Andrew Jackson (1767 – 1845)
The 7th President of the United States, 1829 – 1837
AKA: Old Hickory, The Hero of New Orleans
From: Tennessee
College: One of eight US Presidents not to attend college
Married to: Rachel Donelson
Children: Andrew Jackson, Lyncoya Jackson, John Samuel Donelson, Andrew Jackson Donelson, Andrew Jackson Hutchings, Carolina Butler, Eliza Butler, Edward Butler, Anthony Butler
Party: Democratic-Republican (until 1828), Democratic (after 1828)
Previous Jobs: Saddle maker, teacher, lawyer, solicitor (prosecutor), planter, merchant, US Representative, US Senator, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice, General,
In His Words: “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.”
“The individual who refuses to defend his rights when called by his Government, deserves to be a slave, and must be punished as an enemy of his country and friend to her foe.”
“As long as our government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of persons and of property, liberty of conscience, and of the press, it will be worth defending.”
“John Calhoun, if you secede from my nation I will secede your head from the rest of your body.”
Not true: Andrew Jackson married Rachel Donelson Robards, that’s true. However, it’s not true that she was available to be married! They were united in holy matrimony after Ms. Robards told Jackson that her husband had divorced her in 1790. Unfortunately, the divorce was never completed, which made our future President a bigamist and invalidated their marriage. Eventually, the divorce was completed and Jackson was later legally married to Ms. Donelson.
True: Jackson may have owned as many as 300 slaves during his lifetime.
In the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, Jackson commanded an outnumbered American force that won a decisive victory over the British.
Rachel Jackson died two months before her husband was inaugurated.
Jackson was the first President to invite the public to attend the White House ball honoring his first inauguration. Many poor people came to the inaugural ball in their homemade clothes.
Jackson paid off the entire national debt in 1835. This is the only time in U.S. history this has been accomplished.
The Official Portrait: Thomas Sully painted the official White House portrait of Andrew Jackson. This prolific painter completed over 2,600 paintings according to his own index. Other famous portraits done by Sully include a different painting of Jackson, which was the source for Jackson’s image on the $20 bill. His portrait of John Quincy Adams is in the National Gallery of Art. Portraits of Thomas Jefferson are at the University of Virginia and West Point.
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