What thoughts go through your mind when someone says, “This is your lucky day?” Winning the lottery? Getting a raise, or better yet in this economy, getting hired? Maybe finding out that the spot you thought was melanoma truly is a just big discoloration on your skin? All of those would probably fit within the definition of the term ‘lucky day’. How about this one – cheating death; and not doing it just once, but twice – at close range! That very thing happened to President Andrew Jackson.
On January 30, 1835, President Jackson had just left the House of Representatives where he attended the funeral service for South Carolina Congressman Warren Davis. Behind one of the columns on the capitol’s eastern portico, Richard Lawrence lay in wait for him, armed with two loaded pistols.
When Jackson was within eight feet of the would-be assassin, Lawrence leaped out from his place of hiding, pointed the pistol in his right hand at the President and pulled the trigger. Though the percussion cap exploded, the pistol misfired. As Jackson used his cane to attack the assailant, Lawrence pulled the trigger on the second pistol which, thankfully for Jackson, also misfired. Given Jackson’s good luck that day, it’s a shame he did not buy a lottery ticket. The odds of two pistols misfiring in that manner are 125,000 to 1. What is even more incredible is when the guns were later checked after the apprehension of Lawrence (with the aid of Congressman Davy Crockett) both of them worked flawlessly.
Lawrence went to trial with Francis Scott Key serving as the prosecutor. He was freed on an insanity plea and remained in a mental institution until his death in 1861. Prior to the assassination attempt, Lawrence worked as a painter. Thoughts at the time of his arrest were that exposure to the various chemicals in his paints could possibly have contributed to his mental instability. By the time he attempted the assault on President Jackson, he was unemployed and had concieved the delusional thought his true identity was that of King Richard III of England.
Its unfortunately history does not record what went through Jackson’s mind as his walked away from the capitol to live yet another day.
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