Andrew Jackson was an American soldier and statesman who served as the seventh President of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, Jackson gained fame as a general in the United States Army and served in both houses of Congress. Take a look below for 30 more interesting and fun facts about Andrew Jackson.

1. As president, Jackson sought to advance the rights of the “common man” against a “corrupt aristocracy” and to preserve the Union.

2. Born in the colonial Carolinas to a Scotch-Irish family in the decade before the American Revolutionary War, Jackson became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards.

3. He served briefly in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate representing Tennessee.

4. After resigning from the House of Representative, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804.

5. Jackson purchased a property later known as the Hermitage, and became a wealthy, slaveowning planter.

6. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Creek War of 1813, winning the Battle of Horsheshoe Bend.

7. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson’s victory in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans made him a national hero.

8. Jackson led the U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which caused the annexation of Florida from Spain.

9. Jackson briefly served as Florida’s first territorial governor before returning to the Senate.

10. He ran for president in 1824, winning a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. As no candidate won an electoral majority, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election.

11. In reaction to the alleged “corrupt bargain” between Adams and Henry Clay and the ambitious agenda of President Adams, Jackson’s supporters founded the Democratic Party.

12. Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide.

13. Jackson faced the threat of secession by South Carolina over what opponents called the “Tariff of Abominations.” The crisis was defused when the tariff was amended, and Jackson threatened the use of military force if South Carolina attempted to secede.

14. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to completely pay off the national debt, fulfilling a longtime goal.

15. His presidency marked the beginning of the ascendancy of the party “spoils system” in American politics.

16. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly relocated most members of the Native American tribes in the South to Indian Territory. The relocation process dispossessed the Indians and resulted in widespread death and disease.

17. Jackson opposed the abolitionist movement, which grew stronger in his second term.

18. In foreign affairs, Jackson’s administration concluded a “most favored nation” treaty with Great Britain, settled claims of damages against France from the Napoleonic Wars, and recognized the Republic of Texas.

19. In January 1835, he survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president.

20. In his retirement, Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics, supporting the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk.

21. Though fearful of its effects on the slavery debate, Jackson advocated the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death.

22. Jackson was widely revered in the United States as an advocate for democracy and the common man, but his reputation has declined since the civil rights movement, largely due to his role in Indian removal and support for slavery.

23. He was born on March 15, 1767, to Andrew and Elizabeth Jackson, immigrants from Ireland who arrived in the United States two years earlier.

24. Jackson’s father died in an accident only three weeks before he was born.

25. Jackson had two older brothers.

26. He grew up in the Waxhaws region lying on the border of North and South Carolina.

27. When he was 13 years old, he joined the American Revolutionary War. Both of his brothers and his mother died by the time he was 14. He was then raised by his uncles.

28. Jackson was referred to as being “as tough as old hickory wood” by his soldiers. He got the nickname “Old Hickory” because of this.

29. In 1788, Jackson married Rachel Donelson even though she wasn’t officially divorced at the time.

30. Donelson died two months before Jackson became President of the United States. She died of a heart attack and was buried on Christmas Eve.