The Making of an Old Man

In 1837, seventy was a ripe old age, and former President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) was older than his years. His health had been abysmal for decades.

“Born for the storm,” by his own admission, he had lived a hard, active, and usually bellicose life. His father died in an accident shortly before his son was born on the frontier border between North and South Carolina. At eleven or twelve, he “volunteered” as a messenger during the American Revolution. He was caught, and imprisoned.

He also mouthed off to the British officer who commanded him to clean his boots, earning him a saber-scarred hand, cheek and soul. Between the scarring and the prison, where smallpox and cholera were rampant, Andy Jackson was changed for life. By the time he was fourteen, his two older brothers and his mother had died. He was now alone in the world.

His schooling was sporadic and insufficient. His contempt for both the British and the “upper class” southern aristocracy, never changed, although he eventually opted to read law when he was in his late teens – mainly to gain a place in the “upper crust” he so disdained. He managed to pass the Carolina bar, and immediately moved to Tennessee.

By 21, the tall, skinny Andrew Jackson was well accepted in Nashville. His inclination for rash decisions and speculation, plus horseracing and gambling assured him of a place in a growing community in dire need of legal “expertise” in the paperwork of deeds and buy-and-sell and general lawyer-stuff. The place and the man had conjoined. Jax was the elected the first Congressman from the new state of Tennessee.

His “questioned” marriage to the divorced (also questioned) Rachel Donelson Robards was another life-changing episode with a long, long trail. It was truly a love match, and “Mrs. Robards” was truly unhappy in her first marriage… but duels were fought, wounds were given and received, enemies were lifelong, and those scars (and bullets) took their place in his body and soul.

Change of Career

By the time the “War of 1812” spilled into a series of brutal battles between frontier settlers and Indian tribes in what was then the “southwest” (Tennessee, Alabama, Florida….) Andy Jackson was past forty. And he was absolutely beloved in Tennessee.

In those days, state militias were imperative for protection of life and property. They were also voluntary. Becoming a “general” in the militia was a political appointment rather than one that required real military training. What was needed was a fearless nature and the charisma to attract followers. Andrew Jackson met those requirements easily.

He had found his true calling as ferocious a fighter of the various Indian tribes who got in his way, winning him more attention in the halls of government (which was not inclined to have high regard for him to begin with), and even more devotion in Tennessee. His technically-too-late clever victory in New Orleans, defeating a large already-hated British Army with only a handful of American casualties, sealed his importance to a young country feeling its oats. And he never practiced law again.

He was now The Hero, but a different kind. He was a man of the people, rather than the moneyed, aristocratic, well-educated, learned leaders of an earlier time. He was a solid adherent of states-rights (as opposed to a national attitude), rough-and-tumble, self-made, fearless, and if nothing else, an unquestioned leader of men.

He had been a Congressman – and resigned. He had been elected U.S. Senator – and resigned. He had also made and lost a few fortunes along the way. But Jax was uncontrollable. He did not take direction well, he did not obey orders, he did not behave the way high officials were expected to behave.

The government did not know what to do with him, and justly regarded him with great suspicion and disdain.

Fast Forward to Seventy

The two terms of Andrew Jackson’s presidency are considered seminal in the history of the USA, like him or not. After the strong leadership of George Washington, subsequent presidents were less bold, feeling their way through the role of Chief Executive, usually deferring to the will of Congress, i.e. “we the people.”

This President was “of the people,” and believed he understood them – particularly their growing influence in the country. His administration, fraught with decisive actions, won him uncompromising loyalty from a growing cadre of followers and an equal number of uncompromising enemies. He changed the essence of politics.

In an age when seventy was old, he looked a decade older. Years of the harsh frontier life left him with all sorts of malarial-types of recurrent fevers. His medical care dreadful. Bleeding was still a treatment for everything, and he was known to open his own veins with a penknife. His gaunt frame was made worse by chronic bowel inflammation – as well as badly rotted teeth. And he carried a regularly suppurating bullet in his chest from a long-ago duel.

He believed he would not have long to live.

When Jackson vacated the White House, he made a long progress back to his Nashville Hermitage plantation. He stopped to see old friends and supporters in towns and villages all along the way. Often entire populations turned out with bands and banners to greet him, shake his hand and toast his health. He was gratified by the acclaim.

His plantation (like those of other presidents) had run down from lack of personal attention. His finances (like those of other presidents) were in disarray.

He hoped he would not have long to live.

He regularly sat for hours at the garden grave of his beloved Rachel.

Still, he lived for eight more years in retirement.  

Sources:

Brands, H.W. – Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times – Doubleday, 2005

Skidmore, Max J. – After the White House: Former Presidents as Private Citizens – Palgrove Macmillan, 2004

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrew-Jackson/Jacksonian-Democracy

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/war-1812/battles/new-orleans