Trump assassination attempt harkens back to Gerald Ford’s near misses

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The shooting at former President Donald Trump’s rally Saturday left Americans around the nation shocked. But he’s not the only president to face this kind of violence.

Throughout U.S. history, there have been countless plots and attempts to assassinate U.S. presidents, including President Gerald R. Ford, who grew up in Grand Rapids. Ford survived not one, but two assassination attempts.

“Ford mentioned that he didn’t want to be captive in the White House, he wanted to continue to move about the country, connect with the American people,” said Dr. Mirelle Luecke, supervisory curator.

And that’s exactly what Ford did after being shot at on Sept. 5, 1975. Mirelle Luecke, curator at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library described what happened that day.

“He was in California. He was walking from his hotel room to go to the capitol to talk to Governor Jerry Brown of California and as he was stopping, talking with the crowd, a woman started walking up to him, she drew a gun, and the secret service noticed, and one secret service agent, Larry Buendorf, was able to get his hand in between the hammer of the gun and the gun itself, and prevent the assassination attempt,” Luecke said.

The would-be assassin was Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, who was arrested and later convicted. The gun she used is on display in the museum.

Luecke said at the time, there were talks on whether Ford should be traveling during that time, particularly back to California.

But he did. Seventeen days later on Sept. 22 , there was another attempt to end his life.

“As he’s moving from the hotel to the limousine, Sara Jane Moore fires a shot, which misses Ford’s head by about 5 inches, lodges in the door of the hotel,” said Luecke.

She said a bystander made his way to the woman, grabbed her arm, and a second shot was fired. It didn’t hit Ford, but it did hit a bystander who later recovered. The Secret Service then rushed Ford to the limousine.

They all jumped on top of him to keep him close to the floor.

“After they’ve driven a few blocks, Ford tells the story he says to the Secret Service agents, ‘Guys can you get up now, you’re smothering me,’” Luecke quoted Ford.

Following the assassination attempts, Luecke said more than 6,000 people sent Ford letters wishing him the best and offering their support.

Some 300 people wrote him, asking if he could cut back on his travel schedule. Ford told reporters that presidents need to stay in touch with the people. Luecke read a quote from Ford.

“I don’t think any person as president ought to cower the face of limited number of people who want to take the law into their own hands. The American people want a dialogue between them and their president and their other public officials, and if we can’t have that opportunity of talking with other people, seeing one another, shaking hands with one another, something is gone wrong in our society,” Luecke read of Ford’s quote.

After the second assassination attempt, Ford was fitted with a bulletproof jacket, which is in the museum. He talked about how he thought it was very important to wear it, but it was uncomfortable, weighing nearly six pounds.

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