Assassinations of presidents and attempts to assassinate presidents and those campaigning for the office have been a feature of American history since 1776.
Assassinations of presidents and attempts to assassinate presidents and those campaigning for the office, have been a feature of American history. Here is a list of some of the assassinations and attempted assassinations that have occurred since 1776.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president
14 April 1865. Lincoln, the first president to be assassinated, was shot by John Wilkes Booth as he and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, attended a special performance of the comedy “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. Lincoln was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson. Booth was shot and killed on 26 April 1865, hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia.
James Garfield, the 20th president
2 July 1881. Garfield, the second president to be assassinated, was killed was shot by Charles Guiteau six months after taking office, while walking through a train station in Washington, D.C. to catch a train to New England. The mortally wounded president lay at the White House for several weeks, but died in September after he was taken to the New Jersey shore. He was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur. Guiteau was executed in June 1882.
William McKinley, the 25th president
6 September 1901. McKinley was shot after giving a speech in Buffalo, New York. Doctors had expected McKinley to recover but gangrene then set in around the bullet wounds. McKinley, who was six months into his second term, was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. Leon F. Czolgosz, an unemployed, 28-year-old Detroit resident, admitted to the shooting. He was put to death in the electric chair on 29 October 1901.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president
15 February 1933. Roosevelt, then the president-elect, had just given a speech in Miami from the back of an open car when gunshots were fired. The gunman aimed to kill FDR, but instead mortally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who was standing next to the president-elect. Zangara admitted to the killing and refused to appeal his conviction, He was executed on 20 March 1933.
Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president
1 November 1950. Truman was staying at Blair House, across the street from the White House, when two gunmen broke in, guns blazing. Truman was not injured, but a White House policeman and one of the assailants were killed in the exchange of gunfire. Two other White House policemen were wounded. The other assailant, Oscar Callazo, was sentenced to death, but in 1952 Truman commuted his sentence to life in prison. President Jimmy Carter ordered his release from prison in 1979.
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president
22 November 1963. Kennedy was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in an open car in Dallas, Texas with first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. He was succeeded by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was sworn into office in a conference room aboard Air Force One. Hours after the assassination, police arrested Oswald. Two days later, Oswald was fatally shot by Jack Ruby while being taken from police headquarters to the county jail.
Gerald Ford, the 38th president
5 and 22 September 1975. Ford faced two assassination attempts within two weeks in 1975. On 5 September, Ford was on his way to a meeting with California’s governor in Sacramento when Charles Manson follower Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme pushed through a crowd on the street, drew a semi-automatic pistol, and pointed it at Ford, but the gun jammed. Fromme was sentenced to prison and released in 2009. On 22 September, Sara Jane Moore approached Ford outside a hotel in San Francisco and fired one shot, which missed. Moore was sent to prison and released in 2007.
Ronald Reagan, the 40th president
30 March 1981. Reagan was leaving the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. after a speech when he was shot by John Hinckley Jr., who was in the crowd. Three other people were shot, including his press secretary, James Brady, who was partially paralyzed as a result. Hinckley was confined to a mental hospital after a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity. In 2022, Hinckley was freed from court oversight after a judge determined he was “no longer a danger to himself or others.”
George W. Bush, the 43rd president
10 May 2005. Bush was attending a rally in Tbilisi in 2005 with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili when a hand grenade was thrown toward them. The grenade did not explode, and no one was hurt. Vladimir Arutyunian was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Theodore Roosevelt, presidential candidate
14 Octoer 1912. The former president was in Milwaukee in 1912, campaigning to return to the White House, when he was shot. Folded papers and a metal glasses case in Roosevelt’s pocket blunted the bullet’s impact and he was not seriously hurt. John Schrank was arrested and spent the remainder of his life in mental hospitals.
Robert F. Kennedy, presidential candidate
5 June 1968. Kennedy, then a New York senator, was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination when he was killed at a Los Angeles hotel. Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted to life in prison, and his repeated attempt to be released have all been denied.
George C. Wallace, presidential candidate
15 May 1972. Wallace, the governor of Alabama, was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination when he was shot during a campaign stop in Maryland in 1972. The shooting left him paralyzed from the waist down. Arthur Bremer was convicted of the shooting and sentenced to prison. He was released in 2007.
