Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767 in Waxhaw, South Carolina. His father was Andrew Jackson and his mother was Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson. He was the first of our Presidents to be born in a log cabin. As was not uncommon in his time, he received no formal education. He served as our nation’s 7^th President from March 4, 1829 to March 3, 1837.

     General Jackson, who was known as “Old Hickory,” served our country in both the American Revolutionary War and The War of 1812. In addition to being a great military leader, he was also an accomplished lawyer. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, as a Justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court, and as Governor of the Territory of Florida.

     Andrew Jackson married Rachel Donelson Robards in 1794. They adopted one of his wife’s nephews and named him Andrew Jackson, Jr. When he was 13, the British captured Andrew Jackson. He was ordered to polish an officer’s boots, but he refused. That officer slashed Andrew’s forehead with a sword, leaving a scar. Andrew Jackson was the first President to ride on a railroad train. In 1806, he was wounded in a duel in which he killed his opponent. The bullet lodged too close to his heart to be safely removed. He carried it with him for the rest of his life.

     President Andrew Jackson died on June 8, 1845 at his home, The Hermitage, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was 78.