On this day, Jan. 30, in 1835, a deranged man tried to shoot President Jackson in the first known assassination attempt of an American president. Richard Lawrence believed he was King Richard III of England and that Jackson had killed his father.
Jackson was leaving a funeral service for a South Carolina congressman at the U.S. Capitol when Lawrence stepped from the crowd and pulled the trigger on his pistol.
Recommended Stories
Print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account
Digital subscriber? Click here to login/register your account.