Freemason President Assassination Attempt:

I can't remember a time when I wasn't aware of  "The Masons" - I've certainly worked under a number of bosses who were Freemasons .. some were half-decent blokes.**

Did you know that almost a third (14) of U.S. Presidents were Masons (so far):
George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Harding, F. D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Gerald Ford.

http://www.32nddegreemasons.org/

You don't get to be a Presidential candidate millionaire unless you walk tall .. mostly while stomping all over anyone getting in your way .. but Freemasons are supposed to be committed to being charitable and also to helping others in trouble - provided they have not been crooks. - Could work eh.

In 1835 President Andrew Jackson who was a prominent Freemason and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee became the first President ever to experience a assassination attempt (by Richard Lawrence) - when both of his two derringer percussion pistols failed to discharge. - Both percussion caps of the guns ignited - but failed to fire the main charges.

They were later re-primed and tested with fresh caps, and both guns fired flawlessly. Nobody knows why they failed to go off—they were properly loaded but it was a very damp & misty day - the high humidity/moisture may have affected the percussion caps. - A few believed that Jackson was extraordinarily lucky—most believed it was Divine Intervention that saved Andrew Jackson’s life that day. - More likely loopy-Lawrence never practiced with these guns.

Later NOTE: I was reminded this last Saturday (24 Feb 2018) that percussion caps will fail to ignite the main charge IF the gun was previously cleaned & OILED and the nipple passages may be fouled with oil and crud. - I had one such "flash-in-the-pan" type dud in the first cylinder full of my Ruger Old Army - and a later one that I credited maybe to sooty blockage?

Found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity.

There seems to be no record of what happened to the pistols after the trial - perhaps they are treasured artifacts in a Masonic Hall somewhere.

** When I told that then current Mason/manager I was getting married - he sternly rejoined "Haven't you got any friends?"  ... "If you had they'd tell you don't do it".

Marty K.