While Andrew Jackson’s legacy as president will forever be tarnished for his role in the Trail of Tears, he was an interesting historical figure and key figure in the War of 1812.
My favorite story about Jackson is that he survived the first known attempt to assassinate a president of the United States.
On the morning of January 30, 1835, Jackson had spent the misty wet morning attending the memorial service of South Carolina Rep. Warren Davis. Jackson was 67 and did not seem in the best of health and some wondered if he’d be able to finish his second term as president.
As he came inside the Capitol rotunda, an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence stepped up to the president, aimed a pistol, and pulled the trigger. The pistol misfired. As Jackson and those around him reacted, Lawrence managed to draw another pistol and pull the trigger — it too misfired.
Instead of moving away on the first shot, Jackson sprung to life and used his cane to beat Lawrence. Nearby soldiers soon tackled the man to the ground as the president wailed away, the only recorded episode of a sitting president possibly being stopped from killing his assailant.
There was more history to be made.
The prosecutor in the case was Francis Scott Key, who argued that an attack on the president was an attack on the country, and pushed for the death penalty. It soon became clear that Lawrence was deranged as he detailed during the case that he was a British royal and King of Rome and that the U.S. government owed him money. He also felt that Jackson’s attempts to dismantle the national bank would hinder his payment.
Conspiracy theories flew around about the case. Some said that Jackson’s aides had set up the attempt as a publicity stunt to gain support. Jackson accused Sen. George Poindexter (Miss.) of paying Lawrence as part of a plot. Nothing was ever proven and in court, it seemed Lawrence got crazier every day. Vice President Martin van Buren became so concerned about the political tenor of the day, he carried two pistols whenever he went to the Senate chamber after that.
Lawerence escaped the death penalty by being found not guilty by reason of insanity — the verdict was arrived at in five minutes. He was confined to a mental hospital where he died in 1861.
As a footnote, the pistols used in the attack were later found to be properly loaded and fired perfectly on the next attempt. A century after the attack, researchers at the Smithsonian loaded them the same way and they fired on the first attempt. Odds of a double misfire were determined to be 125,000-to-1.
Sources:
“Andrew Jackson narrowly escapes assassination.” History.com
Andrews, Evan. “Andrew Jackson Dodges an Assassination Attempt, 180 Years Ago.” History.com