Did Andrew Jackson keep a two ton block of cheese in the White House foyer? If so, where did the cheese come from? If not, where did the story come from?

The cheese is real and, surprisingly, had historical precedent during Jackson's time.

The first giant cheese wheel in the White House happened under the Jefferson administration in 1802 and was a gift from the town of Cheshire, Mass. and dubbed the "Cheshire Mammoth Cheese". A Baptist pastor named John Leland was the architect of this unique gift, explored in some detail in this article from the American Antiquarian Society. (Interestingly enough, it notes that a 500 pound cheese was sent even earlier—as a gift to Lafayette, no less.) Anyways, the short version is that Leland favored Jefferson's views on religion and arranged for a 1235 pound cheese inscribed with "Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God" to be sent to Jefferson.

So, that brings us to Jackson's cheese. The White House's blog has a nice picture of an engraving of the cheese, but I can't exactly source the image. However, the event was very real. According to this great letter, apparently by Jackson himself:

I intend to have eaten on the 22nd instant, my large cheese, presented by my friends of the state of N. York - can you… be here & partake of the feast… & any of your friends who may wish to accompany you - it will be my last & only possible day.

The cheese was roughly 1400 pounds according to the page and was donated by dairies in Oswego County, NY.