Andrew Jackson Donelson

Andrew Jackson Donelson was born on August 25, 1799, in Nashville, Tennessee. He was the son of Samuel and Mary Donelson, and had at least two brothers, including Daniel Smith Donelson. Following the death of his father when Donelson was approximately five years old, he moved to live with his mother’s sister, Rachel Donelson Jackson, and her husband, Andrew Jackson, the future President of the United States.

Donelson attended Cumberland College, the predecessor to the University of Nashville, before entering the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1820, ranking second in his class. During his time at West Point, Donelson served as aide-de-camp to Major General Andrew Jackson during Jackson's campaign against the Seminoles in Florida. After resigning his commission, Donelson studied law at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, and was admitted to the bar a year later, establishing a legal practice in Nashville.

He was actively involved in Democratic political campaigns during the 1820s, assisting his uncle Andrew Jackson in his bids for the presidency. When Jackson was elected president in 1828, Donelson became his private secretary. His wife, Emily Tennessee Donelson, served as the White House hostess, effectively functioning as First Lady after Rachel Jackson's death in December 1828. Donelson remained Jackson’s private secretary throughout his presidential administration.

After Jackson's retirement in 1837, Donelson returned to Nashville and continued to participate in local politics. He played a key role in supporting James K. Polk's nomination at the 1844 Democratic National Convention. Subsequently, President John Tyler appointed Donelson chargé d'affaires to the Republic of Texas, and he was influential in the Texas annexation process, which was finalized on December 29, 1845.

In 1846, Donelson was appointed as the United States Minister to Prussia by President Polk, a position he held until 1849. During his tenure, he expressed concerns about his personal finances and sought a higher salary. Between 1848 and 1849, he also served as envoy to the revolutionary German government in Frankfurt during the Frankfurt Parliament. In 1851, he became editor of the Democratic newspaper Washington Union but was eventually ousted due to factional disagreements within the party.

In 1856, Donelson was the vice-presidential candidate on the Know Nothing (American) Party ticket, running with former President Millard Fillmore. The ticket secured over 20% of the popular vote but only garnered eight electoral votes, finishing third behind the Democratic and Republican candidates. He participated in the 1860 Constitutional Union Convention, supporting John Bell’s presidential candidacy.

During the American Civil War, Donelson faced harassment from both Union and Confederate forces and lost two sons who served in the Confederate army. He was reported to have sympathized with the Confederacy, and in 1861, The New York Times accused him of Confederate sympathies. During Reconstruction, he divided his time between Memphis, Tennessee, and a plantation in Bolivar County, Mississippi, where he managed wages for Black workers who had been formerly enslaved.

Donelson married twice; his first marriage was to his first cousin, Emily Tennessee Donelson, in 1824. They had four children before her death in December 1836. His second marriage was to Elizabeth (Martin) Randolph in 1841, a widow and granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. With Elizabeth, he fathered eight children, two of whom died during the Civil War. Donelson died on June 26, 1871, at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and was buried in Elmwood Cemetery.