4/11/2012
The next morning began bright and early at the Hermitage – the home of Andrew Jackson, one of America’s most colorful presidents. Admission is fairly pricey ($16 a head) but even Laura couldn’t scoff – the caretakers pride themselves on how everything in the house (barring a few chairs) is Jackson’s original furniture. No reproductions here, which is always a pet peeve of hers. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and one of them looked just like Andrew Jackson. Someone else who was on the tour told him so. The tour guide was clearly upset by the comment. “No. I do not look like him,” he said through gritted teeth. I expected him to challenge the man to a duel, but that didn’t happen. (Over the course of this trip we noticed that all men “of a certain age” in Tennessee have that Andrew Jackson hair going on. Can someone explain this to me?)
We were told that Andrew Jackson was America’s third wealthiest president (after Washington and Kennedy), and arguably the only one of the three to have earned that wealth entirely through his own efforts. (The issue of Jackson’s use of slave labor is tastefully addressed.) That being said, the original Hermitage – a rickety log cabin built in Old Hickory’s poorer days – still stands in the shadow of his opulent mansion.
Sadly, after Jackson’s death his adopted son squandered the fortune his father spent a lifetime building – in less than 11 years – and everything fell into the hands of the state. These are the kinds of family stories emphasized here (stories of Jackson’s devotion to his dead wife are front and center) rather than making much of an attempt to tackle his contentious political career. This was a good choice.
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