On January 30, 1835, President Andrew Jackson visited the Capitol building in Washington D.C. to attend the funeral of Warren Davis, a member of the House of Representatives. As he exited the building, a man stepped from behind a column, pulled a pistol from his jacket, pointed it at the president, and fired. This was the first assassination attempt of a U.S. President in history.
Luckily for Andrew Jackson, the pistol pulled by Richard Lawrence, his would-be assassin, misfired. Jackson, in a fit of rage, charged Lawrence, hitting him several times with his cane. Lawrence proceeded to pull a second pistol from his jacket and shot at the president. The second gun also misfired. Experts later reported that the chance of both of Lawrence’s pistols misfiring was 1 in 125,000. Many Americans at the time, including President Jackson himself, thought the president must have been saved by divine providence.
However, conspiracy theories also abounded. Jackson was sure that it was his political opposition, headed up by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. While this proved to be untrue, some have suggested that it was Calhoun’s statement to the press several days before that prompted Lawrence to make an attempt on the president’s life. Calhoun said that the president was “a Caesar who ought to have a Brutus.” In any case, during Lawrence’s trial, which interestingly enough was prosecuted by Francis Scott Key of Star-Spangled Banner fame, it became very clear that Lawrence was mentally instable. Lawrence was convinced that he was King Richard III, the rightful monarch of England. He was sentenced not guilty by reason of insanity and was placed in a home for the mentally ill.
Learn more here:
- https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Attempt_to_kill_King_Andrew.htm
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/attempted-assassination-andrew-jackson-180962526/
- https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2014/01/ill-be-damned-if-i-dont-do-it-the-failed-assassination-attempt-on-president-andrew-jackson/
