U.S. Presidents: The worst assassination attempts in American history (1865

It is known that assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a person—especially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by grievances, notoriety, financial, military, political or other motives.

Assassination attempts and plots on the President of the United States have been numerous, ranging from the early 19th century to the 2020s. On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson was the first president to experience an assassination attempt when Richard Lawrence twice tried to shoot him in the East Portico of the Capitol after Jackson left a funeral held in the House of Representatives Chamber. The attempt failed when both of Lawrence's pistols misfired.

Four sitting presidents have been killed: Abraham Lincoln (1865, by John Wilkes Booth), James A. Garfield (1881, by Charles J. Guiteau), William McKinley (1901, by Leon Czolgosz), and John F. Kennedy (1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald).

Additionally, three presidents have been injured in attempted assassinations: former president Theodore Roosevelt (1912, by John Schrank), Ronald Reagan (1981, by John Hinckley Jr.) and Donald Trump (2024).

Abraham Lincoln

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., at about 10:15 PM. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was a well-known actor and a Confederate sympathizer from Maryland; though he never joined the Confederate Army, he had contacts within the Confederate Secret Service. In 1864, Booth formulated a plan (very similar to one of Thomas N. Conrad previously authorized by the Confederacy) to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners.

After attending an April 11, 1865, speech in which Lincoln promoted voting rights for Black people, Booth decided to assassinate the president instead. Learning that the president would be attending Ford's Theatre, Booth formulated a plan with co-conspirators to assassinate Lincoln at the theater, as well as Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward at their homes. Lincoln attended the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre. As the president sat in his state box in the balcony watching the play with his wife Mary and two guests, Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara Harris, Booth entered from behind. He aimed a .44-caliber Derringer pistol at the back of Lincoln's head and fired, mortally wounding him. Rathbone momentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped. An unconscious Lincoln was examined by doctors and taken across the street to the Petersen House. After remaining in a coma for nine hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 AM on April 15.

John F. Kennedy

The assassination of United States president John F. Kennedy took place at 12:30 PM on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, during a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was riding with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie when he was allegedly shot by former U.S. Marine and American defector Lee Harvey Oswald from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. He was shot once in the back, the bullet exiting via his throat, and once in the head. Governor Connally was seriously wounded, and bystander James Tague received a minor facial injury from a small piece of curbstone that had fragmented after it was struck by one of the bullets.

The motorcade rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where President Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1:00 PM. Oswald was arrested and charged by the Dallas Police Department for the assassination of Kennedy and for the murder of Dallas policeman J. D. Tippit, who was shot dead in a residential neighborhood in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas just hours later. On Sunday, November 24, while being transferred from the city jail to the county jail, Oswald was fatally shot in the basement of Dallas Police Department Headquarters by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby. Ruby was convicted of Oswald's murder, albeit his conviction was later overturned on appeal. In 1967, Ruby died in prison while awaiting a new trial.

Ronald Reagan

On March 30, 1981, as Ronald Reagan returned to his limousine after speaking at the Washington Hilton hotel, would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. fired six gunshots toward him, striking him and three others. Reagan was seriously wounded by a bullet that ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and hit him in the left underarm, breaking a rib, puncturing a lung, and causing serious internal bleeding. Although "close to death" upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital, Reagan was stabilized in the emergency room, then underwent emergency exploratory surgery. He recovered and was released from the hospital on April 11. Besides Reagan, White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded. All three survived, but Brady suffered brain damage and was permanently disabled; Brady's death in 2014 was considered homicide because it was ultimately caused by this injury.

Hinckley was immediately arrested, and later said he had wanted to kill Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster. He was deemed mentally ill and confined to an institution. Hinckley was released from institutional psychiatric care on September 10, 2016, 35 years after the incident and 12 years after Reagan's death from pneumonia complicated by Alzheimer's disease.

Donald Trump

On Saturday, July 13th, 2024, during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Former President Donald Trump dropped to the ground with his hand over his ear after a series of pops rang out from the audience. As he was rushed offstage, he appeared to have blood on his face. The shooter and an audience member were killed. At least one other person is in critical condition.