The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.
Jackson, Andrew
A general and political leader of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. As a general in the War of 1812, he defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans. He was called “Old Hickory.” Jackson was elected president after John Quincy Adams as a candidate of the common man, and his style of government came to be known as Jacksonian democracy. He rewarded his political supporters with positions once he became president (seespoils system). A Democrat, Jackson was widely criticized for expanding the power of the presidency beyond what was customary before his time.
