Born For The Storm

He was destined to defy the odds long before Texas ever knew his name.

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. 

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.

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.