Four US presidents were assassinated; other presidents and candidates suffered attacks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Before Saturday’s alleged assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, there were multiple instances of political violence against current and former presidents and presidential candidates from all major U.S. parties.

Here’s a look at some of the murders and attempted murders that have occurred since the founding of the American nation in 1776:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the 16th president

Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated, at the hands of John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, while he and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, were attending a special performance of the comedy “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington.

Lincoln was taken to a house across the street from the theater for medical treatment after being shot in the back of the head. He died the next morning. His support for black rights has been cited as a motive for his assassination.

Two years before the assassination, during the American Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, granting freedom to slaves in the Confederacy.

Lincoln was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson.

Booth was shot to death on April 26, 1865, after being found hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia.

JAMES GARFIELD, the 20th president

Garfield was the second U.S. president to be assassinated, occurring six months after taking office. On July 2, 1881, he was passing through a train station in Washington on his way to New England when he was shot by Charles Guiteau.

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, unsuccessfully attempted to find the bullet lodged in Garfield’s chest using a device he had designed specifically for the president. Mortally wounded, Garfield remained in the White House for several weeks but died in September after being flown to the New Jersey shore. He had been in office for six months.

Garfield was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur.

Guiteau was found guilty and executed in June 1882.

WILLIAM McKINLEY, the 25th president

McKinley was shot after giving a speech in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901. He was shaking hands with people passing through a receiving line when a man shot him twice in the chest at point-blank range. Doctors expected McKinley to recover, but gangrene developed around the wounds.

McKinley died on September 14, 1901, six months into his second term.

He was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

Leon F. Czolgosz, a 28-year-old unemployed Detroit resident, admitted to the shooting. Czolgosz was convicted at trial and sentenced to death by electric chair on October 29, 1901.

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, el 32do presidente

Roosevelt, president-elect at the time, had just delivered a speech in Miami from the back of an open car when shots rang out.

Roosevelt was not injured in the February 1933 incident that killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.

Guiseppe Zangara was found guilty and sentenced to death.

HARRY S. TRUMAN, 33er presidente

Truman was staying at Blair House, across the street from the White House, in November 1950 when two gunmen broke into the house.

Truman was not injured, but a White House police officer and one of the attackers were killed in an exchange of gunfire. Two other White House police officers were wounded.

Oscar Callazo was arrested and sentenced to death. In 1952, Truman commuted the sentence to life imprisonment. He was released in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter.

JOHN F. KENNEDY, 35to presidente

Kennedy was shot by a gunman with a high-powered rifle while visiting Dallas in November 1963 with first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. The shots rang out as the president’s motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas.

Kennedy was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died shortly after.

He was succeeded by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was inaugurated in a conference room aboard Air Force One. He is the only US president to have been sworn in on an airplane.

Hours after the assassination, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald after locating the location from which the shots were fired in a nearby building, the Texas School Book Depository.

Two days later, Oswald was being transferred from the police station to the county jail when he was fatally shot by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby.

GERALD FORD, the 38th president

Ford suffered two assassination attempts within a few weeks in 1975 and was not injured in either case.

In the first attempt, Ford was on his way to a meeting with the governor of California in Sacramento when Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a disciple of Charles Manson, pushed her way through a crowd on the street, pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at Ford. The gun did not fire.

Fromme was sentenced to prison and released in 2009.

Seventeen days later, another woman, Sara Jane Moore, confronted Ford outside a San Francisco hotel. Moore fired one shot and missed. A bystander grabbed her arm as she attempted to fire a second shot.

Moore was sent to prison and released in 2007.

RONALD REAGAN, the 40th president

Reagan was leaving a speech in Washington DC and heading to his motorcade when he was shot by John Hinckley Jr., who was in the crowd.

Reagan recovered from the March 1981 attack. Three other people were injured, including his press secretary, James Brady, who was left partially paralyzed.

Hinckley was arrested and committed to a psychiatric hospital after a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity. In 2022, Hinckley was released from court supervision after a judge determined he was “no longer a danger to himself or others.”

GEORGE W. BUSH, el 43er presidente

Bush was attending a rally in Tbilisi in 2005 with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili when a hand grenade was thrown at him.

Both were behind a bulletproof barrier when the grenade, wrapped in cloth, landed about 30 meters (100 feet) away. The grenade did not explode and no one was injured.

Vladimir Arutyunian was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT, candidato presidencial

The former president was shot in Milwaukee in 1912 while campaigning to return to the White House.

Roosevelt had been president for two terms and ran again as a third-party candidate.

Folded papers and a metal glasses case that Roosevelt was carrying in his pocket apparently cushioned the impact of the bullet and he was not seriously injured.

John Schrank was arrested and spent the rest of his life in psychiatric hospitals.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, presidential candidate

Kennedy was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination when he was assassinated in a Los Angeles hotel, moments after delivering his victory speech for winning the 1968 California primary.

Kennedy was a senator from New York and the brother of President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated five years earlier.

Five other people were injured in the attack.

Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, where Sirhan remains following the denial of his latest request for release last year.

GEORGE C. WALLACE, candidato presidencial

Wallace was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination when he was shot during a campaign stop in Maryland in 1972, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Wallace, governor of Alabama, was known for his segregationist ideas, which he later renounced.

Arthur Bremer was convicted of the attack and sentenced to prison. He was released in 2007.