Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
	Formal portrait, c. 1835
7th President of the United States
	In office; March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837
Vice President	John C. Calhoun; (1829–1832); Vacant (1832–1833); Martin Van Buren; (1833–1837);
Preceded by	John Quincy Adams
Succeeded by	Martin Van Buren
United States Senator; from Tennessee
	In office; March 4, 1823 – October 14, 1825
Preceded by	John Williams
Succeeded by	Hugh Lawson White
	In office; September 26, 1797 – April 1, 1798
Preceded by	William Cocke
Succeeded by	Daniel Smith
Military Governor of Florida
	In office; March 10, 1821 – December 31, 1821
Appointed by	James Monroe
Preceded by	José María Coppinger (Spanish East Florida); José María Callava (Spanish West Florida);
Succeeded by	William Pope Duval (as Territorial Governor)
Justice of the Tennessee Superior Court
	In office; June 1798 – June 1804
Appointed by	John Sevier
Preceded by	Howell Tatum
Succeeded by	John Overton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from Tennessee's at-large district
	In office; December 4, 1796 – September 26, 1797
Preceded by	James White (Delegate from the Southwest Territory)
Succeeded by	William C. C. Claiborne
Personal details
Born	March 15, 1767; Waxhaw Settlement between North Carolina and South Carolina, British America
Died	June 8, 1845 (aged 78); Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting place	The Hermitage
Party	Democratic (1828–1845)
Other political; affiliations	Democratic-Republican (before 1825)
Spouse	Rachel Donelson (m. 1794; died 1828)
Children	Andrew Jackson Jr. (adopted)
Occupation	Politician; lawyer; general;
Awards	Congressional Gold Medal; Thanks of Congress;
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Rank	Major general (U.S. Army); Major general (U.S. Volunteers); Major general (Tennessee militia);
Unit	South Carolina Militia (1780–81); Tennessee Militia (1792–1821); United States Army (1814–1821)
Battles/wars	See list American Revolutionary War Battle of Hanging Rock; ; Creek War Battle of Talladega; Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek; Battle of Horseshoe Bend; ; War of 1812 Battle of Pensacola; Battle of New Orleans; ; First Seminole War Capture of St. Marks; Siege of Fort Barrancas; ; ;

Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. He rose to fame as a U.S. Army general and served in both houses of the U.S. Congress. His political philosophy, which dominated his presidency, became the basis for the rise of Jacksonian democracy. His legacy is controversial: being praised as an advocate for white working Americans and preserving the union of states, and criticized for his racist policies, particularly towards Native Americans.

Born in the colonial Carolinas before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer, married Rachel Donelson, and briefly represented Tennessee in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. After resigning, he served as a Tennessee Superior Court justice from 1798 to 1804. He founded The Hermitage and became a wealthy planter who profited from the forced labor of hundreds of enslaved African Americans. As commander of the Tennessee militia, he led troops in the Creek War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and negotiating the Treaty of Fort Jackson, which forced the indigenous Creek to cede vast tracts of the present day states of Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 made him a national hero. He later commanded United States forces during the First Seminole War; his campaign was one of the factors that prompted Spain to negotiate the cession of Florida to the United States. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. Because no candidate secured the electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams with the support of Henry Clay, who later joined Adams's cabinet. Jackson's supporters, who alleged that Adams and Clay had formed a "corrupt bargain", created a new political coalition that would become the Democratic Party.

Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide victory despite issues such as his slave trading and "irregular" marriage. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act. This act, which has been described as ethnic cleansing, displaced tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands east of the Mississippi River. It resulted in thousands of deaths in what has become known as the Trail of Tears. Jackson faced a challenge to the integrity of the federal union when South Carolina threatened to nullify a high protective tariff set by the federal government. He threatened the use of military force to enforce the tariff, but the crisis was defused when it was amended. In 1832, he vetoed a bill by Congress to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States, viewing the Bank as a branch of government run by the elite. After a lengthy struggle, the Bank was dismantled. In 1835, Jackson became the only U.S. president to pay off the national debt. After leaving office, he supported the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk, as well as the annexation of Texas.

Opinions about Jackson are often polarized. Supporters characterize him as a defender of democracy and the U.S. Constitution, while critics point to his reputation as a demagogue who ignored the law when it suited him. Scholarly rankings of U.S. presidents historically placed Jackson high in the ranking of presidents. However, in the late 20th century his reputation declined, and in the 21st century his ranking has fallen.