Young Hickory: The Making of Andrew Jackson

by Hendrik Booraem

Drawing on dozens of new sources, celebrated historical biographer Hendrik Booraem illuminates the adventurous, fighting life of the father of the Democratic party. Beginning with the dramatic story of the Jackson-Crawford clan's immigration from Ireland and culminating with Jackson's entrance into the legal world, Young Hickory brings Andrew Jackson into sharp focus by examining the events that made him.

Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

Hendrik Booraem V, was born May 11, 1939, in New York City, the son of Hendrik Booraem, Jr., and Dorothy Carr Booraem. In 1944, his divorced mother moved with him to South Carolina, where he spent his childhood - first in Gaffney, then in Greenville, where he went all the way through the public schools. He received a National Merit Scholarship, and studied at the University of Virginia, where he graduated in 1961 with a major in history. He then returned to Greenville and taught for six years at Greenville Senior High School.

In 1967, he entered The Johns Hopkins University and studied history under David Herbert Donald, receiving his Ph.D. in 1977. During his academic career, he taught at several institutions, including the State University of New York at Purchase, The University of South Carolina at Aiken, Lehigh University, Delaware Valley College, and Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania. He also taught for thirteen years at Strom Thurmond High School in Edgefield, SC.

He was the author of numerous books in American history, including The Formation of the Republican Party in New York, 1954-1956: Politics and Conscience in the Antebellum North (1984), and The Early History of Johnston, SC: The Founding and Development of a Railroad Depot Town (1993). His main work was a series of books about the education and character formation of several American presidents, including Garfield (The Road to Respectability , 1988), Coolidge (The Provincial, 1994), Jackson (Young Hickory , 2001), William
Henry Harrison (A Child of the Revolution , 2011), Ford (Young Jerry Ford , 2013, and The Education of Gerald Ford , 2015), and Cleveland (Stubborn Independence, never published).

A passionate hiker and camper, he belonged to the Nature Conservancy for thirty years. He was also a long-term member of The Planetary Society because of an interest in astronomy and space exploration, and The Holland Society of New York because of his colonial Dutch ancestry. His earliest paternal ancestor, Willem Jacobse van Boerum, came to New Amsterdam in 1649.

In 1967, he married Lynn F. Allen of Aiken, SC. They had three children, Dorothy, Hendrik VI, and Anna. The marriage ended in divorce. In 2009 he married Dr. Richard D. Bullock of Newtown, PA, his partner of 17 years, who died in 2015. A retired professor of history, Hendrik died October 1, 2017, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Besides his children and ex-wife, he was survived by seven grandchildren and two sisters, Abigail Van Alyn of Yreka, CA, and Diotima Mantinea of Hendersonville, NC.

Reviews

[Seth Creech · Rating 2 out of 5]

Setting aside the fact that the author used “young hickory” to refer to young Jackson (not Polk, to whom this title actually belongs), this book is mostly derivative and offers nothing more than a cursory glance at President Jackson. Conclusions are drawn at the wrong times, for the wrong reasons, often using improper or insufficient evidence. SAD!

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had to be a difficult book to write, since there is just a dearth of information about Jackson between birth and 21 years of age. So much of this is inference from other people's experiences, and so the whole thing feels very speculative, and it doesn't add much to an understanding of Jackson. Worse, Borraem doesn't seem to have gotten much insight himself. The book ends as if he just got tired or writing and dropped the manuscript in the mail on his way to Baskin Robbins.

[Mairéad Mccarron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. not only did i learn about AJ in his earlier life but i learned a lot about the time period.