The 7th POTUS Andrew Jackson was born on this day 1767. {Well it was YESTERDAY-the date of Jackson’s birth-a day  later on this!}

Ten Notes On Andrew Jackson

1. Andrew Jackson was 6’1″ and weighed 140 pounds. He had blue eyes and brown hair. He was born at Waxhaw, South Carolina. He was of Scots-Irish ancestry. He was a Presbyterian. He was married to Rachel Donelson Robards and they had no children.

2. Andrew Jackson was the first POTUS who was born in a log cabin. He was the first POTUS to be married to a divorced woman. He was the first Democrat to be elected POTUS. He was the first POTUS to survive an assassination attempt. He is also the first POTUS who had fought in a duel. Jackson was the first POTUS to be born west of the Allegheny Mountains.

3. Jackson had a number of nicknames, the most famous being “Old Hickory” named so because he was as tough as hickory wood. Some of his other nicknames included “King Andrew the First”, “L’Enfant Terrible”, “Mischievous Andy”, “Sage of the Hermitage” and “Napoleon of the Woods”

4. Jackson was the first POTUS to ride on a train. Jackson is the first president to have a Vice Daddy resign-John Calhoun. The White House would have running water for the first time during Jackson’s presidency.

5. Jackson may be the most controversial of all POTUS. He has to be ranked as one of the most significant POTUS but his policies towards the Indians especially have given him bad marks in the years following his presidency. Jackson wasn’t a stranger to controversy. He never backed away from it. He would never be elected POTUS today, I don’t think. They didn’t have medication back then but he had to have had some kind of chemical imbalance. If they had fights between the POTUS my money would be on Jackson to win the championship title.

6. Jackson supposedly fought 100 duels. Jackson in 1806 killed a man in a duel. He killed Charles Dickinson in a duel. Dickinson made the mistake of challanging Jackson because of a horse racing wager. They were standing 24 feet apart, Dickinson first first hitting Jackson in the chest, grazing his breastbone and breaking two of his ribs. Jackson then first hitting Dickinson in the groin. That had to have hurt. Dickinson died a slow painful death. You didn’ mess with Andy Jackson.

7. A number of great books about Andrew Jackson, the best recent one volume work would be the Pulitzer Prize winner by Jon Meachem ‘American Lion” a great read. Highly recommended.

8. Andrew Jackson is the only POTUS to pay off the national debt. I repeat Andrew Jackson is the only POTUS to pay off the national debt.

9. Andrew Jackson is the only POTUS whose parents were both born outside the United States.

10.Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel had no children but they did adopt Rachel’s nephew -he was given the name Andrew Jackson Jr. I haven’t written about some of the key issues dealing with Andrew Jackson- The Battle of New Orleans, The Peggy Eaton affair, the Indian Removal Act, the election of 1824 and 1828[well I’ve written about those elections before} I will get to those issues in the future.