General, Governor, And President Of The United States

Symbol.

Even before he became the nation's seventh president, Andrew Jackson was a living, breathing symbol of the West. As a youth fighting in the Revolutionary War, a frontier lawyer and jurist, a plantation parvenu, a military leader, and, finally, as president, Jackson's life had a tremendous effect on the nation's Westward expansion.

Planter-Politician.

Born in the North Carolina backcountry to a family of Irish immigrants, Jackson's childhood was interrupted by the American Revolution. Although he was only thirteen, he was captured and imprisoned by the British; all but one member of his immediate family died from war-related causes. With no family to turn to, the ambitious and troubled Jackson decided to study law and move to North Carolina's western district (now Tennessee). The roughhewn lawyer made friends quickly and began a political career as a delegate...