Jackson escapes assassination attempt Jan. 30, 1835 - Andrew Glass - POLITICO.com: On this day in 1835, Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) became the first U.S. president to be targeted by an assassin.
Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, approached Jackson as he left a congressional funeral held in the House chamber of the Capitol and shot at him. His gun misfired.
A delusional Lawrence believed that the U.S. government owed him a large sum that Jackson was keeping from him.
Release of the funds, he thought, would allow him to take his rightful place as King Richard III of England.