Pre-Owned Old Hickory:Andrew Jackson and the American People (Hardcover) 0525472932 9780525472933

"He's as Tough as Old Hickory!" cheered General Andrew Jackson's soldiers. Others simply called him the Hero. Yet critics and victims of his iron will denounced Jackson as a brutal tyrant, a reckless dictator. The complexity of our seventh president's character lies at the heart of this fascinating portrait of a born leader whose every action was dominated by his intense love and devotion for family and country. Born in a log cabin on the hardscrabble colonial frontier, young Andy was orphaned at the age of fourteen, by which time he had already served as a soldier and been taken prisoner by the British during the Revolutionary War. As a teenager, he was a hell-raising gambler who relished a good fight. It was the love and strength of his beloved wife, Rachel, as well as his own desire to achieve greatness, that transformed Andrew Jackson into a successful lawyer, a triumphant general, a hero of the War of 1812, and finally the first popularly elected president of the United States. From a childhood steeped in poverty and violence, Jackson rose to the very pinnacle of celebrity and power. His influence at a crucial juncture of American history is undisputed-the three decades after 1815 are still known as "The Age of Jackson." A tireless fighter of corruption and champion of the rights of common citizens, Old Hickory proved his skill as a politician by preserving the fragile union of the nation during a period of explosive growth and increasing discord over states' rights and slavery. Yet Jackson's relentless pursuit of "progress" led him to support policies that have sewn indelible shame into the fabric of United States history. His political maneuvering led to broken treaties, dispossessing Native Americans of tribal lands and creating the horrific legacy of the Trail of Tears. Award-winning historian Albert Marrin presents a probing biography of a complex man, his colorful times, and the unpredictable young country that thrust Old Hickory onto the political stage and into the pages of history. Book jacket. Contributor: Albert Marrin