Before he was president, Andrew Jackson rose to national fame for his victory in the Battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812. His “decisive victory against the British” occurred after the war was over, though the combatants didn’t know that yet, and the victory would have been impossible had it not been for the support of a French pirate named Jean Lafitte, who was only siding with the Americans in exchange for a pardon from a number of war crimes he was accused of.