11. Assassination Attempt Ends With Bystanders Rescuing the Assassin from Getting Beat to Death by His Target
To carry out his assassination, Richard Lawrence waited behind one of the US Capitol’s pillars. When Andrew Jackson passed by, he took a shot at the president’s back. The pistol misfired. Lawrence pulled out a second pistol and tried another shot, only to get another misfire. By then, Jackson had noticed what Lawrence was up to, and was understandably pissed off. That was bad news for Lawrence.
Although 67-years-old at the time – quite old and long in the tooth by the standards of the day – an enraged Jackson fell upon the much younger Lawrence, and proceeded to bludgeon him with his cane. The would-be assassin was lucky in that people in the vicinity intervened to stop a riled-up Old Hickory from beating him to death. Bystanders stepped in to restrain the president, and hustled Lawrence off to the safety of prison.
Related: Ten Political Leaders Who Survived Multiple Assassination Attempts.