andrew jackson
Andrew Jackson was American grit wrapped in trauma, dipped in gunpowder, and set on fire. Orphaned by 14, slashed by a British officer for not licking boots, and somehow still standing? We love a scrappy origin story. By his twenties, he was a dueling attorney. By his thirties, a frontier celebrity. By his forties, he was personally annexing Florida like it was on clearance. This man lived like life was a bar fight and history was a dare. And for a while, it worked. He was the walking embodiment of “I’ll do it myself.”
But then… we let him be president. Yikes.
Once Jackson got the keys to the Republic, things got real dark real fast. He ignored the Supreme Court like it was a group text from exes. He shoved Indigenous nations off their land and called it “policy.” He nuked the national bank with pure spite. And let’s not forget the spoils system—where he handed out government jobs like party favors for anyone who said “nice veto, sir.” The dude didn’t just bend the rules, he burned the manual and dared Congress to flinch.
Jackson’s story? Legendary. His presidency? A cautionary tale in boots. Respect the resilience, sure—but don’t lose the plot. This guy went from underdog to unchecked in record time, and America’s still living with the consequences.
-
Ever wonder what happens when a rage-fueled orphan with a dueling habit gets handed a musket, a gavel, and eventually an entire country? Spoiler: nothing good.
In this bombastic kickoff to our two-part Jackson takedown, Kyle and historian Eric Mason dig into how a frontier kid with zero chill clawed his way from backwoods errand boy to war hero and political powerhouse. He skipped school, taught school, married into drama, got shot in the chest during a duel (and kept going), and somehow still found time to start beef with Spain, the British, and every Indigenous nation in his path.
He didn’t just break the mold—he shattered it with a musket and planted a flag on the pieces. If you thought the presidency was the beginning of the chaos, think again. This is the origin story of Old Hickory, the man who made America love him just enough to overlook all the red flags he flung like bayonets.
This episode is messy, mean, and mandatory listening. Come for the duels. Stay for the absolute audacity.