History UsefulNotes / AndrewJackson

It is enough to say that nothing short of death would have stopped Jackson, and bullets just weren't going to work. The first two {{Assassination Attempt}}s on an American President were against him. The first time, in 1833, a man he dismissed from the Navy ran up to the President and struck him, but Jackson's friends chased him away. Then, in 1835, another attempt happened outside of the Capitol Building. An unemployed Englishman, Richard Lawrence, whipped out two pistols and fired, but both of them misfired for some reason even though they were both in perfect condition. Jackson then went up to him and started beating him with his cane until his advisers held him back, out of fear that Jackson would beat him to death. You read that right. To date, Jackson remains the only President to ever personally subdue his own would-be assassin. Lawrence was eventually declared insane (''he thought he was Richard III'') and institutionalized; for some reason, Jackson was not. This was possibly the first time the argument of "he was too insane to know what he was doing so we shouldn't kill him or anything" was used to keep someone out of prison, so that's interesting.

This all took place during an era of rapid change in the United States. The Industrial Revolution began to really get going in the years after the War of 1812 and the small businesses of the post-independence years were giving way to large factories, resulting in previously self-reliant farmers and craftsmen being forced to turn to "wage slavery" to make a living. Meanwhile, thanks to the spread of the cotton gin, the rise of large slave plantations in the South began, forcing out many farmers and slaveholders. Additionally, the federal government enacted policies to help spur economic growth and modernization, policies which were often perceived as being pro-Northern and pro-wealthy. Horrified to see their way of living change right before their eyes, the common people made demands for populist reforms, such as an end to federal aid to businesses, universal suffrage, and expansion west to provide land for farmers and settlers. Jackson, now a wealthy plantation owner but sympathetic to their plight, openly sided with the little guys against big business and big government, and he rode this populist wave to a national political career. Jackson ran for the presidency in 1824 and won a plurality of the popular vote, but, in a very confusing election in which three other people ran, he did not have enough votes to win the White House, so the matter went to the House of Representatives. There, the Speaker of the House UsefulNotes/HenryClay, who was fourth place in the presidential race and a sworn enemy of Jackson, used his political influence to swing the House vote narrowly in favor of John Quincy Adams, who then became President. Outraged at this "corrupt bargain" of Washington insiders, Jackson and his supporters formed the Democratic Party and announced he would run again in 1828, and Jacksonians in Congress stopped most of Adams' policies from passing. The 1828 election, however, was just Adams against Jackson, and Jackson, benefiting from perceived corruption and incompetence in the Adams administration and from commoners in the Southern and frontier states gaining the vote, easily won in a landslide.

* He's a recurring character in ''WebOriginal/TheAmericanDreamAnAmericanOfficerISOTedToTheRevolutionaryWar'', eventually becoming President. Due to different formative experiences, he ends up a very different man from how he was IOTL, and is [[{{irony}} one of the most highly-ranked Presidents among Native Americans]].

One of the most distinctive personalities to occupy the presidency, Jackson was noted for his nearly uncontrollable temper and his occasional lapse into violence. UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson witnessed Jackson's early political career as a Senator during his time as UsefulNotes/JohnAdams' Vice President; while he agreed with Jackson's politics, he described him as pretty unintelligent and called him "a dangerous man." Jefferson could only begin to understand. Jackson's marriage to Rachel Donelson Robards (by all accounts a sensitive, gentle woman to whom the affection-starved Jackson was sincerely devoted) was considered bigamous since her divorce was not officially completed at the time of their wedding. Jackson believed his political opponents' use of this as an issue in the very nasty 1828 presidential campaign resulted in her death before his inauguration, and he never forgave his enemies for this. He was famously defensive of Rachel, even going into a duel against a judge who insulted her. He was in many duels, the number of which varies depending on what source you consult; some say 13, while others rank the number somewhere in the hundreds, both of which, in the words of ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', are entirely too many times for any reasonable human being to stand in front of someone who is trying to kill them with a loaded gun. He stopped when he was voted into office. When Jackson became a Senator, one of his foes from his duels was also in the Senate. The man had shot him, and he still had the bullet in his body. He soon got it out and even gave it to the man who shot him as a sort of peace treaty. When ever he'd get hemorrhages in his arm, he'd ask his servants for a razor and a bowl and cut them open to let them bleed out. Recent examinations of his body have shown that he suffered from lead poisoning (probably from those duels) which even reached into his skull, which possibly describes some of his more unusual behavior.

