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Andrew Jackson, nicknamed "Old Hickory," was the seventh U.S. president and the first president truly elected due to popular sentiment. He was born on the border of what would become North and South Carolina on March 15, 1767. He later moved to Tennessee, where he owned a famous estate called "The Hermitage," which is still standing and open to the public as a history museum. He was a lawyer, a member of the legislature, and a fierce warrior, rising to the rank of Major General during the War of 1812. Following are 10 key facts important to understanding the life and presidency of Andrew Jackson. In May 1814, during the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson was named a Major General in the U.S. Army. On Jan. 8, 1815, he defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans and was lauded as a hero. His forces met the invading British troops as they were attempting to take the city of New Orleans. The battle is considered to be one of the greatest land victories in the war: today the battlefield itself, outside of the city, is just a large swampy field.
Interestingly, the Treaty of Ghent ending the War of 1812 had been signed on Dec. 24, 1814, two weeks before the Battle of New Orleans. However, it was not ratified until Feb. 16, 1815, and the information did not reach the military in Louisiana until later that month.
Jackson decided to run for the presidency in 1824 against John Quincy Adams. Even though he won the popular vote because there was not an electoral majority the result of the election was left to the House of Representatives to determine. The House named John Quincy Adams as president, in exchange for Henry Clay becoming secretary of state, a decision that became known to the public and historians as "The Corrupt Bargain." The backlash from this result would lead to Jackson's win in 1828. The scandal also split the Democratic-Republican Party in two.
As a result of the fallout from the election of 1824, Jackson was renominated to run in 1825, a full three years before the next election would be held in 1828. At this point, his party became known as the Democrats. The campaign against President John Quincy Adams became less about issues and more about the candidates themselves. Jackson became the seventh president with 54% of the popular vote and 178 out of 261 electoral votes. His election was seen as a triumph for the common man.
Jackson's presidency was a time of rising sectional strife with many southerners fighting against an increasingly powerful national government. In 1832, when Jackson signed a moderate tariff into law, South Carolina decided that through "nullification" (the belief that a state could rule something unconstitutional), they could ignore the law. Jackson let it be known that he would use the military to enforce the tariff. As a means of compromise, a new tariff was enacted in 1833 to help smooth out sectional issues.
Before he became president, Jackson married a woman named Rachel Donelson in 1791. Rachel believed that she had been legally divorced after a failed first marriage. However, this turned out to be inaccurate. After the wedding, her first husband charged Rachel with adultery. Jackson then had to wait until 1794 before he could finally legally marry Rachel. This event was dragged into the election of 1828, causing the pair much distress. Rachel passed away two months before he took office, which Jackson blamed on stress and personal attacks.
As the first president to truly embrace the power of the presidency, President Jackson vetoed more bills than all previous presidents. He used the veto 12 times during his two terms in office. In 1832, he used a veto to stop the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States.
Jackson was the first president to truly rely on an informal group of advisers to set policy instead of his "real cabinet." A shadow structure such as this was not supported by congressional nomination and approval processes for its members and is known as a "Kitchen Cabinet." Many of these advisers were friends from Tennessee or newspaper editors.
When Jackson ran for a second term in 1832, his opponents called him "King Andrew I" due to his use of the veto and his implementation of what they called the "spoils system." Jackson believed in rewarding those who had supported him and, more than any president before him, he removed political opponents from federal officials to replace them with cronies and loyal followers.
In 1832, Jackson vetoed the renewal of the Second Bank of the United States, saying the bank was unconstitutional and further that it favored the wealthy over the common people. He further removed government money from the bank and put it into state banks. However, these state banks did not follow stringent lending practices, and their freely-made loans led to inflation. To combat this, Jackson ordered that all land purchases be made in gold or silver, a decision which would have consequences leading to the Panic of 1837
