FACT #22: Who was First Lady Rachel Jackson?

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FACT #22: Who was First Lady Rachel Jackson?

Rachel Jackson broke the mold for First Ladies, as she was also the first one to have been divorced.

When Rachel was 18 she married Lewis Robbards. After three years of marriage, they separated. She soon met a young lawyer named Andrew Jackson who was renting a room at her mother’s house.

Rachel and Andrew got married before realizing Rachel’s first husband never finished the divorce proceedings. The court granted a divroce, finding Rachel guilty of adultery and abandonment. The couple remarried to clear up any discrepancies but it would catch up with them later down the road.

Andrew’s political career would take off, allowing her to be the wife of a Representative, Senator, and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice. However, all the scrutiny and judgment about Rachel’s background caused her to recoil from most public events

Andrew ran for president in 1824. Rachel’s reputation was obliterated. She was accused of being a bigamist, adulterer, and a whore. There was also a rumor that the couple lived together before marriage.

The election was contingent. It ended up being decided by Congress and resulted in Andrew’s defeat. He would run again for president in 1828 with Rachel by his side.

Andrew won the second time, however, Rachel would never become First Lady. She died of a heart attack 3 months before his inauguration. Andrew was distraught and blamed those who criticized her background for her death.

On her tombstone, he engraved “a being so gentle and so virtuous, slander might wound but could not dishonor.” He missed his wife dearly. While president, he wrote to a friend saying, “my heart is nearly broke. I try to summon up my usual fortitude but it is in vain.”

REFERENCES:
http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=7
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rachel-jackson-was-original-monica-lewinsky-180963713/