6. Rachel Donelson and Lewis Robards’s break-up was to haunt a President for years
Lewis Roband doesn’t feature in many history books. But he arguably had a key role to play in American history. Indeed, if he never ended his relationship with Rachel Donelson, Andrew Jackson might never have become President. As it was, the way he broke-up with her and left her life for good almost scuppered the former soldier’s chances of making it to the White House. And even when Jackson became President, that break-up hung over his head all the time. The reason? Roband never finalized the divorce process between him and Donelson – so when she became Mrs Jackson in 1794, she was technically still married.
The messiness of the break-up meant that Jackson’s opponents could target his wife, accusing her of bigamy. It was just one factor in John Adams winning the 1824 election. And even when Jackson finally won the vote in 1828, his opponents continued to brand his marriage as immoral and illegal. Tragically, the stress of it all took its toll on Rachel. She fell ill at the end of 1828 and then died just before Christmas. Jackson was sworn in as President 10 weeks later and he never forgave Adams for digging up the dirt and branding his beloved wife a bigamist.