General Andrew Jackson

Before serving as seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) was a member of the House of Representatives, a United States senator, a major general in the army, and the first governor of Florida. At the time of his triumphal visit to New York in 1819, he was famous as the hero of the War of 1812; he was also acclaimed for his defense of New Orleans against British attack and his recent action in Florida that had caused the Spanish to relinquish their claim to the territory. During Jackson's stay, the Corporation of the City of New York voted to commission a portrait of him. Although Vanderlyn was given the commission, Jackson was also painted at this time by Waldo and John Wesley Jarvis (see 64.8). Waldo’s portrait is inscribed with the date 1817, but it also gives Jackson's age as 54, an age he did not reach until 1821. Waldo painted a number of other portraits of Jackson in an oval format around 1819, probably using this life study as a base.