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Old Hickory: A Life of Andrew Jackson
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 27, 2012
A weirdly detached, multilayered shell of a book that reveals much without analyzing what it reveals. Davis is rather kinder to Jackson than many historians have been; his Jackson is not the dueling, cane-toting Indian-killer of Andrew Burstein's The Passions of Andrew Jackson, nor yet the populist champion depicted by Schlesinger. This Jackson is somewhere in the bland, contradictory middle, leaning towards the populist, and leavened with a heavy dose of romantic sentiment.
Jackson's relationship with his wife Rachel is showcased here; tender, assertive but sensitive (within the proprieties of the day, of course). The reciprocal relationship that Rachel had with him is among the book's fortés, giving this lesser-known woman and First Lady her due time in the spotlight and revealing a unrefined, honest sincere and loyal wife to a sometimes rashly impetuous man.
But Rachel is not the subject; Jackson is. Davis has an eye for the entertaining illustrative anecdote: this book is rife with breezy little stories, related in colorful vernacular to piece together a portrait of a stubborn, opinionated and assertive man, citizen and President. Davis' Jackson is a man never unsure of himself, occasionally mistaken but never hesitant. Equally swift to revenge personal and political offenses, to settle scores with either the legislator's pen or the dueler's pistol, this Jackson falls under no judgment, because he is the one doing the judging, sir, and you had better not forget it, lest Mr Jackson remind you with his cane.
Davis likes to be where the action is, and his book reads much of the time like a 1950s western. Every action-packed episode is quickly and neatly wrapped up, with the hero inevitably prevailing. There is a distinct lack of substantive analysis, especially of anything that Jackson's opponents believed; they aren't demonized, but they come across as mere targets for Jackson's outsize personality to set up and knock down. I wish there had been a meaty discussion of the major ideas at play, because the issues become very difficult to understand when handled so one-sidedly. There ought to be a more critical counterweight read along with this book, and maybe a more levelheaded, politically-minded treatment too.
Burstein is good for a blood-and-guts rendering of Jackson the human being. For an ink-and-paper rendering of Jackson the politician and statesman, keep looking.
Jackson's relationship with his wife Rachel is showcased here; tender, assertive but sensitive (within the proprieties of the day, of course). The reciprocal relationship that Rachel had with him is among the book's fortés, giving this lesser-known woman and First Lady her due time in the spotlight and revealing a unrefined, honest sincere and loyal wife to a sometimes rashly impetuous man.
But Rachel is not the subject; Jackson is. Davis has an eye for the entertaining illustrative anecdote: this book is rife with breezy little stories, related in colorful vernacular to piece together a portrait of a stubborn, opinionated and assertive man, citizen and President. Davis' Jackson is a man never unsure of himself, occasionally mistaken but never hesitant. Equally swift to revenge personal and political offenses, to settle scores with either the legislator's pen or the dueler's pistol, this Jackson falls under no judgment, because he is the one doing the judging, sir, and you had better not forget it, lest Mr Jackson remind you with his cane.
Davis likes to be where the action is, and his book reads much of the time like a 1950s western. Every action-packed episode is quickly and neatly wrapped up, with the hero inevitably prevailing. There is a distinct lack of substantive analysis, especially of anything that Jackson's opponents believed; they aren't demonized, but they come across as mere targets for Jackson's outsize personality to set up and knock down. I wish there had been a meaty discussion of the major ideas at play, because the issues become very difficult to understand when handled so one-sidedly. There ought to be a more critical counterweight read along with this book, and maybe a more levelheaded, politically-minded treatment too.
Burstein is good for a blood-and-guts rendering of Jackson the human being. For an ink-and-paper rendering of Jackson the politician and statesman, keep looking.
