Best President Ever

No, not that one. I'm talking about Andrew Jackson who became the seventh President of the United States in 1829. I'll be honest, I have no idea whether he was a good man or if he made a difference. He did know how to party, though. On the day of his inauguration they had to use ship's cables to hold back the crowds. For a while at least. Washington socialite Marget Smith covered the event in a letter to a friend, “When the speech was over, and the President made his parting bow, the barrier that had separated the people from him was broken down and they rushed up the steps all eager to shake hands with him.” The President of America, mobbed like a Korean pop star.

The best bit, however, was when Pres invited everyone back to the White House. Not a select few, not a specially chosen group but the 17^th century equivalent of a Facebook invite. It was chaos. Thousands of people tried their luck. According to Smith, “Ladies fainted, men were seen with bloody noses and such a scene of confusion took place as is impossible to describe. Those who got in could not get out by the door again, but had to scramble out of windows. At one time, the President who had retreated until he was pressed against the wall, could only be secured by a number of gentleman forming around him and making a barrier of their own bodies.” Probably not the best start for the ruler of an emerging super power. In the end they had to take all the booze and put it on the lawn to get everyone out. I'd loved to have seen the government the next morning; bleary eyed around the table promising each other that 'what happens in congress, stays in congress', as girls stumble around in the background, fishing knickers out of the picture frames.