# Thomas Jefferson once shot a man for treason on the White House lawn **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2001, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897 "2001-11-12T07:52:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bossk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@Bossk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bossk)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/1 "2001-11-12T07:52:38Z")
John Travolta uttered this line in _Swordfish_. So, is it true? Details? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/2 "2001-11-12T07:59:04Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Erwin\_Deja\_Wu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Erwin\_Deja\_Wu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erwin_Deja_Wu)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/3 "2001-11-12T11:04:29Z")
swordfish was the only good movie i saw this summer ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/4 "2001-11-12T12:54:39Z")
Thomas Jefferson did **NOT** shoot a man on the White House lawn because of treason. Thomas Jefferson shot a man in Reno jsut to watch him die. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/5 "2001-11-12T13:36:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spritle \* > \*\*Thomas Jefferson did **NOT** shoot a man on the White House lawn because of treason. Thomas Jefferson shot a man in Reno jsut to watch him die. 🙂 \*\* And for those of us who are factually impaired yes, it’s true- The White House does indeed sit on an abandoned lot outside of Reno, Nevada. In fact, the entire seat of government quietly moved out there in the 1940’s, at the behest of Don Corleone. I swear to god, nobody reads any more. 😃 Cartoonverse ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/6 "2001-11-12T13:46:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Spritle \* > \*\*Thomas Jefferson did **NOT** shoot a man on the White House lawn because of treason. Thomas Jefferson shot a man in Reno jsut to watch him die. 🙂 \*\* And when he hears that train a-rollin, he hangs his head and cries. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/7 "2001-11-12T13:50:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Thomas Jefferson shot a man in Reno jsut to watch him die. 🙂 Dammit, **Spritle** , [that was **my** joke!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=74588) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/8 "2001-11-12T13:50:51Z")
yes, but did George Washington wake up Sunday morning, with no way to hold his head that didn’t hurt? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/9 "2001-11-12T15:11:07Z")
No. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=74588](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=74588) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/10 "2001-11-12T15:26:54Z")
The way I heard it was that Janet Reno shot Vince Foster at the Jefferson Memorial, but they covered it up. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/11 "2001-11-12T15:49:12Z")
Maybe Jefferson beat him in a Japanese Cage Deathmatch in the Oval Office. He then stood over his body and said “CAn you SMEEEELLLLLLLLL, what the Prez, is cooking?” ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/12 "2001-11-12T18:34:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \* > \*\*yes, but did George Washington wake up Sunday morning, with no way to hold his head that didn’t hurt? \*\* No, but I’ve heard it said that before his assasination, Abraham Lincoln dreamed he walked in a field of flowers (oh, what a dream) and the houses all were silver towers. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/13 "2001-11-13T04:19:43Z")
> [@](#): > > yes, but did George Washington wake up Sunday morning, with no way to hold his head that didn’t hurt? Damn. You stole this from my post in [Pity song lyrics](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=97950)😃 ---
**Author:** ![Erwin\_Deja\_Wu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Erwin\_Deja\_Wu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erwin_Deja_Wu)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/14 "2001-11-13T06:24:09Z")
so … anyone watch a movie better than Swordfish this summer? ---
**Author:** ![IMWOMANHERE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/57b2e6/32.png) [@IMWOMANHERE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IMWOMANHERE)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/15 "2001-11-13T07:11:00Z")
If he shot a man in Reno,Nevada, Why did he go to Folsom Prison in California? ---
**Author:** ![Bossk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@Bossk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bossk)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/16 "2001-11-13T07:21:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Erwin Deja Wu \* > \*\*so … anyone watch a movie better than Swordfish this summer? \*\* Sorry, I’m familiar with this movie under its alternate title, _Plot Hole_. I’d say _Memento_, but then that one doesn’t have Halle Berry topless. You can see the moral dilemma I’m facing. ---
**Author:** ![Erwin\_Deja\_Wu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Erwin\_Deja\_Wu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erwin_Deja_Wu)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-jefferson-once-shot-a-man-for-treason-on-the-white-house-lawn/92897/17 "2001-11-13T07:32:34Z")
bossk-you are so right.