Secrets & Scandals Of America’s First Ladies

Rachel and Andrew Jackson Illegally Eloped

What is now downplayed in history is the fact that Rachel and Andrew Jackson eloped while she was still married to her first husband, Lewis Robards! Robards immediately and successfully sought a divorce. Meanwhile, the validity of Rachel and Jackson’s marriage was questioned, since it was illegal, as she was married to her first husband when they eloped. Having a First Lady who had a previous marriage was unprecedented in American history at the time, in the late 1780s, it was labeled inappropriate for a First Lady to have had a divorce in her romantic history. Therefore it was thought that Rachel may not be suited for the role. When Rachel and Andrew Jackson were married and she was officially First Lady, the public made them so uncomfortable that they rarely appeared in public together.