Cold Open

It’s January 30th, 1835, inside a paint shop in Washington DC, during the final years of Andrew Jackson’s presidency.

The store’s owner, Richard Lawrence, paces back and forth across the creaking floor. Brushes hang on the wall, and the shop is stocked with wooden barrels full of paint, but Lawrence hasn’t worked in weeks. Instead, he’s preoccupied himself with a different task: developing a plan to kill the president.

Visibly agitated, Lawrence stops pacing. He picks up a book and tries reading to calm his mind. But it’s no use. He’s waited long enough.

He slams a book shut, stands up, and declares aloud: “I’ll be damned if I don’t do it.”

He pockets two single-shot brass pistols he loaded carefully days earlier… and takes to the misty cobblestone streets of DC.

Lawrence heads straight for the Capitol Building… where he finds a large crowd filing into the rotunda. South Carolina congressman Warren R. Davis has recently died, and all of Washington is attending the funeral service.

Among the mourners, Lawrence spots the person he’s looking for: the nation’s once formidable but now ailing president, Andrew Jackson, who walks with a cane and leans heavily on the arm of his Treasury Secretary. 

Lawrence slips both hands in his pockets and grips the pistols… pulling the hammers back into firing position. The moment is perfect. The president is totally exposed. 

But Lawrence hesitates, allows Jackson to enter the rotunda. With a line of fire obscured, Lawrence curses under his breath.

He then positions himself on the eastern portico, where he leans against a column he knows the president will pass en route to his carriage. Lawrence listens patiently to the sounds of the service from within the hall: there is a mass, the eulogy… and organ music. 

Finally, the massive hall doors swing open, and the pallbearers emerge carrying the heavy casket, followed by the mourners. They proceed down Capitol Hill, but Jackson veers off and shuffles across the portico with his attendants, brushing right past Lawrence, who reaches into his pockets… pulls out one of the pistols and aims directly for the president’s heart.

He pulls the trigger, but the pistol misfires.

Jackson hears the gunshot and whirls around in terror. The president’s fear turns to rage when he spots his attacker. He shrugs off his attendant, raises his cane over his head, and charges Lawrence, who takes aim with his second pistol…

Miraculously, the second pistol misfires as well, allowing Jackson to strike his failed assassin furiously with his cane.

The crowd intervenes and wrestles Lawrence to the ground, rescuing him from Jackson’s fury. As Lawrence is taken away, Jackson is ushered to his carriage. But before getting in, the president makes a bold announcement. For everyone to hear, he declares, “I know who’s behind this.” 

At the end of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, Washington DC was polarized. While still wildly popular among voters, the brash, combative, and sometimes violent president had split the city’s political elite in half, creating the conditions for unprecedented unrest. Many advocated for his impeachment, citing abuses of power; his vice president resigned in order to oppose him; some called for his murder, and Senator George Poindexter even threatened to shoot Jackson himself. Tensions finally boil over when a quiet house painter, Richard Lawrence, attempts the first assassination of a sitting US president, carrying out a plan President Jackson is sure Senator Poindexter planned, on January 30th, 1835.

Introduction

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is January 30th, 1835: The Attempted Assassination of Andrew Jackson.

Act One: Rumors

It’s January 31st, 1835, in Washington DC, the day after Richard Lawrence attempted to assassinate President Andrew Jackson.

Lawrence sits calmly inside a jail cell. While he is willing to say exactly why he tried to shoot the president, strangely, nobody is questioning him. Outside his cell though, rumors are swirling. 

The extreme polarization of Washington means that nearly every politician in town is accused of masterminding the plot to kill Jackson. Initially considered the most suspect is South Carolina Senator John C. Calhoun, Jackson’s former vice president who resigned in scandal. Calhoun is now Jackson’s most outspoken critic. And just days before the attempted assassination, he delivered a speech on the Senate floor during which he called Jackson “a Caesar in need of a Brutus.”

But in the current political climate not even Jackson’s supporters are safe from scrutiny. Martin Van Buren, who was chosen to succeed Calhoun as Vice President, has also been accused of masterminding the assassination attempt. It was said that he clearly had the most to gain: Jackson’s death would have allowed him to ascend to the presidency.

The city's newspapers lead the way in spinning these conspiracy theories. The pro-Jackson Washington Globe claims that Lawrence was either hired by a political rival, or at the very least incited to violence by the speeches of men like Calhoun. Conversely, the anti-Jackson United States Telegraph goes as far as to suggest that the entire attack was staged and that Lawrence was an actor paid by Jacksonians to fire at Jackson with faulty pistols, in an effort to win sympathy for the increasingly unpopular president.

