Hotheads

Hotheads in Congress have such a history! Here's a 1856 shenanigan.

Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts had ranted for two days. On his second day, he called Senator Andrew Butler of South Carolina an imbecile.

Two days later, Sumner sat writing letters at his Senate desk. He failed to notice Representative Preston Brooks until he spoke: "Mr. Sumner. I have read your speech twice over. It libels South Carolina, and my white-haired old relative, Senator Butler, and I've come to punish you for it."

As Sumner started to rise, Brooks attacked, smashing the Senator's skull with a gold-headed cane, knocking him under his desk. As Brooks walloped him, the Senator, quite tall, struggled to rise from under the heavy desk, which was bolted to the floor. Blood gushed down his face.

Just another morsel from THIEVES RASCALS & SORE LOSERS, a saucy Nebraska history by Marilyn June Coffey.