Andrew Jackson: Anger Problems

from The Washington Post

Jackson duels with Charles Dickinson- getting wounded but killing him.







Andrew Jackson followed what we might call gut feelings politics. He saw black and white, and not a whole lot of nuance in between.

As our former president said, you were either with him or against him. It's not surprising therefore that he didn't take criticism or insults very well.

He had fought in two duels, one in which, recognizing that he was a bad shot, allowed his opponent to fire first, then, holding the wound to avoid passing out from the loss of blood, slowly aimed and fired killing the man.

The second duel was fought when he was a lawyer working on one of his early cases. He felt the other lawyer had insulted him in front of the judge and challenged the man to a duel right then and there in front of the judge and jury. Perhaps he had grown some wisdom by then since he and the other man decided to simply point their pistols up in the air and fire to satisfy honor.

When South Carolina threatened to secede he told the instigator that he would personally come down to the state and hang him from the tallest tree if he continued talk of the state withdrawing from the Union.

He once chased an enemy on the street with a bull whip. As a judge in Tennessee when a fugitive refused to appear in front of the court, Jackson personally hunted the man down and brought him into custody at gun point.

After an assassination attempt, he swung at his attacker with a cane and had to be restrained by his cabinet.

He was not a man to be trifled with.