November 11, 2013
Mr Davis is one of my favorite Biographers writing about one of my top five favorite presidents. Andrew Jackson was a man with an indomitable will of mind. The body was weak, but the mind and soul were not, with a strong sense of honor. When he thought something was right, there would be no stopping him. a strict disciplinarian and higher sence of duty. He gave an order, you did it or suffered the consequences, there were no grey areas just black and white. He was the only President to fight a duel and killed a man defending the honor of his wife. He had no formal schooling, Yet he was a lawyer and a hero General without any formal military training, yet he defeated the Indian Nations of the Alabama, Georgia and Florida regions. He attacked and was Victorious against Spain in Florida. He was in command at New Orleans and where the U.S. defeated the Brittish Army troops recently victorious Over Napoleon. His Presidency was filled with controversy,conflict and scrutiny over his treatment of the Indian tribes, His dealings with the bank of the United States. Here is a man that was thought to be an uneducated back woodsman from Tennesee to Become the most powerful man in the country. His formal education might of been lacking but through his indomitable will he defeated the Educated Political Giants of his time.
February 24, 2026
I can’t recall where I got “Old Hickory: A Life of Andrew Jackson” by Burke Davis (1978) but I read it slowly over the course of more than half a year. It’s a pretty standard biography, starting with the birth of Jackson and covering his youth as a frontiersman-cum-lawyer where he got into a scandalous relationship with the woman that would become his wife, got shot in a duel (where his killed his opponent), and raised all sorts of hell for many years. This was followed by his military career and, finally, his tenure as President of the United States.
Two things I’ve found to be recurring themes with biographies are 1) the early years tend to be the most interesting part of the story and 2) anyone I’m sympathetic towards when I start reading about them, I become less sympathetic towards by the end (or, conversely, I become more sympathetic to those that I’m less inclined to be sympathetic towards from the outset). Basically, biographies tend to humanize famous figures, either by bringing the celebrated low or generating empathy for the reviled. In the case of Jackson, I tended to be undecided about him before I started and so I just felt a little better educated about him when I got done. As an ordinary American, I liked his defense of the USA from invasion as well as his enmity toward a central bank, and his ‘take no guff’ frontier personality was something I found admirable, but most of his other political and personal life seems to be far less laudable.
The details of the Battle of New Orleans were good and I felt like I could imagine the battle well. This also speaks to the writing ability of the author, perhaps the single most important aspect of any book on any subject. The other, smaller battles described in Jackson’s military career were also interesting to me.
Later in the story was the part about him becoming and then being president. Here, the political machinations - then as now! - just seemed petty, tiresome, and dull to me, but that’s a constant of every biography that I read, it seems. I just don’t have the patience for such things.
Overall, the book kept my interest and I chipped away at it until it was done and I never felt the desire to give up on it. The presidential part of the story was possibly the least interesting due to my antipathy towards the political, but other readers might disagree. If you’d like to learn more about the seventh president of the US, you could do worse than “Old Hickory: A Life of Andrew Jackson” by Burke Davis.
Two things I’ve found to be recurring themes with biographies are 1) the early years tend to be the most interesting part of the story and 2) anyone I’m sympathetic towards when I start reading about them, I become less sympathetic towards by the end (or, conversely, I become more sympathetic to those that I’m less inclined to be sympathetic towards from the outset). Basically, biographies tend to humanize famous figures, either by bringing the celebrated low or generating empathy for the reviled. In the case of Jackson, I tended to be undecided about him before I started and so I just felt a little better educated about him when I got done. As an ordinary American, I liked his defense of the USA from invasion as well as his enmity toward a central bank, and his ‘take no guff’ frontier personality was something I found admirable, but most of his other political and personal life seems to be far less laudable.
The details of the Battle of New Orleans were good and I felt like I could imagine the battle well. This also speaks to the writing ability of the author, perhaps the single most important aspect of any book on any subject. The other, smaller battles described in Jackson’s military career were also interesting to me.
Later in the story was the part about him becoming and then being president. Here, the political machinations - then as now! - just seemed petty, tiresome, and dull to me, but that’s a constant of every biography that I read, it seems. I just don’t have the patience for such things.
Overall, the book kept my interest and I chipped away at it until it was done and I never felt the desire to give up on it. The presidential part of the story was possibly the least interesting due to my antipathy towards the political, but other readers might disagree. If you’d like to learn more about the seventh president of the US, you could do worse than “Old Hickory: A Life of Andrew Jackson” by Burke Davis.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews