Andrew Jackson was sworn in as president on March 4, 1829. After the inauguration, a mob entered the White House to shake the new president's hand, damaging the furniture and lights. Jackson escaped through the back, and large punch bowls were set up to lure the crowd outside. Conservatives were horrified at this event, and held it up as a portent of terrible things to come from the first Democratic president.When Jackson arrived in Washington DC, he was to pay the customary courtesy call on the outgoing president, but he refused to do so. John Quincy Adams responded by refusing to go to the inauguration of Andrew Jackson.{Similar to his father who did not attend the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson 30 years before). While Jackson did not hold J. Quincy Adams among those who had slandered Rachel Jackson social relations between the two men were cold and impersonel-for example when Adams heard from a third party that Jackson would invite him to a social dinner he responded that Jackson should send the inviatation personally.  In his diary Adams also revealed his disgust that not only was his Alma Mater Harvard College was going to award Jackson a honory Doctor of Law degree (Jackson had not gone to study law in college but had learned law as a law clerk to a Judge) but that they were doing to do so to a "barbarian" [I.E. someone who had not stuided the classical languages of Latin and Greek].