a lawyer is one of those professionals that's a bit like a mechanic in that if you require their services you probably don't know a lot about the world they work in and you sort of just have to hope that one they know what they're doing and two they interest in getting your problem solved doesn't conflict with some other interest they have like money now if your mechanic is not good you might lose some money but at the end of the day you can just find another mechanic if your lawyer is no good then you might be going to prison so you really want a good lawyer one that will fight tooth and nail for you one that will take a bullet for you well actually that last part might be asking for a bit too much but that's exactly what the subject of today's video did Clement valandingham literally took a bullet for his client in the courtroom not to defend him from an assassin but to prove his innocence that sounds like the sort of lawyer everyone would want but there was a little bit more to this guy than being a lawyer so much so that when you hear his story you might not want him defending you anymore and not just because he died over a 100 years ago Clement valandingham was born in 1820 in Ohio USA admitted to the bar in 1842 he practiced law quite successfully but he also had an interest in politics and was elected as a Democrat to the state legislature in 1845 he ran for congress in 1856 but was narrowly defeated like any self-respecting politician he complained about this and said that votes had been cast illegally by nonre presidents of his district in Ohio the committee of elections of the House of Representatives heard his appeal and after months of deliberation eventually agreed and he was elected he remained in the House of Representatives for a number of years but found himself in trouble when the American Civil War broke out you see the Democratic valandingham was stely opposed to Republican President Abraham Lincoln valandingham supported slavery and believed the federal government had no power to regulate it and that it should instead be a matter for each state to decide he believed that the Confederate States had an implied right to secede from the union and that the federal government had no legal right to pursue military action against them obviously Abraham Lincoln disagreed with this and in the ensuing War vindham became one of Lincoln's most outspoken detractors derisively referring to him as king Lincoln and accusing him of turning the United States into one of the worst despotisms on Earth in accordance with these beliefs landingham opposed every military Bill and he soon developed a reputation as a Confederate sympathizer becoming a very divisive figure and perhaps one of the most hated men in the north he lost his bid for a third term in the House of Representatives in 1862 and shortly after in response to the perceived threat from anti-war agitators Lincoln suspended javious Corpus and declared martial law in select areas this allowed for the arrest and Detention of individuals suspected of hampering the war effort or being disloyal in vandam's na of Ohio the commander of the Union forces was General Ambrose Burnside whose distinct facial hair and last name gave rise to the term sideburns not at all relevant to the story I just thought that was interesting Burnside made it clear that he would go after anyone with the habit of declaring sympathies for the enemy under the newly declared marshal law this meant valam should probably keep his mouth shut but of course he didn't he gave a big speech that was anti-war and pro slavery which was attended by Union army officers in civilian clothes and he was arrested and tried by military commission during his trial valandingham only called one witness a fellow Democrat and well-known anti-war Congressman of course that didn't help his case and he was sentenced to confinement in a military prison for the continuation of the war President Lincoln was wary of valandingham do he knew imprisoning valandingham would only give him more ammunition to call him a tyrant as he was fond of doing and Lincoln didn't want to turn him into a martyr for the anti-government cause so Lincoln commuted his sentence he said oh you love the Confederate so much well off you go you're banished mate and valandingham was transported across Enemy Lines and into the Confederate States apparently valandingham didn't much like this at all but he couldn't return to the northern states so instead he went to Canada in Canada he declared himself a candidate for the governor of Ohio and won a landslide victory In Absentia in 1863 it turned out Lincoln was exactly right the government's actions against valandingham had bolstered support from him at least in his na of Ohio in 1864 valandingham became leader of the order of the Sons of Liberty a secret political organization that aimed to form a Northwestern Confederacy out of Ohio Kentucky Indiana and Illinois he disguised himself and traveled back to Ohio to further develop this Con conspiracy Lincoln was aware of his return but didn't want to take any more public action against valandingham instead opting to keep him under close watch The Conspiracy fell apart and the Civil War ended soon after in 1865 and Clement valandingham then returns to practicing law which is when his most spectacular story unfolded in 1871 Ohio man Thomas mcgean was on trial for the murder of Tom Meyers the two had gotten into a fight in a bar when Myers was shot and killed with his own pistol valandingham was mcan's lawyer and his defense was that mcgean had not shot Myers rather Myers had attempted to draw his gun during the fight and accidentally shot himself when it snagged on his coat to prove this valandingham reportedly kept Two Pistols an unloaded one that he intended to present to the court and a loaded one which he took out to the countryside in between court dates to test fire at a piece of cloth and analyze the gun powder residue at different distances when he returned to court he had apparently gotten the two guns mixed up bringing the still loaded revolver instead of the unloaded one now I don't know much about guns or safety or indeed gun safety but I don't think you're supposed to just be satisfied with the mere belief a gun is empty I think you're really supposed to check valandingham obviously did not check because when he performed the reenactment of his version of events and Drew his gun as he claimed Myers had done a loud bang was heard in the courtroom followed by valandingham exclaiming my god I've shot myself good job genius Clement valandingham died of his injuries the next day at the age of 50 with his death he had provided a bulletproof defense of his client metaphorically speaking of course I mean how can you argue against that Thomas mcgean was acquitted although he himself was shot to death only 4 years later so he actually probably would have been better off in prison in a strange Twist of irony so here we have a lawyer who got his client acquitted by literally shooting himself and he still somehow doesn't really sound like the sort of fell you'd want defending you on one hand it sounds like he was very Wy in a sort of weasy way which I guess is something you'd want from your lawyer I don't know but he was also PR to doing stupid things from the sounds of it and history obviously hasn't been too sympathetic with his viewpoints I mean I'm not an American and have only a glancing knowledge of American history but I'm fairly sure Abraham Lincoln and the abolition of slavery are generally regarded pretty favorably I mean he did kill all those vampires anyways if you liked this video I have many more for you to also like like the one about the lawyer who got into a fist fight with a judge and you can subscribe to see more in the future until next time stay safe way down south in the land of traitors rattles snakes and alligators right away come away right away come away we're Cotton's King and Men our chatt those Union boys will win the battle right away come away right away come away then we'll all go down to Dixie away