American Lion: Andrew Jackson, Man of the People

This Jon Meacham biography is a fascinating portrayal of Jackson in the context of both his political battles and his family - both contentious sets of relationships. As I write this, I'm still reading the book on my Kindle. I had waited a long time to read a full biography of Andrew Jackson, our seventh President, because of the period in which he served. Having now read a lot before, and a lot after, I felt I was ready to learn more about the "Jacksonian Era" as some historians refer to the period.

Image is of a portrait of Andrew Jackson in his White House years by Ralph Earl, who lived in the White House with Jackson during his first term; courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson

Let's let Amazon select some further readings on Andrew Jackson.

I welcome your comments on the man, his activities, his 'era' and anything else that has come to your mind, so far... ;-)

Have you read an Andrew Jackson biography?

Celebration of the Battle of New Orleans (War of 1812)

Among many things he did, General Andrew Jackson was probably best known as the commander of the defeat of the elite British troops at the Battle of New Orleans at the end of the War of 1812. These were troops who had just arrived from Europe having defeated Napoleon. Even tho' the war had officially ended by the time of the battle, word had not yet arrived, and the Battle put an interesting exclamation point on the war and assured Jackson national prominence.

He lost in 1824 by vote of the House; though he had won the popular vote.

Andrew Jackson was the first to run as "a man of the people." Voting law changes had changed to make many more people (men) eligible to vote. He was among the first, and certainly the most effective at the time, to actually campaign for the office by traveling the countryside.

In 1824, he won the popular vote, but not the Electoral College vote. He lost in the House, to that he called the 'unholy alliance' to John Quincy Adams with Henry Clay becoming Secretary of State. In 1828, Jackson won the Presidency and was re-elected in 1832.