
• Jackson spent the first night of presidency at Gadsby's Tavern nicknamed "The Wigwam" where he was living before his inauguration. He had snuck away from his riotous White House inaugural party by escaping out a window and walking to the tavern.
• Jackson had the first known case of a President being handed a baby to kiss. However, Jackson declined to and handed the baby to Secretary of War John H. Eaton to do the honors.
• The first attempt of bodily harm acted apon a President was acted upon Jackson. On May 6, 1833, President Jackson was sailing on the USS Cygnet bound to Fredericksburg, Virginia where he was to lay the cornerstone on a monument near the grave of Mary Ball Washington, George Washington's mother. While on a stopover near Alexandria, Virginia, Robert B. Randolph, who had recently been dismissed from the Navy for embezzlement upon Jackson's orders, struck the President. Before Randolph could do more harm, he fled the scene with several members of Jackson's party chasing him, including the well known writer Washington Irving. Jackson decided not to press charges.
• Jackson's favorite type of jam was blackberry.
• Jackson's favorite home remedy was called "Matchless Senative". Taken with a glass of wine, it would calm the mind and keep it free from perplexing thoughts. Jackson also believed it cured headaches, earaches and pulmonary symptoms. The medicine could usually be purchased from traveling salesman at about $2.50 per bottle.
• Jackson trained to be a saddler in 1781.
• Jackson was glorified as an everyman hero in this popular song:

See also

• Jacksonian democracy
• Second Party System
• List of places named for Andrew Jackson
• The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's home, now a tourist destination
• U.S. presidential election, 1824
• U.S. presidential election, 1828
• U.S. presidential election, 1832
• Trail of Tears

References

Secondary sources

• Brands, H. W. Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times (2005), biography emphasizing military career
• Brustein, Andrew. The Passions of Andrew Jackson. (2003).
• Bugg Jr. James L. ed. Jacksonian Democracy: Myth or Reality? (1952), excerpts from scholars
• Cave, Alfred A.. Abuse of Power: Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act of 1830 (2003)
• Gammon, Samuel Rhea. The Presidential Campaign of 1832 (1922)
• Hammond, Bray. Andrew Jackson's Battle with the "Money Power" (1958) ch 8, of his Banks and Politics in America: From the Revolution to the Civil War (1954); Pulitzer prize.
• Hofstatder, Richard. The American Political Tradition (1948), chapter on Jackson.
• James, Marquis. The Life of Andrew Jackson Combines two books: The Border Captain and Andrew Jackson: Portrait of a President; winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
• Latner Richard B. The Presidency of Andrew Jackson: White House Politics, 1820-1837 (1979), standard survey.
• Ogg, Frederic Austin ; The Reign of Andrew Jackson: A Chronicle of the Frontier in Politics 1919. short popular survey online at Gutenberg
• Parton, James. Life of Andrew Jackson (1860). Volume I, Volume III.
• Ratner, Lorman A. Andrew Jackson and His Tennessee Lieutenants: A Study in Political Culture (1997)
• Remini, Robert V.. The Life of Andrew Jackson. Abridgment of Remini's 3-volume monumental biography, (1988)
  • Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire, 1767-1821 (1977); Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Freedom, 1822-1832 (1981); Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Democracy, 1833-1845 (1984)
• Remini, Robert V.. The Legacy of Andrew Jackson: Essays on Democracy, Indian Removal, and Slavery (1988)
• Remini, Robert V.. Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars (2001)
• Remini, Robert V.. "Andrew Jackson," American National Biography (2000)</ref>
• Rowland, Dunbar. Andrew Jackson's Campaign against the British, or, the Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812, concerning the Military Operations of the Americans, Creek Indians, British, and Spanish, 1813-1815 (1926)
• Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. The Age of Jackson. (1945). Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History. history of ideas of the era
• Charles Grier Sellers, Jr. "Andrew Jackson versus the Historians," The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Vol. 44, No. 4. (Mar., 1958), pp. 615-634. in JSTOR
• Syrett, Harold C. Andrew Jackson: His Contribution to the American Tradition (1953)
• Taylor, George Rogers, ed. Jackson Versus Biddle: The Struggle over the Second Bank of the United States (1949), excerpts from primary and secondary sources
• Ward, John William. Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age (1962) how writers saw him
• Wilentz, Sean. Andrew Jackson (2005) short biography

External links

• Extensive essay on Andrew Jackson and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs
• Andrew Jackson Biography and Fact File
• Works by Andrew Jackson at Project Gutenberg
• United States Congress. "Andrew Jackson (id: J000005)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Andrew Jackson, the national bank and censure
• American Political History Online
• Andrew Jackson images
• White House Biography
• Andrew Jackson on the Web (resource directory)
• Critical Resources: Andrew Jackson and Indian Removal
• Andrew Jackson at Find A Grave
• A genealogical profile of the President
• Jackson's medical history
• PBS documentary on Rachel & Andrew's life together
• Andrew Jackson letters to Richard K. Call
• Andrew Jackson's 1,400 lb Cheddar
• Andrew Jackson's Candidacy, August 25, 1828 From Texas Tides
• Andrew Jackson's veto speech in 1832 regarding the Bank of the US

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