Old Hickory: Andrew Jackson and the American People

by Albert Marrin

From a childhood steeped in poverty, violence, and patriotic pride, Andrew Jackson rose to the heights of celebrity and power. The first popularly elected president, he won admiration by fighting corruption, championing the common man, shaping the power of the executive office, and preserving the fragile union of the young United States.
Yet Jackson's ruthless pursuit of what he believed to be "progress" left indelible stains on the nation's broken treaties and the Trail of Tears are among Old Hickory's darker legacies.
Vivid detail and unflinching analysis characterize Albert Marrin's fascinating rendering of the adventurous life, painful complexity, and continuing controversy that define the Age of Jackson.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 16, 2004

About the author

Albert Marrin is a historian and the author of more than twenty nonfiction books for young people. He has won various awards for his writing, including the 2005 James Madison Book Award and the 2008 National Endowment for Humanities Medal. In 2011, his book Flesh and Blood So Cheap was a National Book Award Finalist. Marrin is the Chairman of the History Department at New York's Yeshiva University.

Reviews

[Gia Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great, but Andrew Jackson is the worst.

[Donn Urban · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting guy, this author provided some details I did not know about, esp. re Florida, the battle of New Orleans and the Indians. It would have been good if there were more details concerning the shameful way the government treated the native Americans and to what extent Jackson was really involved in that.

[Todd Moen · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was a good story about the seventh president character and how he saw the country