Andrew Jackson....

Andrew Jackson was my first Clara Ingram Judson book.  The kids chose it and I'm glad they did!

"Tall as a man at fourteen, fiery, red-headed Andrew Jackson served under his uncle, Major Robert Crawford, in the Revolutionary War, and later was captured by the British.  The war over, he moved "Up-West" with many other Americans who sought new homes and opportunities on the opening frontier.  "Old Hickory" was always a fighter, and this story of his adventurous career is exciting reading." - from the opening end paper

Judson tells the amazing story of Andrew Jackson, which reads like an adventure novel.  The first president born in a log cabin, he fought in the Revolutionary War, was captured by the British and then was orphaned, all by age sixteen.  Reared into manhood by his uncles, he went on to become a frontier lawyer, a general, and a judge before becoming the seventh president of the United States.  He survived two bullet wounds and the mark of a sword blow to his forehead.

Jackson married Rachel, the love of his life, who died of a heart attack three weeks before he won the presidency.  Though they had been married more than thirty years, the scandal surrounding their marriage was ammunition for Jackson's opponents.  His was an era "when political cartoons came of age".

Although Jackson was crude in many ways, he has become one of the greatest presidents of all times.  He was loved and respected by the common people.  In Judson's Forward, she says, "Looking back across the pages of United States history, five men stand out uniquely as great Americans - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.  Their lives span the years from our beginnings to the first World War, and each man in his own way made a distinguished contribution in the American struggle toward a land for the free."  Judson's story of Andrew Jackson, also known as "Old Hickory", shows his many contributions to this great nation.

Also, if you are looking for a picture book to teach younger children about Andrew Jackson, I highly recommend Robert Quackenbush's Who Let Muddy Boots Into The White House?, A Story of Andrew Jackson.   This lively biography covers Jackson's life in an easy to read format.  The last line of the Epilogue reads, "His faults were many, but he loved his country simply and with all his heart."  I think this is a great summary in the life of Andrew Jackson, who fought so passionately for the cause.

I'm using Andrew Jackson as my Classic with a Name in the Title for the 2015 Back to the Classics Challenge.