1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:08,319 Speaker 1: there's Chuck and Jerry sitting in for Dave and this 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:12,879 Speaker 1: is short Stuff, And Chuck, I have come to really 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:20,120 Speaker 1: detest politics, in particular the American brand of zero sum 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: outrage politics that the entire nations have meshed in. Yeah, 6 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: are you trying not to think about it? Im? 7 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 2: Same? 8 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: Avoid politics as much as possible. 9 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 2: Same. 10 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: So let's get started about this political history story. 11 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 2: We're talking about Andrew Jackson and his first inauguration or 12 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 2: his inauguration brother. They used to hold these in March 13 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 2: and his was held in March fourth, eighteen twenty nine. 14 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 2: And what happened there at the Capitol was he gave 15 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,480 Speaker 2: a speech and did his thing. And what you should 16 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 2: know about Andrew Jackson is he was a very populous president, 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,959 Speaker 2: so I say, the very first one, and people loved him. 18 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 2: They were like, he's for the little people, and like, 19 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 2: we want to go meet this guy on an inauguration day. 20 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 2: So he said, that's a great idea. George Washington held 21 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 2: these levees at the White House, which has basically come 22 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 2: and meet the first family on inauguration day, and I'm 23 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 2: going to do the same big mistake. 24 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, there's just basically a legend of Andrew Jackson's inauguration 25 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:21,559 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty nine that they basically tore the roof 26 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,600 Speaker 1: off the White House they partied so hard there. Yeah, 27 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: and he didn't. But that was the thing you mentioned. 28 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: He was a populis president. All of a sudden because 29 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: of him being a populist, and the people who supported him, 30 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: average everyday people who typically weren't into politics at all, 31 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: suddenly overran Washington, d C. In a very celebratory mood 32 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: because Andrew Jackson had beaten the Washington establishment, the elites, 33 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: John Quincy Adams, and now the people were truly represented 34 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: in the American government as far as they were concerned. 35 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, but here's the thing. There are historians that say, 36 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 2: hold your water there. It may not have been as 37 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 2: well as everyone thinks. The's a guy named Daniel Feller 38 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 2: who was a history professor at ut Tennessee Covaals. I'll 39 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 2: even say that as a Georgia fan, and he was 40 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 2: the editor of the papers of Andrew Jackson, so he 41 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 2: knows a thing or two, and he's like, you know 42 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 2: what they talked about people, you know, wrecking the place 43 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 2: people coming there with muddy boots and turning over tables 44 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:26,679 Speaker 2: and punch bowls. He said, take that with a grain 45 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 2: of salt, because all a lot of this stuff comes 46 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 2: from the account of this woman named Margaret Baird Smith, 47 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 2: who showed up like late to the party after this 48 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 2: stuff had evidently happened, heart tardy to the party, and 49 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 2: also did not like Andrew Jackson in his politics, so 50 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 2: probably had a pretty heavy slant on the chaos she described. 51 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, and this was I mean, she was a good 52 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 1: example of how the opposition to Andrew Jackson felt like 53 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: they felt like they owned DC and Andrew Jackson and 54 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: his supporters didn't really belong there, right, and yet because 55 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: Andrew Jackson had won the presidency and these like average 56 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: everyday people felt represented. Finally they they showed up. The 57 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: question is, like nobody's saying like that didn't happen. It's 58 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: the degree to which it happened. And Margaret Baird Smith's 59 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 1: letters to her daughter in particular are essentially like one 60 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: of a very few number of first hand accounts, and 61 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,959 Speaker 1: she's she really did not like this, and pretty much 62 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: I guess blew it out of proportion. It is a 63 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: really good way to put it. 64 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, she writes about the majesty of the people disappearing 65 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 2: and and a mob of people of you know, fighting 66 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 2: and scrambling and what a pity, what a pity? 67 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: Yes she said it twice. Yeah, yeah, And is this 68 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: how stuff works article? 69 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 2: This is a Dave Ruse shorty special. 70 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: I should have known because Dave mentions like you can 71 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: almost hear Margaret her pearls in this. So you said 72 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: she was targeted to the party. She showed up a 73 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: little bit after three. And the reason she didn't go 74 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: straight from the inauguration to the party is because she 75 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: heard that there were these large crowds. The estimate that 76 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:21,159 Speaker 1: has been bandied about all these years later is that 77 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: there were twenty thousand people who showed up at the 78 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: White House. It's incredible to party. So I say we 79 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 1: take a break and we come back and talk about 80 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: what they say happened at this twenty thousand person strong 81 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:34,559 Speaker 1: party at the White House. 82 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 2: Let's do it. Sweat shot shot, stop shot shot. 83 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: So we said, chuck before we broke that. There's about 84 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: twenty thousand people estimated to have been at the White 85 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:16,799 Speaker 1: House for Andrew Jackson's inauguration. Levy that even Margaret Bayard 86 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: said Bayard Smith said that that was probably an exaggerated number. Yeah, 87 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: she did say that there were some crazy things going. 