A historical account that scrutinizes the life of Andrew Jackson from a Southern perspective was the topic of a recent edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Dr. Mark Cheathem

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Mark Cheathem, author of “Andrew Jackson, Southerner,” aired last month on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org ). You can listen to their conversation here.

Cheathem, an alumnus of MTSU’s Master of Arts program and now an associate professor of history at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn., looks at the seventh president of the United States much as Jackson saw himself —an elite gentleman planter who held to concepts of chivalry and honor consistent with Old South values.

“I think he’s shaped by his background, but he also shaped the South,” said Cheathem. “To me the clearest example of that is his expansion of manifest destiny into the Southeast.

“By removing Native American tribes, he creates a regional vacuum, a land vacuum in the South that becomes the cradle of the cotton kingdom.”

To listen to previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to the “Audio Clips” archives here and here.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

A video clip of the interview can be seen below.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)