Early Careers: Law, Politics, and Militias

How does an uneducated man with a fiery temper, a treasonous past, and a propensity for murder become president? He does it by winning a famous military victory, of course! Andrew Jackson is the Hero of New Orleans, our seventh president, and a pretty terrible person beyond that.

From his youth as a Revolutionary War orphan to his military victories, war crimes, cruelty toward Native Americans, disastrous economic policies, and that time he almost fought a civil war against his own former Vice President (really!), we'll follow Jackson as he begrudges his way to the top of American politics and an enduring popularity that can be explained only one way - Americans love a winner.

Bibliography
1. The Life of Andrew Jackson – Robert V. Remin
2. Martin Van Buren and the American Political System – Donald B. Cole
3. John Quincy Adams – Harlow G Unger
4. The Last Founding Father, James Monroe and A Nation’s Call to Greatness – Harlow G Unger
5. Heirs of the Founders – H.W. Brands
6. Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America – Walter R. Borneman
7. James Madison - Richard Brookhiser

Support the show