Lafayette Square fills seven acres directly across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. It is named for the Marquis de Lafayette, the French general who fought for American independence and returned to tour the United States in 1824 to rapturous receptions.
In the nineteenth century, this was one of Washington's most fashionable residential addresses. Philip Barton Key — son of Francis Scott Key, who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner — was shot dead in this park in 1859 by Congressman Daniel Sickles, who had discovered Key was having an affair with his wife. Sickles became the first American to successfully use temporary insanity as a legal defense, and was acquitted.
Andrew Jackson stands at the center of the square on horseback, tipping his hat. It was the first equidistant statue cast in America, balanced on just two rear hooves — an engineering feat at the time.
Four statues at the corners represent foreign military heroes who aided the Revolution: Lafayette, Baron von Steuben of Prussia, General Rochambeau of France, and Thaddeus Kosciuszko of Poland. America's earliest military success was an international affair.
In June 2020, protesters gathering in response to George Floyd's death were cleared from this square by federal law enforcement using tear gas and pepper spray so that President Trump could walk through for a photo at St. John's Church on the north side. The church's Bishop publicly objected to the use of her church as a political backdrop.