Andrew Jackson Survives Assassination Attempt

Context

The 1830s marked the height of Jacksonian democracy, a period of intense political realignment as Andrew Jackson's supporters challenged established elites and expanded popular participation in government. Central conflicts included the Bank War over the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States and the nullification crisis, which pitted states' rights advocates against federal authority. These disputes fueled sharp partisan divisions and inflammatory rhetoric, with figures such as Senator John C. Calhoun publicly comparing Jackson to a Caesar who required a Brutus.

What Happened

On January 30, 1835, President Andrew Jackson attended the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. As he exited the service onto the East Portico, Richard Lawrence, a British-born unemployed house painter who had been observing the president's movements, stepped from behind a pillar and fired a flintlock pistol at Jackson's back. The weapon failed to discharge. Lawrence immediately drew a second pistol, but it too misfired amid the damp weather conditions. Jackson, then 67, advanced on his assailant and struck him repeatedly with his walking cane until bystanders, including Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett, restrained Lawrence.

Aftermath

Lawrence was arrested and tried in April 1835. Prosecutors, led by Francis Scott Key, presented evidence of his mental instability, including delusions that he was Richard III of England and that Jackson's opposition to a national bank blocked payment of a supposed government debt owed to him. The jury quickly found him not guilty by reason of insanity, and he was committed to institutions for the remainder of his life, dying in 1861 at what became St. Elizabeths Hospital. Jackson completed his second term without further incident, though he privately suspected political enemies, including Calhoun, of involvement despite the lack of evidence.

Legacy

The episode stands as the earliest documented attempt to assassinate a sitting U.S. president and illustrated the rudimentary state of executive security in the early republic. It contributed to Jackson's enduring image as a man of personal courage in an era of partisan violence. Over subsequent decades, the event formed part of the gradual evolution of presidential protection practices that eventually led to the establishment of the Secret Service. Some contemporaries viewed the dual misfires, with odds later estimated at one in 125,000, as providential.