Andrew Jackson Donelson | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lithographc. 1860s | |
| United States Minister to Prussia | |
| In office July 18, 1846 – November 2, 1849 | |
| President | James K. Polk Zachary Taylor |
| Preceded by | Henry Wheaton |
| Succeeded by | Edward A. Hannegan |
| United States Chargé d'Affaires to Texas | |
| In office November 29, 1844 – August 9, 1845 | |
| President | John Tyler James K. Polk |
| Preceded by | Tilghman Howard |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Private Secretary to the President | |
| In office March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837 | |
| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | John Adams II |
| Succeeded by | Abraham Van Buren II |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1799-08-25)August 25, 1799 |
| Died | June 26, 1871(1871-06-26) (aged 71) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Know Nothing (1856) Constitutional Union (1860) |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 12 |
| Relatives | Rachel Jackson (paternal aunt/adoptive mother) Daniel Smith Donelson (brother) |
| Education | University of Nashville United States Military Academy (BS) Transylvania University |
| Signature |  |
Andrew Jackson Donelson (August 25, 1799 – June 26, 1871) was an Americandiplomat and politician. He served in various positions as aDemocrat and was theKnow Nothing nominee forUS vice president in1856.
After the death of his father, Donelson lived with his aunt,Rachel Jackson, and her husband,Andrew Jackson. Donelson attended theU.S. Military Academy and served under his uncle inFlorida. He resigned his commission, studied law, passed the bar and began his own practice inNashville. He assisted Jackson's presidential campaigns and served as hisprivate secretary after Jackson won the1828 presidential election. He returned to Tennessee after the end of Jackson's presidency in 1837 and remained active in local politics.[1]
After helpingJames K. Polk triumph at the1844 Democratic National Convention, Donelson was appointed by U.S. PresidentJohn Tyler to represent the United States in theRepublic of Texas, where Donelson played an important role in theTexas annexation. In 1846, President Polk appointed Donelson as Minister toPrussia. Donelson left that position in 1849 and became the editor of a Democratic newspaper but alienated various factions in the party. In 1856, the Know Nothings chose Donelson as their vice presidential nominee, and he campaigned on a ticket with formerWhig PresidentMillard Fillmore. The ticket finished in third place in both the electoral and popular vote, behind the Democratic and theRepublican tickets. Donelson also participated in the1860 Constitutional Union Convention.[1]
One of the three sons of Samuel and Mary Donelson, Andrew Jackson Donelson was born inNashville, Tennessee. His younger brother,Daniel Smith Donelson, would become theConfederatebrigadier general after whom Fort Donelson was later named. Donelson's father died when Donelson was about five. When his mother remarried, Donelson moved toThe Hermitage, the home of his aunt,Rachel Donelson Jackson, and her husband, Donelson's namesake, the future US PresidentAndrew Jackson. Rachel and Andrew Jackson took care of all three Donelson sons, including Andrew.[1]
Donelson attendedCumberland College, predecessor to the University of Nashville, in Nashville; joined theUS Military Academy atWest Point, New York; and graduated second in his class in 1820. His two years as an officer in theUS Army were spent asaide-de-camp to Andrew Jackson, now amajor general who was campaigning against theSeminoles inFlorida. After the campaign, Donelson resigned his commission and studied law atTransylvania University, inLexington, Kentucky. A year later, he started to practice law in Nashville.[1]
Donelson assisted his uncle during the 1824 and 1828 presidential campaigns. In 1829, he became theprivate secretary to his uncle, who had been inaugurated asPresident of the United States. Donelson's wife, Emily, served asWhite House hostess and actingFirst Lady of the United States because Rachel Jackson had died in December 1828. Donelson remained Jackson's private secretary throughout his administration. During Donelson's stay inWashington, Donelson had his new home, Poplar Grove (later renamedTulip Grove), constructed on the land he had inherited from his father, which was adjacent to the Hermitage.[1]
