Before the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, there had been several instances of political violence targeting U.S. presidents, former presidents, and major party presidential candidates. Here’s an overview of the most significant assassination attempts in American politics.
1865 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th President. Killed.
Lincoln was the first U.S. president to be assassinated. He was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, while attending a special performance of the comedy Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln.
Lincoln was taken to a house across the street for medical attention after being shot in the back of the head. He died the next morning. His support for Black rights was cited as a motive for the assassination.
Two years earlier, during the Civil War, Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, granting freedom to slaves in the Confederacy.
Vice President Andrew Johnson succeeded him.
Booth was killed on April 26, 1865, after being found hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia.
1881 – James Garfield, 20th President. Died three months later.
Garfield was the second U.S. president to be assassinated, just six months into his term. He was walking through a train station in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1881, when Charles Guiteau shot him.
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, unsuccessfully tried to locate the bullet in Garfield’s chest using a device specially designed for the president. Garfield lingered for weeks in the White House before being moved to the New Jersey coast, where he died in September.
He was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur.
Guiteau was found guilty and executed in June 1882.
1901 – William McKinley, 25th President. Died one week later.
McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901, after giving a speech in Buffalo, New York. While shaking hands with attendees, a man shot him twice in the chest at close range. Doctors initially expected him to recover, but gangrene developed around the bullet wounds.
McKinley died on September 14, 1901, six months into his second term.
He was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
The assailant, 28-year-old Leon F. Czolgosz, confessed to the attack. He was found guilty and executed in the electric chair on October 29, 1901.
1933 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President. Unharmed.
President-elect Roosevelt had just given a speech in Miami from the back of an open car in February 1933 when gunshots rang out. Roosevelt was not hit, but Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was killed.
The attacker, Giuseppe Zangara, was sentenced to death.
1950 – Harry Truman, 33rd President. Unharmed.
In November 1950, while staying at Blair House across from the White House, Truman was targeted by two armed men who attempted to storm the residence. Truman was unharmed, but a White House police officer and one attacker were killed in the gunfight. Two other officers were injured.
Oscar Collazo was sentenced to death, but Truman commuted it to life in prison in 1952. President Jimmy Carter released him in 1979.
1963 – John F. Kennedy, 35th President. Killed.
Kennedy was shot with a high-powered rifle by a hidden gunman in November 1963 while riding in a motorcade with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.
He was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died shortly after.
Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president aboard Air Force One — the only president to take the oath in an airplane.
Police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald hours after the assassination, having found a sniper’s nest in a nearby book depository.
Two days later, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald while he was being transferred to a county jail.
1975 – Gerald Ford, 38th President. Unharmed.
Ford faced two assassination attempts within weeks in 1975, escaping both unscathed.
In the first, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, aimed a semi-automatic pistol at Ford in Sacramento but did not fire.
She was sentenced to prison and released in 2009.
Seventeen days later, Sara Jane Moore fired a shot at Ford outside a San Francisco hotel. She missed, and a bystander grabbed her arm before she could fire again.
She was imprisoned and released in 2007.
1981 – Ronald Reagan, 40th President. Survived.
In March 1981, Reagan had just finished a speech in Washington and was heading to his motorcade when John Hinckley Jr. fired at him from the crowd.
Reagan survived, as did three others who were wounded, including Press Secretary James Brady, who was left partially paralyzed.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a mental hospital. He was released from court supervision in 2022 after being deemed no longer a threat.
2005 – George W. Bush, 43rd President. Unharmed.
Bush was attending a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili when a hand grenade was thrown at him.
Bush and Saakashvili were behind a bulletproof barrier. The grenade, wrapped in fabric, landed about 30 meters away but did not detonate. No one was injured.
The attacker, Vladimir Arutyunian, was sentenced to life in prison.
Assassination Attempts on Presidential Candidates
1912 – Theodore Roosevelt, Presidential Candidate. Slightly injured.
Former President Roosevelt was shot in Milwaukee in 1912 while campaigning for a third term as an independent.
A folded speech and metal glasses case in his pocket helped slow the bullet. He was not seriously injured.
The attacker, John Schrank, was arrested and spent the rest of his life in mental institutions.
1968 – Robert F. Kennedy, Presidential Candidate. Killed.
Kennedy was running for the Democratic nomination when he was shot at a Los Angeles hotel moments after giving a victory speech following the California primary.
A U.S. Senator from New York and brother of the late President John F. Kennedy, Robert was fatally wounded. Five others were injured in the shooting.
Sirhan Sirhan was convicted and initially sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment. His most recent request for parole was denied last year.
1972 – George Wallace, Presidential Candidate. Paralyzed.
While campaigning for the Democratic nomination in Maryland in 1972, Wallace was shot and left paralyzed from the waist down.
The Alabama governor was known for his segregationist views, which he later renounced.
The attacker, Arthur Bremer, was imprisoned and released in 2007.
2024 – Donald Trump. Injured.
Former President Donald Trump was lightly wounded in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Several shots were heard about five minutes into Trump’s outdoor speech in Butler. It was later confirmed that he was grazed by a bullet.
The shooter was killed by Secret Service agents. One rally attendee was killed, and two others were seriously injured.
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