Andrew Jackson: The Populist President

"Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was an American military officer and politician who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. From humble beginnings as a frontier lawyer in Tennessee, he rose to national prominence after his victory at the Battle of New Orleans (8 January 1815). He ran for president on a populist platform, supported by the new Democratic Party, and won election in 1828."

"During his two terms, Jackson worked to strengthen the power of the presidency as he dealt with major incidents such as the Bank War and the Nullification Crisis. He signed the Indian Removal Act, which displaced tens of thousands of Native Americans and has often been considered an example of ethnic cleansing. He left office in 1837 but continued to exert significant influence over national politics until his death in 1845."

"Jackson was born on 15 March 1767 in Waxhaws, a frontier community bestriding the border between North and South Carolina; both states have claimed him as a native son, though the evidence indicates that he was most likely born in South Carolina. He was the third child of Andrew Jackson Sr. and Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson, a pair of Presbyterian Scotch-Irish immigrants who had made the Atlantic crossing to the Carolinas only two years before. He never knew his father, as the senior Andrew Jackson had unexpectedly died three weeks before the birth of his namesake."

Andrew Jackson rose from a frontier Tennessee lawyer to national prominence after victory at the Battle of New Orleans. He served as the seventh U.S. president from 1829 to 1837 as a populist backed by the Democratic Party. Jackson expanded presidential power and confronted the Bank War and the Nullification Crisis. He authorized the Indian Removal Act, resulting in the forced displacement of tens of thousands of Native Americans and is often cited as an instance of ethnic cleansing. Born in the Waxhaws region in 1767 to Scotch-Irish immigrant parents, Jackson retained influence in national politics until his death in 1845.

Read at World History Encyclopedia