Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) became the seventh President of USA in 1829. He received a very irregular education and at the tender age of 13, joined a local regiment during the American Revolutionary War. Andrew Jackson was the last US President, who had been a serviceman of the American Revolution. He was imprisoned during the war. He is the only President to have been a prisoner of war. During his military days, he engaged in the Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans. However, his greatest military achievement was the success of the First Seminole War, which acquired the territory of Florida from the Spain. the action was both appreciated and criticized in the political circle. One of his greatest critics was Thomas Jefferson.
His dedicated and brave military service got him promoted to higher ranks. Though a strict officer, Andrew Jackson was popular with his troops. He is said to be ‘tough as old hickory’ wood on the battlefield. This earned him the nickname ‘Old Hickory’. Andrew Jackson was nominated for US President for the Democratic-Republican party by the Tennessee legislature in 1822. the party also honored him as the Senator in US Senate. However, it was this hard-to-crack military image that worked largely against him in the first Presidential elections, as many thought him to be unfit for the office of the President. This concern directly exhibited itself in the election of 1824.
In the Presidential Election in 1824, no majority could be received by a candidate (though the electoral and popular votes were won by Jackson). the House of Representatives got the final election decision, and selected John Quincy Adams as US President in 1825. This decision infuriated Jackson that led him later to call for the abolition of the Electoral College.
Facts |
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|---|---|
| Full Name: | Andrew Jackson |
| Date of Birth: | March 15, 1767, Waxhaw, South Carolina |
| Died on: | June 8, 1845, Nashville, Tennessee |
| Burial site: | The Hermitage Estate near Nashville, Tennessee |
| Parents: | Andrew and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson |
| Spouse: | Rachel Donelson Robards (1767-1828; m. 1791 and in a second ceremony in 1794) |
| Children: | Andrew Jr. (adopted; 1808-1865) |
| Religion: | Presbyterian |
| Education: | No formal education |
| Profession(s): | Attorney; soldier |
| Government ranks: | U.S. Representative and senator from Tennessee; Tennessee state supreme court justice and senator; Florida territory governor |
| Political Party: | Democratic |
| President Term: | March 4, 1829-March 4, 1833 (first term); March 4, 1833-March 4, 1837 (second term) |
| Age when assumed office: | 61 |
Outcome of the Elections |
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|---|---|---|---|
| 1828 | Presidential / Vice Presidential Candidates | Popular votes | Electoral votes |
| Andrew Jackson / John C. Calhoun (Democratic) | 647231 | 178 | |
| John Quincy Adams / Richard Rush (National Republican) | 509097 | 83 | |
| 1832 | Presidential / Vice Presidential Candidates | Popular votes | Electoral votes |
| Andrew Jackson / Martin Van Buren (Democratic) | 687507 | 219 | |
| Henry Clay / John Sergeant (National Republican) | 530189 | 49 | |
| Others | Unknown | 18 | |
Presidential Term and its details |
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|---|---|
| Dates: | March 4, 1829-March 4, 1833 (first term); March 4, 1833-March 4, 1837 (second term) |
| Vice President: | John Caldwell Calhoun (1829-32) |
| None (1832-33) | |
| Martin Van Buren (1833-37) | |
Snapshot of Andrew Jackson’s life |
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|---|---|
| 1767 | Born in South Carolina a few days after his father dies |
| 1780 | American Revolution spreads to the Carolinas; Jackson’s oldest brother is killed; Jackson and his surviving brother robert are imprisoned by British soldiers; Robert and mother die of smallpox |
| 1787 | Certified to practice law |
| 1792 | Marries Rachel Donelson, whose husband, Lewis Robards, had petitioned for divorce in 1791 |
| 1793 | Robards, who never completed the original divorce proceedings, sues to divorce Rachel Jackson as an adulterer; Andrew and Rachel marry again in 1794 |
| 1796 | Jackson attends convention where the state of Tennessee is established |
| 1796-97 | Serves as Tennessee’s first member in the U.S. House of Representatives |
| 1797-98 | Serves Tennessee as U.S. Senator |
| 1798-1804 | Serves as justice on Tennessee Supreme Court |
| 1803 | Commissioned as major general of Tennessee militia |
| 1815 | Soundly defeats British forces in the Battle of New Orleans |
| 1818 | Controversy over his killing two British citizens for inciting Seminole Indians to raid nearly leads to his censure by Congress |
| 1821 | Serves as Governor of the Florida Territory |
| 1823-25 | Serves as U.S. Senator from Tennessee |
| 1829-37 | Serves as seventh U.S. President |
| 1833 | Removes funds from the Second National Bank of the United States and disperses them in state banks; censured by Congress and vilified by opponents as “King Andrew;” censure is later erased (1836) from the Congressional Record |
| 1837 | Retires to his home, The Hermitage |
| 1845 | Dies in Tennessee |
Finally, in the rematch at the US Presidential Election in 1828, Andrew Jackson defeated John Quincy Adams. In this election, Jackson formed an alliance with Vice President John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, and former supporters of William H. Crawford. Jackson supporters named themselves Jacksonians or ‘Jackson Men’. Jackson is held as the founder of the modern Democratic Party.
After he became the President, he took radical measures to abolish corruption from the President’s office. the rotation policy of the employees in the office was implemented to prevent the increasing corruption of the bureaucracy. Though such a measure was not fully welcomed by his party supporters, he did not beckon to his party pressure and went ahead with his rotation theory.
Few of the other main incidents that mark the Presidential rule of Andrew Jackson from 1829 to 1837 include :
- Repayment of the total Federal Debt
- Implementing the theory of rotation in the office to prevent the growth of a corrupt bureaucracy
- Opposition to the Second Bank of the United States
- Nullification crisis that arose out of the disagreements over tariffs
- Advocating the policy named “Indian Removal” that authorized the President to pull off treaties to buy tribal lands in the east. these lands were bought in exchange of lands further west, beyond the existing US state borders.
Twice during his Presidency, in 1933 and 1935, attempts were made to harm Andrew Jackson physically. Though, he survived both the times. Later he died in 1845 at the age of 78.
After his death, three equestrian statues have been established in three different locations of US – Washington, Nashville and New Orleans in his memory. these statues have attracted a large number of tourists over the years.
A few of the popular quotations by Andrew Jackson include :
- “One man with courage makes a majority”.
- “there are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses”.
- “All the rights secured to the citizens under the Constitution are worth nothing, and a mere bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent and virtuous Judiciary”.