88 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 2: On though, Yeah, bloody noses several thousand dollars worth of 89 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 2: worth of glassware broken. But here's the thing, Like again, 90 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 2: some historians think she might have been exaggerating because she 91 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 2: was just maybe a pear clutcher and didn't like Jackson. 92 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 2: There was a senator from Massachusetts named Daniel Webster who 93 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 2: was not a fan of Jackson as well. But he 94 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 2: wrote all about this day and he didn't mention like 95 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 2: all this chaos going on. He said, you know, people 96 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 2: have come five hundred miles to see General Jackson. They 97 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 2: really seem to think the country is rescued from some 98 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 2: dreadful danger. And he also said a lot of people 99 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 2: were also there to like aspiring political politicos, I guess, 100 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 2: trying to maybe get a job or get some influence. 101 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 2: So he wrote pretty good depth about this and he 102 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 2: never mentioned like, you know, a party where people were 103 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 2: getting in fights and muddy boots and turning over tables. 104 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was like he didn't mention that it was 105 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:30,599 Speaker 1: it turned into the infield of the Kentucky Derby. Right, yeah, 106 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: that is really significant because he was there. And to 107 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: not mention like that people were just going berserk partying 108 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: at the White House and trashing the place. I think 109 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: that to me says volumes about it that it either 110 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: was did it happened a little bit, but it was 111 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: so insignificant that what shouldn't even think it was worth mentioning, 112 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: or that the whole thing was basically made up. 113 00:06:58,000 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I get the feeling it wasn't completely 114 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 2: made up. I bet it got a little wild. And 115 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 2: there are also people that say, like, you know, it 116 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 2: sounds like there were probably people that maybe stood on 117 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 2: tables and chairs to get a better look, and like 118 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 2: maybe a table breaks when you're doing that. But she 119 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 2: made it sound like they just trashed the place, right. 120 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:17,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, and that not only did they trash the 121 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: place they were It wasn't just that there were twenty 122 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: thousand people or however many people were there that they 123 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: were just rowdy. She was basically trying to portray them 124 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,239 Speaker 1: as again, people who didn't belong in Washington, let alone 125 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: the White House. And look, you can't even you can't 126 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: you can't take these supporters of Andrew Jackson anywhere. Look 127 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: at what they did. They rushed people carrying out the 128 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: punch bowls to get punch and free cake, and yeah, 129 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: they elbowed each other. It was like a Black Friday 130 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:51,559 Speaker 1: sale essentially, is what Margaret Smith was describing, and again 131 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: just painting people in a very unflattering light. The problem 132 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: is that was a letter to her daughter, right, so 133 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: if her daughter was misled, or maybe she was even 134 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: trying to entertain her daughter, who knows, it would be 135 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: one thing. Historians would probably still have found those letters 136 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: and be talking about it. But the reason why it 137 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: became such a well known thing is that the press 138 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 1: picked that up too, and exactly like happens today, that 139 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: exaggeration was run with to outrage people who were opponents 140 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: of Andrew Jackson, because that completely satisfied their opinion of 141 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: those people. 142 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, here's a bit from the New York Spectator that 143 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 2: was pretty colorful. Here was the corpulent epicure grunting and 144 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 2: sweating for breath, the dandy wishing he had no toes, 145 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 2: the tight laced miss fearing her person might receive some 146 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 2: permanently deforming impulse, the miser hunting for his pocketbook, the 147 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 2: courtier looking for his watch, and the office seeker in 148 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 2: an agony to reach the president. 149 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: Right, what does that even mean? I don't know the 150 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: part about the dandy wishing he had no toes. I 151 00:08:57,800 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: looked high and low for what that meant. 152 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:04,240 Speaker 2: Maybe because they were getting stepped on so much. Maybe 153 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 2: that's the only thing I could think of that made 154 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 2: any sense. 155 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 1: The one I came up with is that maybe it 156 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: was in fashion to have small feet. 157 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 2: Maybe I know that the dandy has no toes. This 158 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 2: is a pretty great record. 159 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: Title, yeah, for sure, one of the best deep cut. Yeah, 160 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: so the I guess. In nineteen seventy eight, the Tennessee 161 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: Historical Society, they rolled up their sleeves and they're like, 162 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 1: let's get to the bottom of this. And from their 163 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: research they actually said they said they considered it sheer bedlam. Yeah, 164 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: But they turned up another account from a senator named 165 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: James Hamilton of South Carolina who was a supporter of 166 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: Jackson's and even he said that this was a he 167 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: called it a regular saturnalia. But he also said that 168 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: most of the damage was minimal. So somewhere in between there, Yeah, 169 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:55,439 Speaker 1: and Margaret Bayard Smith's account. It was probably the truth, 170 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,199 Speaker 1: and yeah, I think it was Daniel Webster, who's probably 171 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: the most reliable. 172 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, but who knows. It's a fun story. 173 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: It is a fun story, and we love fun history stories. 174 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:13,840 Speaker 1: And I guess Chuck short Stuff is out correct. 175 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 2: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 176 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:21,559 Speaker 2: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 177 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.