THE LOVE STORY CONTINUES AND ANDREW JACKSON BECOMES A NATIONAL HERO. "THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS," BY JOHNNY HORTON (1959), JACKSON'S RUN FOR THE PRESIDENCY, THE "CORRUPT BARGAIN" OF 1824, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS AND HENRY CLAY, THE DIRTIEST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN U.S. HISTORY (1828), RACHEL'S DEATH, ANDREW'S GRIEF, AND THE ANIMANIACS SING "THE PRESIDENT'S SONG." ALSO, WHY WAS A PARROT AT JACKSON'S FUNERAL IN 1845?

In my previous post I described the duel between Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson in 1806. Charles Dickinson died an agonizing death as a result of that confrontation.The duel and its aftermath nearly destroyed Jackson’s political career in Tennessee and, for a time, made him a social outcast. But his military victories in the War of 1812 against the Creek and Seminole Indians in Alabama and Spanish Florida, and his one-sided massacre of the British army at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, made him a national hero, revived his political career and set him on course for an eventual attempt to capture the greatest prize of all, the presidency of the United States.

ANDREW AND RACHEL JACKSON: A LOVE STORY. VIOLENCE, DIVORCE, BIGAMY, THE JACKSON- DICKINSON DUEL OF 1806, DUELING AND THE "CODE DUELLO," THE GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL, DOC HOLLIDAY, "AND I LOVE HER," BY THE BEATLES, AND BELLA AND EDWARD FROM "TWILIGHT."

Andrew Jackson, the first President to actually be born in a log cabin, had spent much of his life in love with, and deeply devoted to, his wife Rachel Donelson Jackson, and she suffered greatly at the hands of her husband’s political enemies as they tried to use the unusual and scandalous circumstances surrounding the beginnings of their relationship to destroy her husband’s political career. Theirs was one of the great love stories of our nation’s early history. They had met in 1790, when he had arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, to take up his duties as the new public prosecutor for the western part of the state. She was 21 and he was 22 years old.

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT AND "THE CHILDREN'S HOUR," HIS RELAXATION RITUAL IN THE WHITE HOUSE. JOKES, COCKTAILS, THE MARTINI, GOSSIP, J. EDGAR HOOVER, ELEANOR AND LUCY MERCER, THE RADIO, BENNY GOODMAN, LENA HORNE, "STORMY WEATHER" AND THE NICHOLAS BROTHERS, THE "JITTERBUG" AND "BOOGIE WOOGIE," AND HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.

As the year 2000 approached, lists of all kinds began to appear ranking the most important, most popular, most significant...etc...people and things of the last century. Time magazine rated Franklin Delano Roosevelt the most important and significant President of the United States in the 20th century. He was the leader of our nation during the time when "the greatest generation" came of age during the course of The Great Depression and WW II. The stress of leading the U.S. and working with its allies through these two cataclysmic events took its toll on his health, and it was important for him to find a way to relax every day so that he could continue to face the challenges of his responsibilities.

WHY DOES THE YELLOW RIBBON REPRESENT THE DESIRE FOR A LOVED ONE TO RETURN HOME SAFELY? A STROLL THROUGH SUBJECTS SUCH AS THE "BUFFALO SOLDIERS," THE CAVALRY IN THE "WILD WEST," RASTAFARIANS AND BOB MARLEY, MARCUS GARVEY, DREADLOCKS, TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN, THE IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS AND "THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG RIDES AGAIN."

A family in my neighborhood has a son serving in Afghanistan. Outside their house yellow ribbons are tied around the trunks of the numerous trees located along the street. It got me to thinking of how the yellow ribbon became a symbol for the concern families and individuals feel for those loved ones far away serving our country in life-threatening circumstances. It symbolizes the hope felt that those loved ones will return safely.

WHY DID LEO HIRSCHFELD NAME HIS NEW PENNY CANDY THE "TOOTSIE ROLL"? HOW MANY LICKS DOES IT TAKE TO GET TO THE CENTER OF A TOOTSIE ROLL POP? AND WHAT DO THE TV SHOW "KOJAK" AND THE "CHUNKY" BAR HAVE TO DO WITH THIS? PLUS: AL JOLSON AND "THE TOOTSIE ROLL DANCE."

The "Tootsie Roll" is 116 years old this year (2012). Who invented it? How did it get its name? The story goes something like this. Leo Hirschfeld (other sources spell his name Hirschfield) was an Austrian immigrant who came to the United States in 1884, arriving in New York City with very little money and a set of skills that set him apart from many other immigrants: he was a candy maker. His father had been a confectioner in Austria so Leo landed in America with some family recipes and a desire to be a success.