Born For The Storm

<p><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>He was destined to defy the odds long before Texas ever knew his name.</strong></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>One of the most controversial and contradictory figures in American history Sam Houston was a hero of two wars badly wounded in both famous for his marathon speeches and known as a prodigious drinker brawler and carouser. A runaway teenager adopted by a Cherokee chief he found a father figure in the tribe-while his other mentor Andrew Jackson would guide him for more than thirty years. </span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>From his rough frontier upbringing and years among the Cherokee to his muddle-headed bravery at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend Houston's early life was a grand adventure shaped by conflict and contradiction.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>In a raw young Washington Houston had his first taste of national politics and made his mark as an adroit politician. Elected governor of Tennessee he faced a brief and tumultuous term before scandal forced him out of office-just as he would be forced out again years later. Even after a stunning fall from grace and a brutal street brawl with an Ohio congressman Houston found a way to recover never content to stay down for long.</span></p><p></p>