"The High Minded Honourable Man": Honor, Kinship, and Conflict in the Life of Andrew Jackson Donelson

The relations between uncle and nephew also illustrate how Jackson related to his inner circle of advisors, but historians have largely ignored Donelson's role in the so-called Kitchen Cabinet, which was minor not only because he was young but also because he defied his uncle during the Eaton affair. Overcoming a childhood in the Carolinas that had left him orphaned and seemingly lacking future prospects of success, he had made his name in the state through his legal practice, his marriage into the prominent Donelson family, his aggressive land speculation, and his service in the state militia.