It is January 30th, and 188 years ago today the nation was shocked by the first known assassination attempt on a sitting president of the United States. The attempt by Richard Lawrence on the life of President Andrew Jackson was, in itself, high drama, and his trial one of great attention. And yet, even an assassin turned out to be far less interesting than Washington Politics.
The “Murder at the Regatta” was a story of jealousy, passion, and some say even madness that shocked and fascinated the nation, and changed the very nature of how murder was seen and prosecuted in the United States.