* He's a recurring character in WebOriginal/TheAmericanDreamAnAmericanOfficerISOTedToTheRevolutionaryWar, eventually becoming President. Due to different formative experiences, he ends up a very different man from how he was IOTL, and is [[{{irony}} one of the most highly-ranked Presidents among Native Americans]].

* MemeticBadass: Not as famous in pop culture as [[UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt a certain other badass president]], but people still make videos about him; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SupNaQeJrq0 like this one]].

He was born on the border between North and South Carolina - his birthplace (maybe 18 miles south of Charlotte) can be placed at one of two cabins standing scant yards apart, one on each side of the border. His father, a linen weaver from Ireland, died before Jackson was born. At the age of 12, Jackson served in the Patriot militia under Col. Davies during the American Revolution. During the war, he and his brothers were captured and confined in disease-ridden quarters; this led to the deaths of his brothers and also of his mother who tended to them when they were sick. After the war, Jackson had no immediate family left alive, so he was taken in by a judge in Salisbury, North Carolina. This judge was himself one of the few survivors of a battle/massacre known at the time as the Waxhaw Massacre, now more commonly called Buford's Defeat, where he had been left for dead with over twenty wounds. Under his tutelage, Jackson studied law. Jackson then moved to western North Carolina (which later became Tennessee), married, and began a political career.

In the years prior to his presidency, Jackson had a very prominent career as an Army general. During the UsefulNotes/WarOf1812 (in which the United States fought the British, contemporary with the Napoleonic Wars) Jackson commanded US forces against the British and their Indian allies in Georgia and Alabama, and in January 1815 made his name with his successful defense of New Orleans. This impressive victory, in which the Americans lost only around 20 soldiers and the British lost ''2,000'', actually was won after diplomats from both sides negotiated a truce, but thanks to the lengthy time it took for the ships bearing the news to cross the Atlantic, no one knew about this until after it happened. In fact, most of the country heard about the victory at New Orleans before they heard about the peace, leading many people to believe Jackson defeated the British so badly he forced them to surrender. He received the nickname "Old Hickory" from his troops because of his hickory wood walking stick and his all-around toughness. After that war, he was charged with defending the Georgia border from raiding Seminole tribes who crossed the border with Spanish Florida and attacked American settlers. Jackson controversially went beyond orders and invaded the peninsula, attacking both the Seminoles and the Spanish who refused to stop the attacks, and it is only due to Secretary of State UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams' diplomatic genius and trouble in Spain's Latin American colonies that war did not break out between the two countries. Jacksonville, Florida, is thus named after him. Due to his victories in these battles and his "self-made man" story, Jackson became a hero to many throughout the country.

Perhaps his other greatest challenge during his White House years was the issue over the Tariff of 1828. Passed during the Adams administration, it was the highest tariff yet passed in American history, protecting the manufacturers of the North from foreign companies selling their goods to Americans at cheap prices. However, it outraged the South, because it interfered with their international cotton trade and raised prices for the goods they needed to buy. Just before reelection, Jackson passed through Congress a compromise tariff which lowered the rates just a little bit, trying to satisfy both halves of the country. However, many in the South were not satisfied, and South Carolina went to the extreme of "nullifying" the tariff, which basically meant it was null and void in state borders. While sympathetic to states' rights, the President also believed firmly in the Union, and issued a strongly-worded proclamation which declared nullification unconstitutional and even started preparing a military force in case the state wouldn't compromise. Jackson's first-term Vice President, [[TreacherousAdvisor John C. Calhoun]], was a native of the state and secretly promoted these efforts. Americans watched these tense developments and wondered if war was imminent, but luckily, Henry Clay negotiated another tariff reduction which would slowly lower tariff rates over the next ten years until it was almost half what it was in 1828. Satisfied with this new tariff, South Carolina rescinded the nullification, and the entire country let out a huge sigh of relief. While Clay was arguably the true victor here, Jackson received the national glory. Jackson correctly predicted that this was only a sign of the growing disunity in the country, and correctly pointed to slavery as the crisis which would test the strength of the Union. The abolitionist movement entered its really militant phase during his presidency, as signified by such events as the first publication of William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist magazine ''The Liberator'' and Nat Turner's slave rebellion in Virginia. Concerned that they were just as great a threat to the country (and, since he was a slaveholder himself, already against their goals), he denounced them as traitors in the making and ordered the Postal Service not to distribute anti-slavery mail in the South.

