Although Rachel Donelson (Susan Hayward) is married when she meets the handsome and dashing Andrew Jackson (Charlton Heston) - they both immediately recognize there are sparks between them. Rachel's mother, Mrs. Donelson (Fay Bainter), sends her to Natchez to get her away from Lewis Robards (Whitfield Connor), her husband, who is making her miserable... and it works out just so that she is to be escorted there by Andrew Jackson. In a riverboat on their way to Natchez, they are attacked by Creek Indians and the danger brings them even closer to each other. When they reach Natchez, Rachel and Andrew get news saying that Robards has been granted a petition for divorce on the grounds of adultery, naming Jackson as the man who has defiled his marriage! Jackson is humiliated by this injustice, but he feels proud of his love for Rachel and the two are married and go back to Nashville where Andrew becomes interested in politics. Soon, however, they find out that although Robards had been granted a petition for divorce, it had not been consummated; therefore, Rachel is branded a bigamist and adulteress. Jackson gets into no end of scrapes as he violently defends Rachel's name, but the insults only grow as his political career takes off. Eventually taking a tragic toll on the love of his life...

This is one of the best historical romances on film. It's the heartwarming story of Andrew Jackson, played by Charlton Heston, and centers on his love for Rachel, superbly acted here by the beautiful Susan Hayward. The figure of Andrew Jackson in American history is one that is constantly being reevaluated by historians. I have my opinions but we will leave that discussion to the academics, as what we have here is a surprisingly accurate telling of the love story between Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson Robard. Based on a novel by Irving Stone (who also wrote LUST FOR LIFE about Vincent Van Gogh), this is the story of one of the most vicious rumor campaigns in American political history. It is the story of how the love of the life of our seventh President was destroyed by these rumors, which were based on half-truths. The film ends with the presidential campaign of 1828 and it was one of the nastiest in our history. The elite of the east knew it would lose power and fought with everything they could throw. Rachel's two divorces became campaign fodder.