President Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845)

The seventh president, Andrew Jackson was born in Waxhaw, South Carolina, on March 15, 1767. Andrew Jackson's father died in 1767, only two years after immigrating to America from his native Ireland. He was captured during the Revolution at the age of 9. When Jackson was fourteen, his mother died while attending to American prisoners during the Revolutionary War.

Admitted to the bar in 1787, he was appointed prosecuting attorney for the west district of North Carolina in 1788. Jackson was a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1796, a U.S. representative from 1796 to 1797, a U.S. senator in 1797, a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 to 1804, and a major general in the Tennessee militia.

During the War of 1812, he won a resounding victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans. Andrew Jackson had become a respected figure in the United States after his decisive victory at the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.His resilience as a military leader earned him the nickname, Old Hickory. Jackson was also known to Americans as the Common Man.

Between 1815 and 1819, Jackson took time off from fighting Native Americans to secure political support in many parts of the nation. As an Indian fighter during this period, General Jackson brashly invaded Florida, which was then under Spanish ownership, and defeated the Seminoles, who had attacked American settlements across the border.

During the peace, Jackson invaded and occupied Spanish Florida without clear orders. His views on slavery and on Indians would be deemed more than just politically incorrect today. When he lost the election of 1824 despite winning the most votes, Jackson did not graciously withdraw but spent the next four years attacking the “corrupt bargain” that had thrown the Presidency to John Quincy Adams.

The hope of Jackson becoming president and his campaign efforts encouraged more men to take advantage of their new voting opportunities than ever before. Therefore, in the election of 1828, approximately 1.1 million people voted in comparison with 350,000 voters in the election of 1824.In 1829, Andrew Jackson, with an intense belief of true democracy, was inaugurated as the President of the United States.
President Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845)