Old Hickory was his nickname, an accomplished wartime hero and seventh President of the United States of America. Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaw area in South Carolina to two poor Irish immigrant parents in a family consisting of two brothers and Andrew, who was the youngest. Though poor, Andrew was able to receive some schooling, and learned to read at a very young age, an uncommon occurrence for rural America during this time. After the revolutionary war left Andrew without any immediate family still alive, he began studying law in Salisbury, North Carolina. He moved west to Nashville, Tennessee and when he was twenty-two years of age, he became attorney general of the region. It was also here that he met Rachel Robards, whom he married in August of 1791. In March if 1814, Jackson, leading a small army, won a decisive victory against the Creek Indians gaining him national attention. Soon afterwards he was promoted to the army's highest ranking and was given authority over the whole southern theater of war. Tension was building and the War of 1812 was under way, with Britain moving to invade the port of New Orleans. Jackson's victory over the British at the port of New Orleans gained him national fame and recognition once again and talk of Jackson one day becoming President began to spread (Remini).
Soon the election of 1824 was at hand to decide who would take over the presidency after James Monroe. Five members of the Democratic-Republican Party, including Andrew Jackson, ran for the office. After a hotly debated congressional caucus narrowed the five candidates down to William H. Crawford as the presidential candidate for the Democratic-Republicans, three states put forth a candidate of their own to run for office. Massachusetts backed John Quincy Adams, Kentucky backed Henry Clay, and Tennessee backed Andrew Jackson. Jackson won the largest share of both the popular votes and electoral votes.