Which US president killed a man in a duel, who was the man, how did the duel happen, and how many duels did that president really fight? There is one answer to the first question: Andrew Jackson, the seventh president.
The answer
Of the 45 people who have served as US president, one killed a man in a duel: 1 in 45 (our arithmetic). For another count built on the same 45 people, see how many presidents went to Harvard. In its exhibition label, as captured by the Internet Archive on March 29, 2025, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery describes Jackson as “the only American president to have been a prisoner of war or to have killed a man in a duel.”
The White House counts “Forty-five Presidents” and “Forty-seven plaques”, because two presidencies went to men who had already served (our arithmetic). The White House lists Donald J. Trump as the 45th and 47th president and Grover Cleveland as the 22nd and 24th.
The duel
The man Jackson killed was Charles Dickinson, a Nashville attorney and, in the Hermitage’s words, a “noted marksman”. The quarrel began over the terms of a forfeit in a planned horse race between Jackson’s stallion Truxton and Ploughboy, a horse owned by Dickinson’s father-in-law. It grew through public insults, and the Hermitage says Dickinson also made rude comments about the character of Jackson’s wife, Rachel.
On May 30, 1806, the two men met at Harrison’s Mill in Logan County, Kentucky; historical marker 100 in Adairville marks the site. According to the Library of Congress, Jackson wore a coat too large for his frame and chose to let Dickinson fire first. Dickinson’s shot hit Jackson in the chest. Jackson’s pistol locked at half cock; he recocked it, fired and mortally wounded Dickinson, who died at dusk.
Jackson survived. The Kentucky Historical Society says he lived with chronic pain from the wound for the rest of his life, and that he was not prosecuted. Jackson became president in 1829, 23 years after the duel (our arithmetic).
How many duels?
Stories credit Jackson with many duels. He did issue challenges and served as a second in other men’s duels several times, but Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage says “his reputation as a duelist has been greatly exaggerated, as he was a principal in only two true duels.” One of the two was the 1806 duel with Dickinson.
How Jackson is seen now
The same Portrait Gallery label adds: “Jackson is now a controversial figure for his uncompromising nationalism and punitive Indian policies.”
The short version
One of the 45 people who have been US president killed a man in a duel: Andrew Jackson, who shot Charles Dickinson in Kentucky on May 30, 1806. That is 1 in 45 (our arithmetic).
Last checked: 2026-10-22, against the White House, USAGov, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, the Library of Congress and the Kentucky Historical Society. This article was machine-checked against the sources above and has not been expert-reviewed. Spotted an error or a newer public figure? Please tell us on our contact page with the article link and we will review it.
Sources
- S1 The White House, Presidential Walk of Fame. https://www.whitehouse.gov/walk-of-fame/ . Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- S2 The White House, Donald J. Trump, 45th and 47th President of the United States. https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/donald-j-trump/ . Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- S3 USAGov, Presidents. https://www.usa.gov/presidents . Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- S4 Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Andrew Jackson by Thomas Sully, 1824, object NPG.2023.75, exhibition label. https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2023.75 , read from the Internet Archive capture of March 29, 2025: https://web.archive.org/web/20250329152222/https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2023.75 . Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- S5 Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, Duels. https://thehermitage.com/duels . Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- S6 Library of Congress, In Custodia Legis, “Frontier Racing and Injured Pride: The Duel Between Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson”, April 2015. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2015/04/frontier-racing-and-injured-pride-the-duel-between-andrew-jackson-and-charles-dickinson/ . Accessed Oct 22, 2026.
- S7 Kentucky Historical Society, ExploreKYHistory, “Jackson Dickinson Duel”, historical marker 100. https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/921 . Accessed Oct 22, 2026.