A history of U.S. President assassination attempts

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — July 13 marks the seventh time a U.S. President (in this case, former) has had an attempt on their life.

Donald Trump’s assassination attempt is the first time since 1981 that such an event occurred.

The information obtained in the article is from the Library of Congress and The White House .

Donald Trump: July 13, 2024

This past weekend, July 13, 2024, former President Donald Trump was in Butler, Pennsylvania for a rally when a bullet grazed his right ear. Gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks was posted on a rooftop 160 yards away from Trump’s stage where he fired multiple shots, grazing Trump’s ear and hitting the crowd. In the crowd, one died with two others in critical condition.

Trump would go to social media to address the situation and confirm his appearance at Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention a day after the assassination attempt. He is aiming for his second term of service.

Crooks was killed by the Secret Service shortly after he began shooting his AR-15. His profile and motives are still unclear.

Ronald Regan: March 30, 1981

After speaking in the Washington Hilton hotel, Ronald Regan had several revolver shots fired at him by John Hinckley Jr. with one bullet ricocheting off the side of Regan’s limousine, striking his left underarm, breaking a rib, puncturing a lung and causing serious internal bleeding. White House Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded. All four victims survived with Brady suffering brain injuries that left him permanently disabled. Regan was in his first year of serving, going on to serve seven more years.

Hinckley Jr. was seized and found not guilty by reason of insanity and remained under psychiatric care for over 30 years. A judge ruled that Hinckley could be released from the care as he was deemed no longer a threat in 2016, under conditions.

A 2021 ruling allowed Hinckley for unconditional release. Since 2020, he has been allowed to display his artwork, writings and music under his name.

Theodore Roosevelt- October 14, 1912

While campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a saloon keeper shot Theodore Roosevelt once in the chest with a .38-caliber Colt. Roosevelt had a 50-page speech and his metal glasses case in his breast pocket that slowed the bullet down, saving his life. Before there was a presidential term limit, this was Roosevelt’s third running, this time for the new Progressive Party where he ultimately lost. Roosevelt asked police not to harm his shooter and reassured everyone he was OK.

John Schrank was taken into custody and deemed insane. He said the ghost of a previously assassinated president told him that Roosevelt was his murderer and that Schrank should avenge him by taking Roosevelt’s life. Schrank was kept in the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

John F. Kennedy: November 22, 1963

While riding through Dallas, Texas in a presidential motorcade, John F. Kennedy was shot once in the head, dying immediately. Lee Harvey Oswald was positioned six stories up in a book depository where he took Kennedy’s life. Kennedy was and still is the youngest U.S. President to be nominated, dying at 42 years old. He did not complete his first term, serving only a little over 1,000 days as president.

Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, used a Carcano rifle as his murder weapon. He was arrested and detained by Dallas police, being transported to the Dallas Police Department Headquarters’ basement.

Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby was able to enter the building who then shot and killed Oswald. There are many conspiracies and contradicting information about Kennedy’s and Oswald’s deaths and shootings that make the situation unclear and complex.

William McKinley: September 6-14 1901

On September 6, while at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York, attending the Pan American Exposition, William McKinley was shot twice in the abdomen by Leon Czolgosz with a revolver. The first shot ricocheted off a metal accessory on McKinley with the second one piercing his stomach. Initially, McKinley was seemingly recovering before gangrene started to set in and around his wound, killing him on September 14.

McKinley was the ghost that Roosevelt’s shooter, Schrank, said spoke to him.

McKinley’s shooter, Czolgosz, was subdued and captured by police. After a two-day trial where he refused to defend himself, Czolgosz was convicted and later sentenced to death. On October 29, he was executed by electric chair. It is believed his actions were politically motivated though unknown what he believed would come from the shooting.

James A. Garfield: July 2- September 19, 1881

James A Garfield began his struggle on July 2 when he was shot at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. by writer and lawyer Charles J. Guiteau twice with a Bull Dog revolver. One grazed Garfield’s shoulder with the other piercing his back. For the next two months, Garfield would struggle with pain and health issues due to iatrogenic infections. Garfield only served seven months as president in 1881, but had over 20 years of political service until his death. Garfield was not able to accomplish much in his time, though The White House has attributed this to his presidency , “As the last of the log cabin Presidents, James A. Garfield attacked political corruption and won back for the Presidency a measure of prestige it had lost during the Reconstruction period.”

Guiteau was immediately arrested. After a highly publicized trial lasting from November 14, 1881, to January 25, 1882, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. On June 30, 1882, he was hung in the District of Colombia, two days before the anniversary of his shooting.

Abraham Lincoln: April 14-15, 1865

The first president to be assassinated was the 16th President of the United States. On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was killed at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. by well-known actor John Wilkes Booth. At first, the plan was to capture Lincoln and use him as ransom to release Confederate prisoners. However, upon hearing that Lincoln would be at the theatre, Booth and others formulated the assassination plan. Booth entered Lincoln’s booth and shot him in the back of the head, mortally wounding him and ultimately killing him the next day.

Booth was able to escape and fled to Maryland on horseback. Authorities were able to track him down 12 days later in a barn. His companion exited the barn and surrendered, but Booth remained. Authorities set the barn on fire, forcing Booth out where he would be shot in the neck, paralyzing him and killing him shortly after.

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