A Being So Gentle The Frontier Love Story of Rachel and Andrew Jackson

The forty-year love affair between Rachel and Andrew Jackson parallels a tumultuous period in American history. During this time, the fledgling United States more than doubled in size, and political power moved closer to true democracy for white men.  Andrew Jackson was at the forefront of that revolution - but he never could have made it without the support of his wife. Beautiful, charismatic and generous, Rachel Jackson had the courage to go against the mores of her times in the name of love. As the wife of a great general in wartime, she often found herself running their plantation alone and, a true Revolutionary War-era heroine, she took in and raised the orphaned children her husband brought home from the front. Like all great love stories, this one also ends tragically when Rachel dies, only a few weeks after Andrew is elected president. He moved into the White House alone and never remarried. Andrew and Rachel Jackson's devotion to one another is inspiring, and here, for the first time, their story of love and loss comes to life in Patricia Brady's vivid prose.

Patricia Brady is a social and cultural historian who served as director of publications at the Historic New Orleans Collection for twenty years. Her books include Martha Washington: An American Life  and George Washington’s Beautiful Nelly. She lives in New Orleans.