|
|
Andrew Jackson - 7th President of the United States"Old Hickory" Andrew Jackson was the only President to pay off the national debt. He was the first President to be born in a log cabin, and the first to ride a train. This tribute to our 7th President deals with the Rambo of Man in Andrew Jackson. They didn’t call him Old Hickory for nothing… Andrew Jackson was the last of three sons of Scotch-Irish immigrants. His father, who he was also named in honor of, died only a handful of days before Andrew was born.
Jackson is the only President to serve in two wars, as well as the only President to have been held a prisoner of war. He was a young boy of thirteen when the Revolutionary War broke out. His eldest brother Hugh died in battle and so thirteen-year old Andrew and his older brother Robert snatched up their muskets and rode their half-wild Carolina ponies to join the volunteers in the American Revolution. On January 30, 1835, a mentally disturbed man named Richard Lawrence fired two different guns at Jackson from point-blank range. Both weapons failed to fire. The odds of this happening were put at 1:125,000. Jackson then chased after Lawrence and beat him with his cane. His eldest brother had died in battle and so 13-year old Andrew and his older brother Robert snatched up their muskets and rode their half-wild Carolina ponies to join the volunteers in the American Revolution. For 2 years these boys fought the British in backwood skirmishes and then were captured. The British were cruel but failed to break their spirit. When a red-coated officer pointed to his muddied jackboots and ordered Andrew to clean them, Jackson refused and in punishment for his rebellion, the officer slashed his saber at Jackson’s head. Andrew flung up his arms, partly blocking the blow but carried scars on his scalp and hands for the rest of his life – as well as a new hate for the British. When his brother Robert also refused, he was cut severely. Remember, Robert was only a bit older than Andrew. Their courageous mother managed to barter their release in exchange for British prisoners. Andrew was fighting delirium on the way home, staggering on foot behind the horse that carried his mother and dying brother. Then suddenly, Andrew was orphaned. In the books that I researched they said that he swore, he gambled, he owned fighting cocks and raced horses, yet he built a church for his wife and he deeply revered God. He won every battle he ever led. He hanged 2 men as spies, ordered 6 soldiers shot for mutiny, killed one man who insulted his wife’s honor, a Mr. Charles Dickinson. It was a gun duel. Dickinson fired first, hitting Jackson a mere 2 inches from his heart. Jackson didn’t flinch, he just aimed, shot, and it was over. Of course, he carried the bullet with him throughout his life, as it was inoperable in those days. As a young boy, he defended the smaller boys and showed them how to shoot, fish, race, run and wrestle – a passion of his youth, this wrestling. Anyone could come to Andrew Jackson's public parties at the White House, and just about everyone did! At his last one, a wheel of cheese weighing 1,400 lbs. was eaten in two hours. The books said that the White House wreaked of cheese for weeks!! One of the humorous things was the story of his pet parrot, Poll. When Jackson died they brought Poll into the pallor and the ‘stupid bird’ began letting out a volley of obscenities. The bird was so lewd that they had to remove him!
|
|
|
    |
|||
