Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson. A president of the ages; as President he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man. Impulsive, and bold, he was one of the greatest presidents of this country. In this essay I will seek to overview, and document his presidency.

There are many things that set Andrew Jackson apart from other presidents. His policies and personality set him apart from most. Although he was the seventh president, he was the first in many ways. Jackson was the first president to be born in a log cabinÑ"x, and he was the first president to ride on a railroad train. Along with that, he was the only president to serve in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson was also the first to have a vice-president resign, he was the first to be nominated at a national convention, the first to use an informal ÐŽ§Kitchen CabinetЎЁ of advisors, and he was the first president to use the ÐŽ§pocket vetoЎЁ to kill a congressional bill. While these things are truly incomparable, they are not all that set Andrew Jackson apart from other presidents. Throughout this paper, many more accomplishments in Andrew JacksonÐŽ¦s life will be discussed.

Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in the Waxhaw settlement on the western frontier of South Carolina. He was born into a poor family. Jackson was the third child of Scotch-Irish parents. His father, who was also named Andrew, died in a logging accident just a few days before the birth of his third son and future president. After her husbandÐŽ¦s death, JacksonÐŽ¦s mother, Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, raised her three sons at the home of one of her sisters.

At age 13, Andrew Jackson joined the Continental Army as a courier. The Revolution proved to be a tough time for the Jackson family. Hugh, one of AndrewÐŽ¦s older brothers, died after the battle of Stono Ferry, South Carolina, in 1779. Two years later, Andrew and his other brother, Robert, were taken prisoner for a few weeks. Both Andrew and Robert contracted smallpox during their imprisonment, and Robert died just days after they were released. Later that same year, AndrewÐŽ¦s mother went to Charleston to nurse the American prisoners of war. Not long after she arrived, Elizabeth became ill with what was either smallpox or cholera and died.

Andrew became an orphan at the age of fourteen, and he went to live with his uncle. When he was seventeen, he moved to Salisbury, North Carolina to study law. In 1976, Tennessee became the sixteenth state to enter the Union. Not long after that, Jackson was elected TennesseeÐŽ¦s first congressman. The next year, Jackson was elected to be a U.S. senator by the Tennessee legislator. However, he only served one session before he resigned. Following his resignation, he served six years on the Tennessee Supreme Court as a judge.

JacksonÐŽ¦s military career resurfaced in 1802 when he was named major general of the Tennessee militia. Ten years later, he was give the rank of major general of U.S. forces. In 1814, he was advanced to major general in the regular army.

General Andrew Jackson came out as a national hero after the War of 1812, mainly because of the defeat of the British at the Battle of New Orleans. This was when Jackson received the nickname of ÐŽ§Old Hickory.ЎЁ His strict discipline led his troops to call him ÐŽ§Old HickoryЎЁ because they believed him to be as tough as hickory wood, and the nickname stuck.

Before JacksonÐŽ¦s presidency, he was known as a great fighter who didnÐŽ¦t let anyone mess with him. As stated in the Brittanica Encyclopedia, Charles Dickinson once insulted JacksonÐŽ¦s wife, Rachel Donelson Jackson, and Jackson challenged him to a duel with pistols. Andrew stood there and purposely let Dickinson shoot first, knowing he was a much better shot. Dickinson shot Jackson in the chest, and Jackson stood there like a tree. He first shot at Dickinson misfired, but the second was right on target, and he killed Dickinson. The bullet in JacksonÐŽ¦s chest nearly missed his heart and could not be removed, so Andrew Jackson had to live the rest of his life with a bullet in his chest.

JacksonÐŽ¦s first presidential campaign was the 1824 election. Many of JacksonÐŽ¦s followers refer to this election as the ÐŽ§Stolen ElectionЎЁ because Jackson easily captured the popular vote, but did not have enough electoral votes to win. Because of this, the election was decided by the House of Representatives.

JacksonÐŽ¦s opponents were John Quincy Adams, and Henry Clay. Both Adams and Clay were disgusted at the thought of Jackson as president, so Clay gave his support to Adams, and Adams was elected president.

In the next four years, Andrew Jackson and his followers repeatedly condemned the Adams administration. Jackson believed he was the peopleÐŽ¦s candidate and never missed an opportunity to point out that the peopleÐŽ¦s choice in 1824 had been disregarded. His approach worked, and he beat Adams in the 1828.

The election of 1828 brought about much mudslinging in regards to JacksonÐŽ¦s marriage. His wife, Rachel, had an unhappy first marriage with Lewis Robards. The Kentucky legislature decided to allow Robards to sue for divorce, but he did not