“You infernal scoundrel,” Crawford shook his cane menacingly at the president. James Monroe reached for the tongs by the fireplace to defend himself, as Navy Secretary Samuel Southard leaped from his seat and intercepted Crawford, pushing him away from the president’s desk and out the door. It was a terrifying scene: the president — the presidency itself — under attack for the first time in American history.
Twenty years younger than the president, South Carolina’s William H. Crawford had emerged from a new generation of politician — ready to plunge the nation into civil war to promote sectional interests and personal ambitions. Unlike Monroe and the other Founding Fathers, Crawford’s generation had not lived under British rule; had not battled or shed blood in the Revolution; had not linked arms with men of differing views to lay the foundation of constitutional rule.
