A fierce personality with an iron will, Andrew Jackson was an important statesman who left a historic mark on the expansion and consolidation of the United States. Known among both his friends and his enemies as “Old Hickory,” after the hardwood tree, he rose to fame during the War of 1812, where his victories revealed the tenacity and courage that would later transform him into one of the most influential and controversial American presidents.

Andrew Jackson was a self-made man who was born on the frontier and grew up to become one of Tennessee’s first and most important political figures, before serving as the seventh president of the United States between 1829 and 1837. His rise to national prominence was hastened when he led to victory a rag-tag group of militia, Indians, locals, and pirates against a much larger British force during the War of 1812 at the Battle of New Orleans. The event prompted Jackson’s immediate ascent to power and transformed him into a national hero. From the Petticoat affair to the nullification crisis, Jackson’s ability to handle the most divisive issues allowed him to transcend any scandal due to the unwavering support of his ardent political partisans. Andrew Jackson exerted such a tremendous influence on American politics that historians often refer to his presidency as “The Age of Jackson.”

Although he was widely esteemed by Americans of his time, Jackson’s reputation has dwindled since the rise of the civil rights movement when his anti-abolitionist views and his leading role in Indian dispossession after the signing of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 have been heavily criticized. With his independent spirit and his persistent hold on democratic principles and values, he set the country on a path that led to a stronger and more efficient democracy