Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, 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 the U.S. Congress. Although often praised as an advocate for ordinary Americans and for his work in preserving the union of states, Jackson has also been criticized for his racial policies, particularly his role in the forced removal of tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands.

Jackson was born in the colonial Carolinas before the American Revolutionary War. He became a frontier lawyer and married Rachel Donelson Robards. He served briefly in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, representing Tennessee. After resigning, he served as a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1798 until 1804. Jackson purchased a property later known as The Hermitage, becoming a wealthy planter who owned hundreds of African American slaves. In 1801, he was appointed colonel of the Tennessee militia and was elected its commander the following year. He led troops during the Red Stick War of 1813–1814, winning the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The subsequent Treaty of Fort Jackson required the Muscogee to surrender vast tracts of present-day Alabama and Georgia. In the concurrent war against the British, Jackson's victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 made him a national hero. Jackson later commanded U.S. forces in the First Seminole War, which led to the annexation of Florida from Spain. Jackson briefly served as Florida's first territorial governor before returning to the Senate. He ran for president in 1824. He won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote, but no candidate won an electoral majority. When the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams in a contingent election with Henry Clay casting the deciding vote. Jackson's supporters alleged that there was a "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Clay and founded the Democratic Party in response.

Jackson ran again in 1828, defeating Adams in a landslide. In 1830, Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most members of the major Native American tribes in the Southeast to Indian Territory. Jackson faced a challenge to the federal union when South Carolina threat to nullify a high protective tariff set by the federal government. Jackson threatened the use of military force to enforce the tariff, but the crisis was defused when it was amended. In 1832, Jackson vetoed a bill by Congress to reauthorize the Second Bank of the United States, arguing that it was a corrupt institution that benefited the wealthy. After a lengthy struggle, Jackson and his allies dismantled the Bank. In 1835, Jackson became the only president to pay off the national debt. He also survived the first assassination attempt on a sitting president. In one of his final presidential acts, he recognized the Republic of Texas.

In his retirement, Jackson remained active in politics. He supported the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and James K. Polk, as well as the annexation of Texas, which was accomplished shortly before his death. Opinions about Jackson's actions are frequently polarized. He has been seen as a defender of democracy and the constitution, but he has also been called a demagogue who ignored the law when it suited him and pitted people against each other for political gain. He has also been criticized for his stand against abolition and his Native American policy, which has been described as ethnic cleansing. Jackson's legacy and his role in the formation of American democracy continues to be a source of controversy and debate.