Hail to the Chiefs Part VII: Up the Hill Comes Andrew Jackson

 Before I get started talking about Old Hickory…his most famous military victory was the Battle of New Orleans.  Thus I had the following song stuck in my head most of the time I was reading about him….

It’s been fascinating about how researching and writing about each of the presidents has been so different.  Thomas Jefferson makes me feel conflicted because I love his ideals and his writing, but as a human being he drives me nuts (similar to how I feel about John Lennon.)  John Adams I adore as if I knew him personally….James Monroe is the boring pretty boy….

With Andrew Jackson I’ve had the bizarre reaction that despite the fact that I disagree with nearly everything he did during his administration…and he did some pretty horrible things…I can’t help but love the man.

The man who was fated to be on the $20 bill was born in North Carolina….or South Carolina.  We’re not too sure.  He was born in the Waxhaws region which is right on the border.  There are conflicting stories about whether his mother finally gave birth in North or South Carolina.  Jackson himself later in life claimed South Carolina….but that may just have been to kiss up to them a little as they were already making noises about leaving the Union.

His father, Andrew Jackson Sr., died 3 weeks before he was born.  With his brother, Andrew Jackson enlisted in the Revolutionary War when he was just 13; the last president to be a veteran of that war.  Both of his older brothers died in the war, and his mother died from an infection caused by nursing soldiers.  This left Jackson an orphan at 14.

By 20 Jackson had studied law and was admitted to the bar.  At this time he moved westward to Tennessee…which is really his home state despite the Carolinas claim to him.  Classic example of sometimes you’re not born where you’re "from."

It was in Tennessee where Jackson met the love of his life: Rachel Donelson Robards.   He married her in 1791….unfortunately she was already married to somebody else.  Her first husband had a scary temper, Lewis Robards.  After she left him, Robards told her he had filed for divorce, and it was final.  What had actually happened was he had petitioned the state government for the right to have a divorce.  Later Rachel and Andrew found out about the mixup.  Their marriage was made legally invalid, and they married again in 1794.   This sort of situation wasn’t uncommon in the frontier territories.   However the issue would never completely go away.  Jackson fought 14 duels to protect Rachel’s honor, and it would be a major issue in his presidential campaign.

And now it’s time for another episode of….Law and Order: Andrew Jackson Unit.  Andrew Jackson served as a judge for the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798-1804.  In the case of Russell Bean, Andrew Jackson was law and order together.  The drunken Bean had chopped off the ears of his own infant child.  Bean refused to show up to court, and the local sheriff was too terrified to attempt to arrest him.  Jackson and the sheriff agreed to assemble a posse together.  When they approached Bean, Jackson said:  "Now surrender, you infernal villain, this very instant; or I’ll blow you through." 

Bean, terrified,  took one look at Jackson and dropped his guns saying:  "I will surrender to you sir, but to no one else."

In 1801 Jackson was appointed to the Tennessee militia and, besides being a farmer and owner of 300 slaves…this eventually became his full time job.  

Jackson rose to national prominence due to his role in the War of 1812, specifically the Battle of New Orleans.  He also was involved in the Seminole Wars in Florida where he got very good at killing massive amounts of Native Americans…a nasty habit that would continue into his presidency.

He first ran for president in 1824….for more details on that complicated and brutal election, check out my entry on John Quincy Adams.  The 1828 election was just as bad with lots of mudslinging from both sides.    Adams was accused of being corrupt, and worst of all…*GASP*…a Catholic…and a Unitarian!!  Scandalous!  Against Jackson, Adams’ people once again brought up his marriage, the whole bigamy/adultery/divorce-not-finalized issue.

Jackson won, but a month later his wife Rachel died of a heart attack.  Jackson blamed her death on stress from the election, and never forgave John Quincy Adams.

The first term of Jackson’s administration was largely occupied with the Petticoat Affair.  Jackson’s Secretary of War, John Eaton, had married the recently widowed Margaret O’Neill.  Margaret hadn’t been widowed long enough by Washington society’s standards.  This became a huge divisive issue, and even caused a 2 year rift between Jackson and his niece, Emily Donelson, who had been serving as White House hostess.  It just goes to show that even back in the day people were just as obsessed with trivial affairs as they are today.

The three big issues in Jackson’s second term were: the national bank, the Trail of Tears, and the Nullification Crisis.

I could never find a rational answer for why Jackson was so obsessed with getting rid of the National Bank.  He did manage to get his way.  The result was totally destabilizing the economy.  Of course the problems that followed were blamed on poor Martin van Buren.

The Trail of Tears is the ugliest incident in Jackson’s presidency.  Doubly perplexing was the fact that Jackson had a paternal "doing this for their own good" attitude while he forced the Cherokees into an evacuation from Georgia to Oklahoma that would result in the death of 4,000.  If you ever want to hear someone ripping Jackson a new one, check out Cherokee descendent Sarah Vowell’s take on the Trail of Tears:

www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/107/trail-of-tears

The long festering rift between the slave and free states was especially severe in the 1830’s.    South Carolina in particular was having issue with some of the tariffs, and was lobbying for states rights to nullify a law they felt was unjust.  Jackson’s response was pretty much a diplomatic way of saying "Oh HELL no!"   Ultimately Jackson’s leadership was the key factor in calming down the crisis, and putting off the Civil War for nearly 3 decades.  Abraham Lincoln later studied Jackson as an example early in his presidency.

In his second administration there was also an assassination attempt against Jackson.  On May 6, 1933, while on a boat, mentally ill naval officer lunged at Jackson and bloodied his face.  However, according to Jackson’s nephew Andrew Donelson "the ruffian was unnerved by the countenance of uncle and he could do no more than display his intention."  In other word, a glare from Andrew Jackson scared off an assassination attempt.

Of course my single favorite aspect of Jackson’s presidency happened at his last party at the White House.  A 1400 pound wheel of cheddar cheese was brought to the party and gobbled up in 2 hours.  Somehow I suspect this sort of thing didn’t happen during the Monroe or Jefferson administrations.

Andrew Jackson had a marvelous combination of frontier spirit, military strategy…and just plain panache.  For good and for bad you can’t get more classic American than Jackson.  His biggest legacy was increasing the powers of the presidency.  It’s a rare American president that doesn’t quote or allude to Jackson at some point during his administration.  While he never had any of children of his own, he did have quite the circle of protegees that included James K. Polk, and Sam Houston.  

Best of all….I found a muppet clip that references him.  Enjoy!

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