While attending a funeral service in the Capitol Rotunda one
day, President Andrew Jackson was approached by a house painter
named Richard Lawrence. Lawrence got within six feet of Jackson
before aiming two pistols and pulling the triggers. Incredibly,
both guns misfired. (Lawrence was arrested and his guns, upon
examination, were found to be in good working order.) Jackson
narrowly avoided becoming the first president in history to be
assassinated. [Lawrence was seized and jailed. Confined to a
mental hospital, he was later diagnosed as a monomaniac.]