History of US Presidential Assassinations: Political Violence
Abraham Lincoln Assassination. Image: Wikipedia
HISTORY OF US PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATIONS: POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN AMERICA
Dion‘s 1968 hit song “Abraham, Martin, and John” tells of the well-known assassinations of three American leaders.
Then it ends with a last verse:
“Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill
With Abraham, Martin, and John.”
… referring to the assassination of Robert Kennedy, a Democratic candidate for president in the 1968 election.
Joseph P. Kennedy II and his mother, Ethel Kennedy, at the grave of Robert F. Kennedy in Arlington National Cemetery on Aug. 9, 1968, the day after Robert Kennedy’s funeral, with two Secret Service men standing behind them. Image: Getty Images on Axios
I write this just days after the attempted assassination of the former president and now the official Republican candidate for president in the 2024 election, Donald Trump, while he spoke at an outdoor rally in Pennsylvania.
How is this like other American assassination attempts, and how does it differ?
CONTENTS
- Why Is This So Startling?
- First Attempted Assassination of an American President
- Presidents Injured by Assassination Attempts
- Unsuccessful Assassination Attempts
- Historical Perspective
- Uniqueness of This Assassination Attempt
- How Can We Be Better Informed?
Why Is This So Startling?
Whether it’s an actual assassination or an attempted one, it is a terrifying and disorienting wound to the American psyche.
American citizens place so much confidence in their president or even their presidential candidate. They represent their hero, leadership personified in a single individual.
Other countries may replace their current government with assassinations, but it’s supposed to be different in a representative democracy like the United States of America, where we have the peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next.
It’s been 43 years between the attempt on Donald Trump and the previous one when President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured in 1981.
First Attempted Assassination of an American President
The first attempted assassination of an American president was on January 30, 1835, when President Andrew Jackson was in the Capitol Building. But the firearms misfired, and the president was not harmed.
But four standing presidents have been assassinated by gunshots while in office:
- Lincoln in 1865
- Garfield in 1881
- McKinley in 1901
- Kennedy in 1963
US President Assassination Timeline. Image: Statista
Presidents Injured by Assassination Attempts
Three presidents have been injured but not killed by gunfire in attempted assassinations:
- Former president Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, by John Schrank
- Ronald Reagan, while in office in 1981, by John Hinckley Jr.
- Former president Donald Trump in 2024, by Thomas Matthew Crooks
Most assassination plotters were arrested and punished by execution or lengthy detainment in a prison or insane asylum. Others, like the most recent attempt, are killed immediately.
Roosevelt shortly after leaving office in October 1910. Image: Wikipedia
Teddy Roosevelt was campaigning for a return to the White House – representing the Progressive Party – after serving as the Republican president from 1901-1909. The party was given the nickname Bull Moose when Roosevelt said,
“I’m feeling like a Bull Moose.”
Progressive (Bull Moose) Party pin. Image: Wikipedia
Roosevelt was shot during a campaign speech in Milwaukee. While blood was seeping through his suit, he continued his speech for 90 minutes, saying,
“I have been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a bull moose.”
Roosevelt survived with a bullet lodged in his chest muscle after the bullet’s impact had been softened by his 50-page thick speech folded in his jacket pocket and a steel glasses case in his pocket. The bullet remained there for the rest of his life.
Image: Encyclopedia Britannica
While Roosevelt beat the incumbent Republican president, William Howard Taft, the election was won by Democrat Woodrow Wilson.
George Wallace, then-Alabama governor and Democratic presidential hopeful, was shot five times after a rally in Maryland on May 15, 1972. He was paralyzed from the waist down. Though an infamous segregationist before the shooting, he changed his ways and spent his remaining years seeking forgiveness from the Black community he had persecuted by sowing hatred and division during the Civil Rights movement.
Unsuccessful Assassination Attempts
Both Harry S. Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt were shot at and missed, but others nearby were killed.
Fifty years ago, Gerald Ford survived not just one but two shooting attempts within seventeen days in 1975. In the first attempt, the shooter was disarmed; in the second attempt, the shooter missed. Ford wore a bulletproof trench coat in public for the remainder of his term. He lost the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter.
In 2005, a grenade was thrown at George W. Bush during a rally in Georgia, but it did not explode.
Historical Perspective
The Chicago Democratic National Convention of 1968 and the upcoming one, again in Chicago, on August 19, 2024, bracket the active years of my generation, the Baby Boomers, who nostalgically hang on to the memories of their youth.
However, our current president, Joseph Biden, is of another generation. Born in 1942, Biden belongs to the Silent Generation, born between the Greatest Generation, which lived through the Depression, and the larger generation of Boomers. The Silent Generation of government officials includes Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who are also in their 80s.
Which Generations have the most members in Congress? Image: Pew Research
Despite the Silent Generation’s shrinking numbers in Congress, along with the dominant Boomers, they control nearly 80% of political spending:
Which Generation Has the Most Influence Over U.S. Politics? Image: Visual Capitalist
Uniqueness of This Assassination Attempt
Immediately after this recent shooting, conspiracy theories ran rampant online following the first assassination attempt in the era of social media. The vitriol, anger, hatred, and wild theories reflect something particular about instant responses to events.
- Social media provides fast response to local, national, and international news. Elon Musk boasted that X/Twitter broke the story first. What it lacks is careful analysis.
- The press or traditional news outlets like TV and newspapers usually give us better analysis and more measured responses than social media.
Regrettably, the “fourth estate” has become polarized along mostly partisan lines.
Media Bias Version 6.0. Image: Ad Fontes Media
How Can We Be Better Informed?
In a media maelstrom where there is more heat than light, we can make sure we get a balanced view from the news we consume.
- If you read the New York Times, do you also check out the Wall Street Journal?
- If you follow CNN, do you also check out Fox News Sunday?
I do. I trust my gentle readers are doing the same.
Additionally, I subscribe to the free 1440 Daily Digest, a survey of 100+ sources: culture, science, sports, politics, and business – impartial, in a 5-minute read.
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
