Andrew Jackson had his enemies, like the entire Whig Party, but it was a lunatic who tried to take him out. Richard Lawrence came to America from England at age 12. He grew up to become a house painter, but as an adult he began to evidence bizarre behavior, including violence toward his siblings. In 1835, he began to stalk the President. Richard believed he was actually King Richard II of England and held estates in England. He felt he was owed money from those estates, but Jackson’s opposition to the Second Bank of the United States was preventing him from getting the money. On Jan. 30, Lawrence knew Jackson would be attending the funeral of a Congressman in the House. He waited behind a column and when Jackson was walking out, Lawrence fired a derringer at his back. It misfired. As Jackson reacted by turning around and advancing with his walking cane held high, the assassin pulled another pistol. Incredibly, it misfired also. At this point, the 67-year-old “Old Hickory” was beating Lawrence with his cane when others (including Davy Crockett) intervened to arrest him. In his case, the prosecuting attorney was Francis Scott Key. Lawrence was clearly insane and was sent to an asylum. He died in 1861. A century after the attack, the Smithsonian Institute tested the derringers. Both fired perfectly. It has been estimated that the chance of both misfiring was 125,000 to one. The theory is that the humidity that day caused the powder to dampen. Whether it was Mother Nature or Lady Luck, Jackson should have been the first President assassinated. Of course, being Old Hickory, the bullets probably would have just bounced off him.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/andrew-jackson-narrowly-escapes-assassination
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lawrence_(failed_assassin)
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