In a fight to the death between every American president, who would win and why?

Definitely Andrew Jackson!

1) Jackson got seriously gashed in the face and hand at age 14 after being snarky to a British Soldier who captured him and his older brother Robert. The boys almost starved to death while being detained, and the gash left a permanent scar on his forehead.
2) Right after his encounter with the British, he survived smallpox which killed his brother (later that same year he became an orphan at 14 after his mother died of cholera). He also survived malaria and dysentery later in life – Jackson had one badass immune system.
3) In 1806 got in a duel with Charles Dickinson (an expert marksman) who shot him in the chest, shattering two ribs and lodging a bullet close to his heart. Jackson stayed conscious long enough to shoot and kill Dickinson. The bullet wound was not operable because it was too close to his heart, so it never healed properly and caused him chronic pain for the rest of his life (and he lived another 40 years!).
Rumor has it if a Congressman who Jackson disliked came to speak with him, Jackson would purposefully shift his weight and start coughing up blood (from his bullet wound), which would immediately end the conversation (courtesy my high school AP US History teacher Dr. John Hosmer – shoutout to University High School 😉
4) In another duel with the Benton brothers in 1813, Jackson was shot in his left shoulder. He lost so much blood that he almost died and the doctors wanted to amputate his arm but he refused. “I’ll keep my arm” was the last thing he said before passing out. 34 days later, he was commanding troops on the battlefield again as part of the Creek War during the War of 1812.
5) 18 years later, the Benton brother’s bullet was still lodged in his arm and it was bothering him (now we think it may also have been poisoning him with lead). He finally had surgery to get it removed…with no anesthesia.
6) In 1835, he survived what is believed to the first assassination attempt on a US president when Richard Lawrence (unemployed British housepainter) tried to shoot him – the gun didn’t work so Lawrence pulled out a SECOND gun which also didn’t work. According to some accounts, Jackson, enraged, beat the man severely with a cane before Lawrence was detained. Keep in mind that Jackson was already 68 and pretty sickly by this point.
7) On the last day of his Presidency, apparently his main regret was that he “had been unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang John C. Calhoun.”
Basically, the guy was a total crazy badass. Despite multiple bullet injuries (many of which never left his body) and tons of diseases, he lived to be 78 – pretty good for the 1800s.
Ethically, he was a terrible President, responsible for the brutal Trail of Tears among other horrors to America’s Native Peoples, as well as staunchly supporting slavery. Perhaps the only explanation for his cruelty and hard heart was the fact that he endured so much pain and loss himself at a young age.
His only real redeeming quality is the fact that most of his duels were fought over his wife Rachel’s honor. They were married before Rachel had technically divorced her abusive ex-husband, and thus attacks were constantly made against her and Jackson’s honor. From all accounts, Jackson loved her very dearly and would go to great lengths to defend her. She tragically died of a heart condition right after he won the presidency for the first time in 1828.
(sources – Health & Medical History , Andrew Jackson , memories of AP US History so long ago….)

Chicago Cutlery Belden 15 Piece Premium Kitchen Knife

Reply