Author Posits Notorious Kentuckian Helped Andrew Jackson Become 'Old Hickory'

U.S. President Andrew Jackson faced daunting challenges early in his career that helped to shape his personality and political thought. Gen. James Wilkinson, Frankfort’s founder and commander of the U.S. Army, was one of them. Wilkinson represented a privileged and unproductive establishment. Worse, he was a spy on the payroll of a European enemy.  Tony Turnbow, used unpublished sources to write his book, “Hardened to Hickory: the Missing Chapter in Andrew Jackson’s Life.”   He discussed his research recently at the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort and later spoke one on one with WUKY’s Alan Lytle.

Credit Alan Lytle