Learn Our History Today: January 30

Here’s something you probably didn’t learn in history class...On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson was almost assassinated.  As the president was leaving a congressional funeral at the Capitol building, an unemployed house painter named Richard Lawrence attempted to shoot Jackson, but his gun misfired.  Infuriated by the attempt, the president approached Lawrence and beat him several times with his walking cane!  During the brawl, Lawrence pulled out a second pistol and attempted to shoot the president, but the second gun also misfired - clearly, the assassination wasn’t meant to be and historians believe the double misfire was due to humid weather. The attempt on Jackson’s life was the first attempt to ever assassinate a president of the United States.  Lawrence’s reason for the attempt on Jackson’s life was simply that he blamed the president for the loss of his job.

In other presidential news, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on this day in 1882.  If you recall from a recent post, “FDR” was the only president to serve four terms.  FDR died in office on April 12, 1945, leaving his vice president, Harry S. Truman, to succeed him as president.

Without peaking, who can tell us what the “S” in Truman’s name stands for?