I only look at the headlines online to see if we're at war & if anything really big exploded. Then I scan for fresh pictures of Brad Pitt or Melania and I'm out. So I didn't know about the Jackson thing. But his bio is amazing....
His father died age 29, 3 weeks before Andrew was born in 1767 -- no one knows exactly where because his mother had to travel for the burial in unsurveyed territory. During the Revolutionary War his older brother died from heat exhaustion after a battle. Andrew and the other remaining brother then served in the war as couriers & were captured by the British in 1781. In captivity, Andrew refused to clean the boots of a British officer & the officer slashed him with a sword, permanently scarring his left hand and head. The brothers contracted smallpox and nearly starved to death in captivity. The brother died just after his release was promised. Andrew's mother volunteered to nurse prisoners of war on board cholera ships, and she died from cholera and was buried in an unmarked grave a few months later. Thus Andrew was an orphan at age 14. (paraphrased from Wikipedia)
That's just personal and doesn't get to the love of his life, the duel that left him w/a bullet lodged close to his heart, or his adoption of 3 children and guardianship of 8 others. His presidency is a strange & sometimes gruesome story.
PJ thank you for pointing me to read about Jackson.
(As you can maybe tell, I have some free time today.
)