Interactive Timeline

Andrew Jackson: A Life

The quintessential self-made man, Andrew Jackson, the son of poor Irish immigrants, rose from his humble background to become a national military icon and the 7th President of the United States. During his terms as president, Jackson confronted some of the defining issues facing a nascent nation still searching for its identity. By moving beyond the politics and ideologies set in place by the Founding Fathers, Andrew Jackson became one of the most striking, polarizing, and influential figures in American history.

	The Wild Young Man Growing up on the edge of the frontier, Jackson's politics were shaped in part by the unconventional experiences in his youth. Orphaned in his teens, he fought in the Revolutionary War as an irregular soldier, and then worked as a lawyer in the Tennessee wilderness where he fought duels to protect his honor, prospered in business, and fell in love.
	The War Hero A ruthless Indian fighter. The commander of the motley American force that overwhelmed the 'superior' British army at the Battle of New Orleans. The general who chased the Spanish out of Florida. Jackson's successful, and at times controversial, military campaigns made him a national hero second only to George Washington.
	The Candidate Over the course of two presidential elections, Jackson and his supporters appealed directly to the American people for their votes, forever changing the way presidential campaigns would be run.
	The First Modern President Believing he had a mandate from the people to reform the government, Jackson survived a sex scandal in his administration and battled opponents in Congress and the private arena as he re-invented and expanded the role of the presidency.
	The Defender of the Union In an increasingly diverse and fervent nation, Jackson wrestled with the most pressing issues of the era as he struggled to unify the states under the federal government and extend the nation westward.
	The Prophet Industrialization in the United States was rapidly changing the way people worked, earned and spent their money and generally lived their lives. Wary of the way banks and corporations affected common men, Jackson fought to limit their power while paying off the national debt and surviving the first assassination attempt on a U.S. president.