I have heard good and bad about Jackson. What made him a great President? (as President, not as a General)
Also, when he decided all the Natives needed to go to Oklahoma, that included just about all the tribes who helped him obtain victory as a General.
Jackson was a jerk. Yes, he turned on Natives that helped him. Which is tactically stupid, but that's another story. On one hand, thousands died during those forced migrations. On the other hand, if they were not relocated, likely Southerners would have committed genocide. While Native Americans were generally pretty hardy, ruthless and skilled warriors (something a lot of movies close over), eventually they would have been wiped out by numbers alone. Warriors can win battles, but soldiers win wars. Expecting the South not to engage in racism or genocide in those days was not an option.
As for Jackson being a great president, very simple. The man could hate. Not the modern whiny kind of hate. He could hate with a fury of dark elder gods. He would garden his hate. Nurnish it, prune and feed it.
He started learning war at 13, in the revolutionary war. One of his brothers died in it. He and another brother were captured and tortured by the British. That brother essentially died from it. Then his mother died shortly after. War destroyed his entire family when he was 14. It taught him to hate. He mucked about with being a lawyer and then a plantation owner. He was good at it. He alternated between treating his slaves rather well, and being a complete jerk. He build his slaves much nicer homes than average. Paid them. Give them guns and fishing equipment so they could feed themselves. Giving someone you own guns and knives kinda is a sign you are either stupid, or relatively humane person. Slaves that tried to escape however were not treated well. Nor were any slaves that didn't work hard enough to make him happy.
Of course, the War of 1812 rolled around and Jackson got back to his true love, killing people. He commanded the US forces (which included Cherokee, Choctaw, and Lower Creek) against the Creek tribes in the Creek campaign. His enemies usually described him as "old and fierce". He turned on his allies and sold them down the river, because Jackson. He stole 20 million acres for the US, in Georgia and Alabam. Then came Battle of New Orleans. Outnumbered, he won a decisive victory over the British forces. Like "twenty times as many British dead" decisive victory.
Couple years later, he fought the First Seminole War. And stole Florida for the US. Honestly, the Seminole War defined what kind of a person Jackson was. The Seminoles made the mistake of attacking Jackson, so he used that mistake in classic Jackson fashion. He burned their homes and crops to the ground, then murdered a lot of people. Oh, and essentially nearly started a war without asking anyone. Spain threw in the towel instead of escalating, and Jackson occupied Florida as a military governor. Obviously later he became President, and was responsible for the deaths of 4,000 Cherokees on the "Trail of Tears". Which was either near genocide, or saving them from genocide, depending on your perspective.
Impressive stuff, right? Nope. It still misses the man. Obviously, murdering people in official capacity is one thing. But that wasn't enough for Jackson. He fought somewhere between thirty and a hundred duels, generally credited with 26 kills. There were times where he was generous enough to let the other guy go first.
Here's a clue, when Andrew Jackson invites you to shoot him first, it's a trap and you're about to die. Which was exactly what happened. Charles Dickinson shot Jackson in the chest, so Jackson shot him in the throat. Which didn't phase Jackson much, but did kill Dickinson.
Ok, but that's a duel. A somewhat smarter but still pretty crazy man, Richard Lawrence, decided to assassinate him. He ran up to Jackson, pulled a pistol, yanked the trigger... And nothing. Being a smart ish but crazy type, he had a second pistol. Which also failed to fire. At which point, Andrew Jackson went full Andrew Jackson on Mr Lawrence and started beating him to death. At 67. The pistols worked fine during tests afterwards.
Jackson admitted only two regrets in life. That he "had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun." Calhoun was his former Vice President, Clay was former Speaker of the House.
Jackson is probably the purest example of a true American, across our entire history. He could be a relatively compassionate man. Or a murderous to genocidal man. He was skilled at war, politics, business and killing people. All equally. He owned slaves, he stabbed allies in the back and was quick to engage in genocide. At the same time, he adopted a Creek boy, Lyncoya Jackson, as a son after the Battle of Tallushatchee. A complicated, exceptional man. He could focus his hate, his rage, his anger to accomplish impossible things.
Then you have Hamilton, who was a stinking monarchist that nearly was lynched by soldiers from Lancaster, and history is worse off because the coward escaped to New Jersey. It is fitting that the man died because he tried cheating in a duel. The only crime is that it didn't happen much earlier. It is an insult to the nation that such a despicable man is on our currency. His replacement with even a picture of a gutter rat would be an improvement. A pox on that man's soul in hell.
