Andrew Jackson Donelson
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Andrew Jackson Donelson (1799–1871) was a diplomat and candidate for the Vice Presidency. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee to Samuel and Mary Donelson on August 25, 1799. Donelson's father died when Donelson was about five. When his mother remarried, Donelson moved to the Hermitage, the home of his aunt, Rachel Donelson Jackson and her husband, Donelson's namesake, Andrew Jackson.
Donelson attended Cumberland College in Nashville and then joined the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating second in his class in 1820. His two years as an officer in the United States Army were spent as aide-de-camp to Andrew Jackson, by then a major general, as Jackson campaigned against the Seminoles in Florida. With the campaign over, he resigned his commission and studied law at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. A year later, he started practicing law in Nashville and, less than a year after that, had married his first cousin, Emily Tennessee Donelson.
In 1829, after six years of practicing law in Nashville, Donelson was hired as private secretary by his uncle, who was the newly inaugurated President of the United States. Donelson remained in that position throughout Jackson's administration. During his stay in Washington, Donelson had his new home, Tulip Grove, constructed on the land he had inherited from his father, which was adjacent to the Hermitage.
In 1836, Tulip Grove was completed, and, shortly afterward, Donelson's wife died of tuberculosis, leaving four young children. Donelson moved back to Nashville after Jackson's retirement the following year, where he would remain out of public service for the next seven years. In 1841, Donelson married Elizabeth Martin Randolph, with whom he would have eight more children.
In 1844, Donelson was drawn back into public service when President John Tyler appointed Donelson chargé d'affaires of the United States to the Republic of Texas. His primary job was to promote the annexation of Texas to the United States. He was successful in this endeavor, and Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845. He was then made minister to Prussia in 1846, a position he would hold until President Polk's Democratic administration was replaced by the Whig administration of Zachary Taylor in 1849.
In 1851, Donelson became the editor of the Washington Union, a Democratic newspaper. However, as sectionalism became the dominant issue of American politics, Donelson became disenchanted with the Democratic Party and left the newspaper.
1856 found Donelson nominated as the running mate of former President Millard Fillmore on the American Party ticket. Late in the campaign, the Whig Party decided to nominate Fillmore and Donelson as their candidates as well. This action further splintered the dying party because of Donelson's former relationship with the hated Democratic Party. Fillmore and Donelson managed to garner only 8 electoral votes, bringing both of their national careers to an end.
In 1858, Donelson sold Tulip Grove and moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He participated in local politics there until his death on June 26, 1871.
| Preceded by: William Alexander Graham |
Whig Party vice presidential candidate 1856 (lost) |
Succeeded by: (none) |
| Preceded by: (none) |
American Party vice presidential candidate 1856 (lost) |
Succeeded by: (none) |