In the past, Jackson’s supporters have planted reports of death threats against him in the media, aiming to drum up support. And so the Telegraph claims “it would not be surprised by any act of moral turpitude” committed by his administration.

Neither theory is supported by Richard Lawrence though, whom nobody has tried to interrogate. Suspicion acts faster than the law’s ability to ascertain his motives. The nation is so divided that nobody is above exploiting the president’s brush with death. Least of all, President Jackson himself.

From the moment Richard Lawrence was apprehended, Jackson believed Mississippi Senator George Poindexter was behind the attack. The two had once been friends. Both were proud, truculent men, fond of dueling. They fought alongside each other at the Battle of New Orleans, which ended the War of 1812, and Poindexter defended Jackson years later amid two of his most controversial scandals: first, when he invaded Spanish Florida without congressional approval, then again when he executed two British soldiers that he captured there. In both cases, Poindexter’s support helped save Jackson’s career. But in recent years, after a series of disagreements, the men have become both political and personal enemies.

The animosity reached its peak when Poindexter publicly accused the president of corruption. And in return, Jackson slandered Poindexter in the newspapers, to which Poindexter responded that he would “demand satisfaction” from the president, and “shoot him wherever he saw him.”

Now the president has been shot at, twice, and it’s no wonder that he suspects Poindexter. What’s more, the President has found two men who claim to have seen a man matching Richard Lawrence’s description enter Poindexter’s home on two occasions, one month and then one week before the failed shooting. This evidence appears damning.

So, on February 21st, twenty-two days after the attack, Poindexter addresses these accusations in the Senate. With fiery conviction, he calls for President Martin Van Buren to conduct an investigation. And Van Buren, a sworn enemy of Poindexter, agrees.

Whether the Vice President will conduct a fair investigation or doom Poindexter, only time will tell. Meanwhile, two other investigations will take place: one into the pistols used in the attack, and another finally into Richard Lawrence himself.

Act Two: Questioning

It’s early spring, 1835, and the investigation of Richard Lawrence is finally underway. Two doctors now visit Lawrence in his holding cell, hoping to find out why he tried to kill the president.

Doctors, rather than investigators, have been sent to question Lawrence because it’s necessary to determine whether he is considered medically sane enough to be convicted. In the days following the shooting, political actors were so eager to capitalize on the event that few considered the possibility that Lawrence was simply mentally ill and acting alone. After the dust settled though, it quickly became a theory which many considered plausible.

The doctors find the young house painter in surprisingly good spirits, seemingly unconcerned with his imprisonment or the impending trial. Lawrence is also remarkably forthcoming for a would-be assassin. He tells the doctors immediately that he acted alone and that he wants to kill Jackson to avenge his father, whom Jackson had murdered years earlier. At first glance, this seems believable, as Jackson is known to have participated in nearly one hundred duels. But a man sent to confirm this fact with Lawrence’s family discovers it’s a lie.

Upon further questioning, Lawrence pivots to a different story – that he’d recently been unable to find work and blamed Jackson’s economic policies for his misfortune. But this, too, is soon discovered to be a lie. Finally, Lawrence buckles and reveals his true motivation: he has recently come to believe that he is not actually Richard Lawrence, but that he is in fact Richard III, fifteenth-century king of England, and that Jackson’s government has prevented him from collecting a large fortune that he’s waiting to inherit. 

Hearing this, the doctors decide, Lawrence is not well.

Further questioning of Lawrence’s family confirms this. Apparently, Lawrence was a healthy, quiet, and responsible man all his life until several years ago when he started acting erratic.

First, he suddenly announced that he was returning to England, where he was born. He left at once and was gone for a month. When he returned, he revealed that he had not gone to England, because it was too cold. He soon disappeared for a second time, returning shortly after with a similar story.

Then he grew a mustache and developed a sudden enthusiastic interest in fashion, purchasing opulent suits and changing his outfit many times a day. He quit his job and spent his time standing rigidly in his doorway, chin pointed regally up in the air. Children jokingly called him “King Richard,” at which he nodded his approval.

But then finally, Lawrence grew paranoid and violent. He threatened his maid and tried to bludgeon his sister with a paperweight. He said that Andrew Jackson’s efforts to undermine the national bank were preventing him from accessing his fortune, and he swore revenge. He stalked the White House and the Capitol for several weeks, and when he saw his chance, he took it.

