January 30, 1835: At the Capitol Building, a house painter named Richard Lawrence aimed two flintlock pistols at the President, but both misfired, one of them while Lawrence stood within 13 feet (4 m) of Jackson and the other at point-blank range.[11] After firing the two pistols, Lawrence was apprehended after Jackson beat him with his cane. Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to a mental institution until his death in 1861.
Lawrence worked as a painter and there is speculation that exposure to the chemicals in his paints may have contributed to his derangements. By the early 1830s he was unemployed and had succumbed to the delusion that he was King Richard III of England. His personality changed dramatically around this point. He was previously conservatively dressed, but now he dressed flamboyantly, and grew a moustache.
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