PRESIDENT JACKSON SURVIVES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson* was the target of the first assassination attempt on a President of the United States.
The President was leaving a funeral service at the Capitol when he was approached by an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence**.
Lawrence, who had a family history of mental illness, was carrying two loaded pistols which were primed and ready to fire. When the President was within ten feet, the would-be assassin fired one of the pistols but while the cap exploded, a bullet did not discharge.
A navy lieutenant accompanying Jackson knocked Lawrence down but he got up, pulled out his other pistol and fired it at the President. The second pistol also misfired. Jackson then proceeded to beat Lawrence over the head with his hickory cane.
A group of people came to help restrain the shooter including Congressman Davy Crockett of Tennessee. Crockett later wrote...
"I wanted to see the damnedest villan in the world and now I have seen him."
*President Jackson was at the Capitol attending the funeral of a South Carolina representative. Lawrence stepped out from behind a column of the East side of the building as the President was exiting from the funeral.
**Richard Lawrence (1800-1861) was born in England. RL came to the U.S. at the age of 12 & later became a house painter. At his trial in 1835, Lawrence was found "NOT GUILTY by reason of insanity." He spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum.
SOURCE
"The Daily: The History Page, Hard Target Andrew Jackson escapes an assassin's point blank pistol shots," by Ruth Graham, January 14, 2012,
www.thedaily.com
Etching of Assassination Attempt
on President Andrew Jackson
www.en.wikipedia.org/
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson* was the target of the first assassination attempt on a President of the United States.
The President was leaving a funeral service at the Capitol when he was approached by an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence**.
Lawrence, who had a family history of mental illness, was carrying two loaded pistols which were primed and ready to fire. When the President was within ten feet, the would-be assassin fired one of the pistols but while the cap exploded, a bullet did not discharge.
A navy lieutenant accompanying Jackson knocked Lawrence down but he got up, pulled out his other pistol and fired it at the President. The second pistol also misfired. Jackson then proceeded to beat Lawrence over the head with his hickory cane.
A group of people came to help restrain the shooter including Congressman Davy Crockett of Tennessee. Crockett later wrote...
"I wanted to see the damnedest villan in the world and now I have seen him."
*President Jackson was at the Capitol attending the funeral of a South Carolina representative. Lawrence stepped out from behind a column of the East side of the building as the President was exiting from the funeral.
**Richard Lawrence (1800-1861) was born in England. RL came to the U.S. at the age of 12 & later became a house painter. At his trial in 1835, Lawrence was found "NOT GUILTY by reason of insanity." He spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum.
SOURCE
"The Daily: The History Page, Hard Target Andrew Jackson escapes an assassin's point blank pistol shots," by Ruth Graham, January 14, 2012,
www.thedaily.com
Etching of Assassination Attempt
on President Andrew Jackson
www.en.wikipedia.org/
