Today is Saturday, May 30th, 2020.

On this day in 1806, future President Andrew Jackson killed a man in a duel. Despite this murder, Jackson

would face no criminal charges and go on to be seen as a national hero. Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original.

I'm Vanessa Richardson. Today we're discussing the

dual between Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson. The incident cemented Jackson's

reputation as a bloodthirsty maniac and yet it had absolutely no impact on his later run for president.

Before we unpack all that let's go back to Logan County, Kentucky on the morning of May 30, 1806. The challenger, 39-year-old

the two duelists met in the woods at 7 a.m.

they were formidable opponents.

The challenger, 39-year-old former congressman Andrew Jackson, was known around Nashville

as hot-headed and violent.

This was at least his third duel, and over the course of his life he'd take part in up to 100.

His opponent, Charles Dickinson, was no stranger to dueling himself.

It was said that in his 26 years of life he'd shot and killed

26 men. The showdown was a long time coming. Bad blood had been brewing between the two for the better part of a year.

The tipping point had come the week before when Dickinson wrote an opinion piece for the

local newspaper calling Jackson a worthless scoundrel, a paltroon, and a coward.

Jackson decided they ought to settle things like gentlemen, and since dueling was illegal in Tennessee the two

enemies hopped across the border to Kentucky. Jackson arrived wearing a long loose fitting coat to make it harder for his opponent to aim at his chest.

He needed to use every trick in the book.

Dickinson was known as the best pistol shot in all of Kentucky.

Knowing this, Jackson and his second Thomas Overton decided on a risky strategy, let Dickinson shoot first.

...