Assassinations and murders of US leaders: almost every American president was at gunpoint

Assassinations and murders of US leaders: almost every American president was at gunpoint Irina Chebotnikova

The most famous assassinations of US presidents are the deaths of Lincoln and Kennedy/Channel 24 collage, photo used by Getty Images

The attack on Trump on July 13 will certainly affect the American elections. Many are confident that the Republican will now definitely win. But this is not the first attempt on the life of a president or presidential candidate in US history.

Journalists argue that these attacks shaped US history. After Trump was wounded, the assassination of Kennedy is at least remembered, but there were many more such attempts. 24 Channel collected the most famous of them.

Assassinations of American Presidents

The assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield and William McKinley eventually led to the expansion of the Secret Service's powers, while the assassination of John Kennedy shocked the nation and led to increased security around the president. However, Gerald Ford was the target of two high-profile assassination attempts within 18 days, and Ronald Reagan was seriously wounded by a bullet early in his presidency in 1981. Almost every modern president has been a target. The Secret Service foiled almost all of these assassinations, only a few of which resulted in injuries, writes Bloomberg.

In the 250-year history of the United States, four presidents have been assassinated and three wounded . Interestingly, voters were concerned about possible violence associated with the current presidential election. This was evidenced by poll data.

A landmark assassination for American history was the death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Actor John Wilkes Booth pursued the US national hero for almost two weeks and initially wanted to kidnap him, but changed plans after hearing about the granting of voting rights to African Americans. Booth supported the Confederates of the South, who were defeated by the North in the Civil War. He was found and captured, and died from wounds inflicted during the capture.

William McKinley was assassinated in 1901, and James Garfield in 1881. Both assassins were executed.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. The shooter was Lee Harvey Oswald, who himself was killed a few days later. This is one of the most famous assassinations of world politicians. The debate over whether someone was behind Oswald continues to this day: many do not believe the official version of a lone shooter.

Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan shot and killed Kennedy's younger brother, Robert Francis Kennedy, 1968. He was a candidate in the Democratic Party primaries. The killer was sentenced to life and is still in prison. Interestingly, Kennedy's son will run as an independent candidate for president in 2024.

Actually < strong>there are many similarities between the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy. For example, before the murder they survived one assassination attempt, but the second one became fatal.

Attempts on American presidents

Shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks, who almost killed Trump in Pennsylvania, was eliminated. The bullet passed a few centimeters from Trump's head, hitting his ear. However, the Republican candidate left the hospital quite quickly. Before that Trump was targeted in 2016 – a 20-year-old British man tried to take a gun from a policeman at a rally. He admitted his guilt and was deported. In 2017 and 2018, assassination attempts were also planned on Trump.

White racists wanted to assassinate Barack Obama. This was back in 2008, when Obama was still a candidate. In addition, there were a number of assassination attempts.

In Georgia in 2005 a grenade was thrown towards the podium where George W. Bush and Mikheil Saakashvili were standing. It didn't explode.

Bill Clinton was targeted three times in 1994. The attackers tracked him while jogging, rammed his car, shot and planted explosives on the road.

At Ronald Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981. The assailant, John Ginckley Jr., shot the President six times in Washington. Reagan was seriously wounded and underwent surgery. Three other wounded also survived. Hinckley remained in a psychiatric hospital until 2016, that is, even when Reagan was no longer dead.

Films are made about the epic actions of the attackers

In 1975, Gerald Ford was shot twice by women – first Lynette Fromme, a supporter of cult leader Charles Manson, and three weeks later Sarah Jane Moore. Ford survived and became one of the longest-living presidents.

The assassination attempt on Nixon even formed the basis of a film. This is not surprising, since in 1971 a man planned to hijack a plane and crash it into the White House.

In 1947, Harry Truman was mailed bombs , and in 1950 they even stormed the house where he lived.

The assassination attempt on Theodore Roosevelt took place in 1912. By that time he was already an ex-president and gave a speech. He was saved from death by a case for glasses in his pocket and a thick text of a speech of 50 pages. The bullet still hit the chest, but its force was no longer lethal. The doctors decided not to remove her, and the attacker was sent to an insane asylum.