It was 250 years ago this day, on March 15, 1767, that Andrew Jackson was born, in the Waxhaw area, so close to the North Carolina-South Carolina border that both states claim his birthplace.
He would eventually move out west to Tennessee and rise through the political ranks to attain the presidency of the United States.
He overcome many difficulties in his rise to prominence. At age 13, in the midst of the American Revolutionary War, he was captured. When he refused to polish the boots of his captor, the British officer wielded a sword and slashed his face, leaving a permanent scar. He is the only president who was once a prisoner-of-war.
He eventually came to be an army officer himself, gaining fame through his victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815, which happened after the Treaty of Ghent was signed ending the conflict.
He certainly got in the crossfire of intense mudslinging when running for president, with accusations coming from his critics about the circumstances surrounding the start of his marriage relationship with his wife--and the stress from enduring those accusations led to her untimely death.
When he entered the office of President, he set out to establish a populist atmosphere in the country. He started by opening to the public a reception at the White House after his inauguration, complete with a giant ball of cheese, which turned into total chaos when the people made a mess, and he had to flee the White House.
He then tried to empower the common people more, with one of the notable efforts being his terminating the national bank, but that led to financial chaos after he left office.
I remember in my US history class in high school, I had an essay assignment to write one whether or not I felt that Andrew Jackson deserved to be on the $20 bill.
I don't remember too much of that essay, but I recognize despite his great strides to empower the common people, Andrew Jackson botched some things, and was tainted by being a slaveholder and the treatment of Native Americans taking a turn for the worst during his administration.
The talk as of late with President Trump's entrance into office heralding a new sense of populism, but it's been a bit of a bumpy road.
I guess when someone comes in to try to empower the people anew, things get a bit rough. But I guess that's just part of the democratic experience of the US Republic, that things won't always go smoothly. Yet somehow, this government of the people still manages to make things work.
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