Meanwhile, Jackson was also a strong supporter of western expansion, believing that it would provide cheap land for the poor farmers who supported him. When he entered office, there were still several regions in the Southwest occupied by Native American tribes, and up until this point the federal government mostly protected their claims to much of these lands, to the outrage of the pioneers crossing the Appalachians who wanted to settle these areas. Jackson had Congress pass the Indian Removal Act, which granted the federal government more power to negotiate land purchases from tribal governments. However, this quickly turned into the federal government forcing these people off of their ancestral homes and sending them on a long march west to what is now Oklahoma, and it is estimated that around 100,000 American Indians were displaced because of this. While for years history books, which used to be notoriously hateful to Native Americans, ''praised'' Jackson for this, in recent years he has been justly criticized for the policy and his reputation with historians has fallen. Thousands died along the way, and today these policies would probably be labelled ethnic cleansing (although the genocide label has been debated, since the idea was not to deliberately kill them). In his defense, he passed these policies in part because he feared that, if the tribes would not move, white settlers would simply massacre them, though this still means Indian removal was good only in comparison to an even worse possibility. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was also created during his presidency. When the Cherokee nation's case reached the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Georgia's state government could not override the tribal rights negotiated with the federal government; Jackson ignored this decision and allegedly declared "Marshall has made his decision, [[BadassBoast now let's see him enforce it!]]" The removal of the Cherokee, which was so brutal that it was called the Trail of Tears, actually happened after Jackson left office, contrary to how most people remember it. Jackson himself had revenge when Marshall died during his second term, and he nominated the pro-Indian removal Roger B. Taney as Chief Justice; you may remember Taney was the Chief Justice who gave the ruling for ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'',[[note]]For those that don't, he ruled that the US Constitution was not meant to include American citizenship for black people, regardless of whether they were enslaved or free, and so the rights and privileges that the Constitution confers upon American citizens could not apply to them.[[/note]] making him among the most hated Justices in American history. Speaking of westward expansion, the Texas Revolution, fought by American settlers who settled into northern Mexico but didn't want to follow its rules, happened and was swiftly won and they won their independence. While he was sympathetic to their cause (it was led by Sam Houston, an old comrade of his), he also believed annexing Texas would lead to war with Mexico, and he only recognized their government.

Even after he was dead, his rather...[[{{Understatement}} ill-tempered]]… demeanor reached from beyond the grave, as apparently according to legend his pet parrot had to [[TheFunInFuneral be quickly escorted from Jackson's funeral when it began swearing loudly in three languages.]]

One of the most distinctive personalities to occupy the presidency, Jackson was noted for his nearly uncontrollable temper and his occasional lapse into violence. UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson witnessed Jackson's early political career as a Senator during his time as UsefulNotes/JohnAdams' Vice President; while he agreed with Jackson's politics, he described him as pretty unintelligent and called him "a dangerous man." Jefferson could only begin to understand. Jackson's marriage to Rachel Donelson Robards (by all accounts a sensitive, gentle woman to whom the affection-starved Jackson was sincerely devoted) was considered bigamous since her divorce was not officially completed at the time of their wedding. Jackson believed his political opponents' use of this as an issue in the very nasty 1828 presidential campaign resulted in her death before his inauguration, and he never forgave his enemies for this. He was famously defensive of Rachel, even [[BerserkButton going into a duel against a judge who insulted her]]. He was in many duels, the number of which varies depending on what source you consult; some say 13, while others rank the number somewhere in the hundreds, both of which, in the words of ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', are entirely too many times for any reasonable human being to stand in front of someone who is trying to kill them with a loaded gun. He stopped when he was voted into office. When Jackson became a Senator, one of his foes from his duels was also in the Senate. The man had shot him, and he still had the bullet in his body. He soon got it out and even gave it to the man who shot him as a sort of peace treaty. When ever he'd get hemorrhages in his arm, he'd ask his servants for a razor and a bowl and cut them open to let them bleed out. Recent examinations of his body have shown that he suffered from lead poisoning (probably from those duels) which even reached into his skull, which possibly describes some of his more unusual behavior.