In 1836, Tulip Grove was completed. Donelson moved back toNashville after Jackson's retirement the following year. Donelson helped Jackson sustain the Democratic Party in a variety of ways for the next seven years in services such as writing newspaper editorials defending Democratic principles and helping Democratic candidates campaign for state, local, and national offices.[1]
In 1844, Donelson was instrumental in helpingJames K. Polk win the Democratic presidential nomination overMartin Van Buren and other more notable candidates. US PresidentJohn Tyler appointed Donelsonchargé d'affaires of the United States mission to the Republic of Texas, probably in the hope that Jackson's nephew would be able to persuade former Tennessee politicianSam Houston to endorse the US annexation of Texas. Donelson was successful in that endeavor, and Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845. Donelson was then made minister toPrussia in 1846, a position that he would hold until President Polk's Democratic administration was replaced by the Whig administration ofZachary Taylor in 1849. Donelson's constant complaining about his personal finances and his desire for a higher salary probably had more to do with the change than partisan differences.[1]
Between September 1848 and November 1849, during the time of theFrankfurt Parliament, he was the US envoy to the short-lived revolutionary government ofGermany inFrankfurt.[1]
In 1851, Donelson became the editor of theWashington Union, a Democratic newspaper. However, as sectionalism became the dominant issue of American politics, Donelson became unpopular with several factions within the Democratic Party, which forced him out in 1852. He then joined the Know Nothing (American) Party.[2][3]
In1856, Donelson was nominated as the running mate of former PresidentMillard Fillmore on theKnow Nothing (American Party) ticket. Fillmore and Donelson managed to garner over 20% of the popular vote but won only the eight electoral votes ofMaryland.[4][2]
In 1858, Donelson sold Tulip Grove and moved toMemphis, Tennessee. He participated primarily in local politics there, although he was a delegate to theConstitutional Union party'snational nominating convention, which selected his oldTennessee nemesis,John Bell, as its presidential candidate.[1]
During theAmerican Civil War, Donelson was harassed by both sides of the conflict and lost two of his sons, both serving theConfederacy, in the war.[1] In 1861The New York Times charged him with being a Confederate sympathizer.[5] DuringReconstruction, he split time between his Memphis home and his plantation inBolivar County, Mississippi. In his correspondence with his wife, he groused about the need to pay wages to Black workers who had once been enslaved.[1]
He died at the originalPeabody Hotel, Memphis, in June 1871 and is buried inElmwood Cemetery.[1]
Donelson married his first cousin,Emily Tennessee Donelson, in 1824. Emily became President Jackson's actingFirst Lady, but she died oftuberculosis in December 1836. They had four children: Andrew Jackson Donelson Jr. (1826–1859), Mary Emily Donelson (1829–1905), John Samuel Donelson (1832–1863), and Rachel Jackson Donelson (1834–1888).[1]
In 1841, Donelson married his second cousin, Elizabeth (Martin) Randolph (1815–1871). Elizabeth was the widow of Meriwether Lewis Randolph (1810–1837), a son ofMartha Jefferson Randolph, and a grandson ofThomas Jefferson.[1] Donelson and his second wife had eight children: Daniel Smith Donelson (1842–1864), Martin Donelson (1847–1889), William Alexander Donelson (1849–1900), Catherine Donelson (1850–1868), Vinet Donelson (1854–1913), Lewis Randolph Donelson (1855–1927), Rosa Elizabeth Donelson (1858–1861), and Andrew Jackson "Budie" Donelson (1860–1915).[1]
Two of Donelson's sons died in theCivil War. John Samuel died at theBattle of Chickamauga, and Daniel Smith was murdered by an unknown assailant.[6][1]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Chargé d'Affaires to Texas 1844–1845 | Position abolished |
| Preceded by | United States Envoy to Prussia 1846–1849 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Whig nominee forVice President of the United States Endorsed 1856 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | American nominee forVice President of the United States 1856 | Party dissolved |
| Chargé d’Affaires (1837–1845) | |
|---|---|
| Minister Plenipotentiary |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
