A graduate of Cumberland University’s undergraduate history program, Mark R. Cheathem received his M.A. in history from Middle Tennessee State University and his Ph.D. in history from Mississippi State University. After serving as an assistant professor of history at Southern New Hampshire University for four years, he returned to his alma mater and is now a professor of history. Cheathem’s main teaching and research interests focus on Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, nineteenth-century politics, southern history, and documentary editing.

Dr. Cheathem is the author or editor of seven books, including the award-winning Andrew Jackson, Southerner. His most recent book is The Coming of Democracy: Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson. Since 2015, Dr. Cheathem had been the project director and co-editor of the Papers of Martin Van Buren. Housed in Cumberland University’s Vise Library, this project is producing digital and print editions of the eighth president’s papers.

Along with his research, Dr. Cheathem teaches a variety of courses at Cumberland, including Jacksonian America, the American Presidency, Civil War America, Conspiracy Theories in American History, Introduction to Digital History, and Documentary Editing.