Meanwhile, Jackson was also a strong supporter of western expansion, believing that it would provide cheap land for the poor farmers who supported him. When he entered office, there were still several regions in the Southwest occupied by Native American tribes, and up until this point the federal government mostly protected their claims to much of these lands, to the outrage of the pioneers crossing the Appalachians who wanted to settle these areas. Jackson had Congress pass the Indian Removal Act, which granted the federal government more power to negotiate land purchases from tribal governments. However, this quickly turned into the federal government forcing these people off of their ancestral homes and sending them on a long march west to what is now Oklahoma, and it is estimated that around 100,000 American Indians were displaced because of this. While for years history books, which used to be notoriously hateful to Native Americans, ''praised'' Jackson for this, in recent years he has been justly criticized for the policy and his reputation with historians has fallen. Thousands died along the way, and today these policies would probably be labelled ethnic cleansing (it's not genocide, since the idea was not to deliberately kill them). In his defense, he passed these policies in part because he feared that, if the tribes would not move, white settlers would simply massacre them, though this still means Indian removal was good only in comparison to an even worse possibility. The Bureau of Indian Affairs was also created during his presidency. When the Cherokee nation's case reached the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Georgia's state government could not override the tribal rights negotiated with the federal government; Jackson ignored this decision and allegedly declared "Marshall has made his decision, [[BadassBoast now let's see him enforce it!]]" The removal of the Cherokee, which was so brutal that it was called the Trail of Tears, actually happened after Jackson left office, contrary to how most people remember it. Jackson himself had revenge when Marshall died during his second term, and he nominated the pro-Indian removal Roger B. Taney as Chief Justice; you may remember Taney was the Chief Justice who gave the ruling for ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'',[[note]]For those that don't, he ruled that the US Constitution was not meant to include American citizenship for black people, regardless of whether they were enslaved or free, and so the rights and privileges that the Constitution confers upon American citizens could not apply to them.[[/note]] making him among the most hated Justices in American history. Speaking of westward expansion, the Texas Revolution, fought by American settlers who settled into northern Mexico but didn't want to follow its rules, happened and was swiftly won and they won their independence. While he was sympathetic to their cause (it was led by Sam Houston, an old comrade of his), he also believed annexing Texas would lead to war with Mexico, and he only recognized their government.

* He is a major character (though not the protagonist) in the ''Literature/TrailOfGlory'' series by Creator/EricFlint. Flint has mentioned that Jackson is wonderful to have as a character, since whatever he makes him do, the real-life Jackson did something just as outrageous. The characterisation feels very true to life.

* In ''Okla Hannali'', a rare historical novel written by science fiction author Creator/RALafferty, Andrew Jackson figures in the background during the first half of the book. Though not part of the narrative directly he is depicted as an outright villain, and the author blames him not only for laying the seeds for the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar but for [[TheChessmaster deliberately enacting the Indian removals in the winter]] so that as many Indians as possible could die of exposure. This makes sense in context of the story as the book deals largely with the build-up to the the Trail of Tears and its aftermath, and centers on vignettes from the life of a Choctaw 'Mingo' called Hannali Innominee and his family. Because the book's prose is a blend of non-fiction and oral history it's difficult to say which are facts and which are opinions of the author. [[SignatureStyle All of this is on par with Lafferty's usual style.]]

[[caption-width-right:300:''"It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word."'']]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/andrew_jackson_9338.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word."'']]

'''Andrew Jackson''' (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States of America, serving from [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1829 to 1837]], right after UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams and right before UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren, and was the first president from the Democratic Party. He was also a living testament to how badass a man can be; no future president was near as badass until UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt came to office.