Andy Jackson Parties Hardy
Before Barack Obama electrified the capitol with his inauguration, there was Andrew Jackson. "Old Hickory", as Jackson was known, was the hero of the Battle of New Orleans and on March 4, 1829, people from all over came to see Jackson become sworn in as their President. Farmers, backwoodsmen, old soldiers, Irish immigrants, city workers, small town journalists and many others poured into Washington D.C. for the event. Daniel Webster is quoted as saying "I never saw such a crowd here before. Persons have come five hundred miles to see General Jackson and they really seem to think that the country is rescued from some awful danger." A newspaper reporter from the time wrote "it was like the inundation of the northern Barbarians into Rome, save that the tumultuous tide came from a different point on the compass."
When Jackson finished his inaugural address, the crowd went nuts. People crashed the thin line of police protection to shake Jackson's hand and touch greatness. (Actually, that sounds dirty. What I meant was that they just wanted to touch Jackson, though not in any way that would constitute an indecent proposal.) Jackson managed to fend off his fan base, get on his horse and head to the White House with the mob following him. When they arrived at the White House, mayhem ensued. Historian Paul Boeller Jr. describes it as follows:
The inaugural reception, from the beginning, was a brawl. People poured into the White House through windows as well as doors, upsetting waiters carrying trays of food, breaking china and glassware, overturning tables, brushing bric-a-brac from mantles and walls, spilling whiskey and chicken and squirting tobacco juice on the carpets. They stood with middy boots on the damask-covered chairs in order to get a good look at "Old Hickory." Jackson finally escaped through the back door and returned to his hotel, while waiters succeeded in restoring order only by placing big tubs of punch on the White House lawn, luring people outside and locking the doors behind them. Genteel Washingtonians were horrified. "It was a regular Saturnalia" according to one Congressman. "I never saw such a mixture" exclaimed Justice Joseph Storrey, "the reign of King Mob seemed triumphant." But Amos Kendall, a Jacksonian editor from Kentucky, saw it differently. "It was a proud day for the people" he insisted. "General Jackson is their own President."
Those Jacksonians, they knew how to party!
When Jackson finished his inaugural address, the crowd went nuts. People crashed the thin line of police protection to shake Jackson's hand and touch greatness. (Actually, that sounds dirty. What I meant was that they just wanted to touch Jackson, though not in any way that would constitute an indecent proposal.) Jackson managed to fend off his fan base, get on his horse and head to the White House with the mob following him. When they arrived at the White House, mayhem ensued. Historian Paul Boeller Jr. describes it as follows:
The inaugural reception, from the beginning, was a brawl. People poured into the White House through windows as well as doors, upsetting waiters carrying trays of food, breaking china and glassware, overturning tables, brushing bric-a-brac from mantles and walls, spilling whiskey and chicken and squirting tobacco juice on the carpets. They stood with middy boots on the damask-covered chairs in order to get a good look at "Old Hickory." Jackson finally escaped through the back door and returned to his hotel, while waiters succeeded in restoring order only by placing big tubs of punch on the White House lawn, luring people outside and locking the doors behind them. Genteel Washingtonians were horrified. "It was a regular Saturnalia" according to one Congressman. "I never saw such a mixture" exclaimed Justice Joseph Storrey, "the reign of King Mob seemed triumphant." But Amos Kendall, a Jacksonian editor from Kentucky, saw it differently. "It was a proud day for the people" he insisted. "General Jackson is their own President."
Those Jacksonians, they knew how to party!