Since the United States’ inception, there have been a total of 4 sitting Presidents assassinated with another 11attempted assassinations, alongside the most recent one on former President Trump. We’ll be taking a look at all of the assassinations alongside some of the most prominent attempts.
Successful assassinations
Abraham Lincoln (16th President)
Assassinated: April 14, 1865 (died April 15, 1865)
Assassin: John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and Confederate sympathizer.
Details: Lincoln was shot while attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Booth then jumped onto the stage and escaped, he was later killed by Union soldiers.
James A. Garfield (20th President)
Assassinated: July 2, 1881 (died September 19, 1881)
Assassin: Charles Guiteau.
Details: Garfield was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. Guiteau shot him twice, once in the arm and once in the back. Garfield died of infections related to his wounds several months later.
William McKinley (25th President)
Assassinated: September 6, 1901 (Died September 14, 1901)
Assassin: Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist
Details: McKinley was shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Czolgosz approached him during a public reception and shot him twice in the abdomen. McKinley died of gangrene caused by his wounds.
John F Kennedy (35th President)
Assassinated: November 22, 1963
Assassin: Lee Harvey Oswald.
Details: Kennedy was shot while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Oswald fired from a nearby building, hitting Kennedy in the neck and head. Kennedy was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting.
Attempted Assassinations
A total of 11 attempted assassinations, here are the 3 most prominent:
Andrew Jackson:
The first attempted assassination in US history, occurring on the 30th of January 1835.
Richard Lawrence was the “to-be” assassin working as an unemployed house painter.
Lawrence attempted to shoot Jackson outside the Capitol Building. Both of Lawrence's pistols misfired, and Jackson subdued him with his cane.
The reasoning behind Lawrence’s attempt was heavily due to his own delusions. Lawrence believed Jackson was personally responsible for his own problems, including his lack of employment and financial difficulties.
Richard Nixon:
The attempt on Nixon occurred on the 22nd of February 1974, attempted by Samual Byck.
Byck attempted to hijack a plane with the intention of crashing it into the white house, however he was shot and killed by the police before he could ever take off.
Samuel Byck's attempt to assassinate President Richard Nixon was driven by his deep-seated frustration with the government and his belief that Nixon was responsible for his personal and financial problems, similar to Richard Lawrence.
Byck had experienced a series of personal and professional failures, including a failed marriage and unsuccessful business ventures.
He believed that the government, and particularly Nixon's administration, was responsible for the economic hardships he faced.
Ronald Reagan
The third and closest to a successful attempt was the attempt on Ronald Reagan.
The attempt occurred on the 30th of March, 1981 by a John Hinckley Jr.
Reagan was shot and wounded outside a Washington, D.C. hotel. The bullet punctured a lung and caused serious internal bleeding, but Reagan survived after emergency surgery. Three others were also wounded in the attack.Hinckley’s reasoning for his attempt is significantly different from the previous two. His attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan was driven primarily by his obsession with actress Jodie Foster and his desire to impress her.
Hinckley became obsessed with Foster after watching the film "Taxi Driver," in which she played a young prostitute.
He repeatedly tried to contact her and believed that committing a high-profile act of violence would capture her attention and earn her affection.
The attempt on former President Trumps life.
On the 13th of July 2024, an attempted assassination occurred during a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. Trump, the Republican Party's nominee for the 2024 presidential election, was shot in the ear, but survived the attempt.
The perpetrator is known to be Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old also from Pennsylvania.
Crooks's motive is still under investigation. Initial reports suggest potential links to domestic terrorism.
The FBI and Secret Service are carrying out investigations in an attempt to understand how Crooks managed to execute his plan, including his access to the rally and weapon.