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On January 30, 1835, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed English-American house painter, attempted to assassinate United States president Andrew Jackson in Washington D.C. Lawrence attempted to fire two derringers at Jackson, both of which failed. It was the first known attempted assassination of a president of the United States.

Assassination attempt
On January 30, 1835, several US politicians had gathered for the funeral of Warren R. Davis, who had represented South Carolina's 6th congressional district since 1827. Andrew Jackson and most of his cabinet were in attendance at the funeral. Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter who had emigrated to the US, had hidden himself behind a pillar outside the Capitol rotunda.

As Jackson and his cabinet left the building and proceeded towards the east portico, Lawrence aimed one of his two single-shot derringers at Jackson's chest and pulled the trigger three paces away from him. The gun produced an explosion, fired the cap, but failed to discharge the bullet. Jackson advanced towards Lawrence with his cane; however, before Jackson could reach Lawrence, he had dropped the first derringer, withdrawn out a second, and pulled the trigger: it too misfired.

Jackson and others attributed his survival to divine providence. However, the reason for the failure of both guns to fire may be because of the dampness of the air that day.