Once all this is discovered Lawrence’s mental illness is seemingly confirmed, but whether he worked alone or not, is still in doubt. The investigators wonder if he was taken advantage of and encouraged to seek his revenge, either by Senator George Poindexter or by a Jacksonian looking to stage an attack and win sympathy for the president.

The parallel investigation into accusations made against Senator Poindexter, promises to shed light on the situation.

The investigative committee, led by Vice President Van Buren, begins by questioning the president himself. Jackson claims that he can supply fifty witnesses linking Poindexter to Richard Lawrence. But only two men, agree to sign affidavits. Suspicion immediately falls on them. One worked as a blacksmith for the White House, and the other claimed that Poindexter owes him money.

The men’s credibility only deteriorates more upon further questioning. One is unable to identify Poindexter’s home, which he claims to have seen Lawrence entering. The other was spotted across town at the time which he claims to have seen Poindexter and Lawrence together. One of them is incapable of describing Lawrence altogether. And perhaps most damningly, by carefully recreating the arrangement of carriages on Poindexter’s street, the committee discovers that neither men could have seen Lawrence entering Poindexter’s home, even if they had been present.  

Now only one loose end remains to be investigated before the trial: the question of whether the pistols were deliberately rigged to misfire. In search of an answer, District Attorney Francis Scott Key – best known for writing The Star Spangled Banner – interrogates Lawrence. Lawrence claims that neither pistol has ever misfired before. So, Scott Key takes the pistols, which have not been touched since the attack, and tests them himself. Both pistols fire successfully. He reloads them and repeats the experiment dozens of times and each time both pistols discharge properly.

It will remain unknown how not one but both pistols could have misfired, and Scott Key will have neither the time nor the tools to solve this mystery. Soon, Vice President Martin Van Buren will complete his surprisingly impartial investigation into George Poindexter, declaring the senator innocent just in time for the trial of Richard Lawrence to begin. 

Act Three: The Trial

It’s April 11th, 1835, inside the Washington DC City Hall.

Richard Lawrence is finally facing a judge and jury, and a packed house of fascinated onlookers. Lawrence is dressed extravagantly, like the monarch he believes himself to be. He wears a gray shooting coat, a black cravat, a vest, and his best brown pantaloons.

Lawrence sits indignantly as the prosecutor, Francis Scott Key, produces countless witnesses who all attest to having seen him attempt to shoot President Andrew Jackson. In the jury’s eyes, his guilt is assured. The only thing that can save him now is a ruling of insanity.

And while Scott Key tries to convince the jury that Lawrence is only pretending to be insane, it’s obvious that no fakery is occurring. Lawrence oscillates wildly between appearing utterly tranquil and lashing out at the courtroom. One moment, he stands up and screams at the judge, accusing the United States government of stealing a fortune from him in 1802, when he was only two years old. The next moment, he sinks back into his chair, deflated, and whispers that the entire proceedings are beneath him. When, seconds later, he again becomes furious and a deputy restrains him, Lawrence calmly tells the man, “Mind your own business or I shall treat you with severity.”

To most present, it seems Lawrence is either the world’s greatest actor, or he truly believes himself to be the King of England. The doctors who interrogated him inform the jury that they believe his hallucinations are sincere.

So, when it’s finally time for the jury to make a ruling, they deliberate for only five minutes before returning with a verdict: not guilty, by reason of insanity. The crowd is strangely relieved. After months of accusations and slander, it’s somehow comforting to know that there was no larger plot to overthrow the government involved here.  

Richard Lawrence is taken to an asylum, where he remains until his death in 1861. He goes down in history as the first person to attempt to assassinate a sitting US president. And for another 30 years, nobody succeeds in that mission, until John Wilkes Booth shoots Abraham Lincoln. Over the decades to come, three other presidents will be assassinated, and two others wounded, a fate Andrew Jackson only narrowly escaped. Years after the attempt on his life, further tests on the pistols were conducted, and it was concluded that the odds of both misfiring were 1/125,000, when Richard Lawrence pulled the trigger trying to assassinate the President on January 30th, 1835.

Outro

Next on History Daily. January 31st, 1928. Leon Trotsky, one of the architects of the Russian Revolution, is exiled to Kazakhstan by his longtime rival, Joseph Stalin.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mischa Stanton

Music by Lindsay Graham.

This episode is written and researched by Owen Long.

Executive Producers are Alexandra Currie-Buckner for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.