Lawrence Misses Jackson: First Attempt on U.S. President Fails

Richard Lawrence pointed two pistols at President Andrew Jackson on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on January 30, 1835, in the first assassination attempt against an American president. Both pistols misfired. The odds of two consecutive misfires from properly loaded weapons were later estimated at roughly 125,000 to one, though the damp weather that day likely affected the percussion caps. Jackson, who was 67 years old and in declining health, reportedly charged his assailant with a cane and had to be restrained by aides, including Congressman Davy Crockett, who helped subdue Lawrence on the ground. Lawrence was a house painter who had been exhibiting increasingly erratic behavior in the months before the attack, telling acquaintances that he was the rightful King of England and that Jackson had killed his father. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity after a trial that lasted only minutes and spent the remaining twenty-six years of his life in institutions. The incident reinforced Jackson's public image as a man of physical courage and iron will, qualities his supporters had celebrated since his frontier military career. It also exposed how vulnerable American presidents were to attack: Jackson had no security detail, walked to and from the Capitol routinely, and held public receptions at the White House where any citizen could enter and shake his hand. Formal presidential protection would not be established until the Secret Service assumed the role in 1901, after the assassination of William McKinley.