Andrew Jackson’s White House Inauguration Party

Andrew Jackson was a populist president, a man of the people. Keeping with his common man image, after his inauguration in 1829, he invited the general public into the White House for a party. People wanted to meet Jackson and wish the new president well, but the surging crowd was too large for the White House. People crashed into fragile furniture, shoved servants laden with trays of food, and spilled large bowls of spiked orange punch on the carpet. Men wearing dirty work boots stood on expensive upholstered furniture to catch a glimpse of Jackson, and revelers destroyed several thousand dollars worth of fine china.

It got so rowdy Jackson escaped out a window, and the drunken mob only dispersed when punch bowls of liquor were placed on the White House lawn. Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story, described the scene. "I never saw such a mixture, the reign of King Mob seemed triumphant."

In The Hesperus Prophecy, newly-inaugurated President Jackson enlists the Clypeate’s help to retrieve valuable items from the White House, including Washington’s private red-leather bound journal. While the Clypeate returned most items, Jackson felt the dining table was beyond repair, but the table was refurbished and remains in the Clypeate’s Room of the Honored.

Jackson’s supporters partying hard in the White House

The drunken mob outside the White House