Today marks the anniversary of an unusual event in White House history, when President John Tyler's veto of a banking bill led to unprecedented violence at the executive mansion.
On August 16, 1841, President Tyler stunned his fellow members of the Whig Party by using his constitutional powers to veto a bill to revive the Second Bank of the United States.
Two days later, an angry, drunken mob showed up at the White House late at night, firing guns and hanging Tyler in effigy in front of the mansion. The President was living there with his family, unprotected by security, and, according to accounts of the incident, members of his family feared for their safety.
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