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So Anyway, Andrew Jackson Actually Had The Most Lit Inauguration

We’re gonna party like it’s 1829.

Andrew Jackson: 7th president, guy on the $20 bill, and dude who could throw a rager like a college freshman home on break with a fake ID.

Getty Images

Yeah, that's right. Jackson's inaugural ball in 1829 was so boozy and raucous — complete with drunken mobs breaking china and pouring alcohol all over the damn place — that it's gone down in history as the WILDEST PARTY IN WHITE HOUSE HISTORY.

Library Of Congress / Getty Images

It all started when Jackson, arguably the first "people's president," opened his inaugural ball to the public, because what could possibly go wrong with that? Jackson's preparation for the big night probably went something like this.

But that was unrealistic thinking. Anywhere from 10,000-20,000 people rolled over to Washington to watch him take office, and many of the excitable well-wishers waltzed on into the White House for the party later that night.

Paramount Pictures / Via mashable.com

By the time he showed up at his new digs to meet and greet with his supporters, a mob broke out. Trashed on whiskey-laced punch, the crowd damaged furniture, attacked Jackson with excitement, and pushed him against a wall, basically trapping him there. There's obviously no footage of what went down, but it probably looked kind of like this.

Margaret Bayard Smith, a Washington socialite who attended the inauguration, wrote a contemporary account of the event, saying, “But what a scene did we witness! The Majesty of the People had disappeared, and a rabble, a mob, of boys, negros [sic], women, children, scrambling fighting, romping. What a pity what a pity! No arrangements had been made no police officers placed on duty and the whole house had been inundated by the rabble mob. We came too late."

Paramount Pictures


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