One of Andrew Jackson's greatest personal vulnerabilities in the 1828 presidential campaign was a scandal regarding his marriage to his wife, Rachel Jackson.
The Marriage Controversy
During the heated 1828 election, opponents of Andrew Jackson seized upon the circumstances surrounding his marriage to Rachel Donelson Robards. The controversy stemmed from the fact that Rachel had been previously married to Lewis Robards.
Here's why it became a significant personal attack:
- Previous Marriage: Rachel was still legally married to her first husband when she first married Andrew Jackson.
- Divorce Laws: At the time, divorce laws were often complex, restrictive, and not typically favorable to women. In many cases, divorces were difficult to obtain or even disallowed, leading to protracted legal situations.
- Public Scrutiny: Although Rachel and Andrew had remarried correctly once her divorce was finalized, the initial misstep due to the slow and convoluted legal process of the era provided political adversaries with ammunition. They used this historical detail to cast aspersions on Rachel's character and, by extension, Jackson's, portraying them as morally questionable.
This personal attack deeply affected Jackson and his wife, becoming a prominent and painful aspect of the notoriously vicious 1828 campaign.
