The Cheney hunting accident has generated many mentions of Aaron Burr as the last VP to have shot someone. What surprises me is that I have seen no references to presidents who have shot people. I therefore thought that I'd provide some useless, but hopefully interesting, trivia.In this regard, Andrew Jackson stands out. Jackson was probably the fiercest person ever to have served as president. Before his election, he engaged in at least three duels, including one with the then governor of Tennessee, and a wild gun battle in the middle of Nashville.
Jackson's 1806 duel with Charles Dickinson stands out because Jackson shot and killed Dickinson while Dickinson was defenseless. Jackson challenged Dickinson, even though Dickinson was believed the best shot in Tennessee, because he had impugned Jackson's wife. Dickinson got off the first shot, wounding Jackson severely in the chest (the musket ball remained lodged near his heart for the rest of his life). According to convention, Dickinson then had to return to his position, 24 feet from Jackson, and await Jackson's shot. Rather than firing into the air, which would have satisfied honor, Jackson took careful aim at Dickinson and shot and killed him.
Jackson later received a second wound, in the shoulder, during the melee in Nashville. One of his opponents in that running gun battle was Thomas Hart Benton. Benton and Jackson later reconciled, and Benton, as senator from Missouri (1821-51), became one of the legislative leaders of the Jacksonian Democratic party.
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