Attempted assassination of Andrew Jackson

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On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson, the 7th president of the United States, survived an assassination attempt outside of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. while returning to the White House from a funeral. Richard Lawrence, a British-American unemployed house painter, approached Jackson and attempted to shoot him, but both of Lawrence's pistols misfired. Jackson charged Lawrence and beat him with his walking cane before Lawrence was taken into custody. This is the first known attempted assassination of a U.S. president. After the assassination attempt, Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was institutionalized in an insane asylum for the remainder of his life. Jackson, aged 67 at the time of the assault, served for over two more years as president before completing his term in office. The odds of both pistols misfiring the way they did was estimated to be 1 in 125,000.

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