On 13th July (local time), former President Donald Trump was shot at an election rally in Pennsylvania. Trump was addressing his supporters when multiple shots were fired at him by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Trump suffered a bullet injury on his right ear. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where he received treatment for the injuries. One person in the rally died in the attack and two others were seriously injured before the shooter was neutralised.
Donald Trump is not the first top leader in the United States who faced an assassination attempt. So far, assassination attempts have taken place on 10 out of 42 Presidents. Four attempts were successful. Several Presidential candidates have also faced assassination attempts. In total, there had been 15 such attempts on Presidents, Presidential Candidates and a President-Elect, and five such attacks resulted in the death of the target.
Assassination attempt on Andrew Jackson in 1835
On 30th January 1835, then-President Andrew Jackson, a Democrat, was attacked in Washington DC. The assailant was identified as Richard Lawrence. He fired a pistol at Jackson but the firearm misfired. Lawrence was declared insane. According to reports, he claimed that President Jackson was preventing him from obtaining large sums of money and was ruining the country.
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865
On 14th April 1865, then-President Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, became the first US President to get assassinated while being in office. The incident took place in Washington DC where an assailant identified as John Wilkes Booth shot him dead using a pistol. Booth was killed before being captured. Reportedly, he was loyal to the Confederacy and wanted revenge for its defeat.
Assassination of James A Garfield in 1881
On 2nd July 1881, then-President James A Garfield, a Republican, was shot dead in Washington DC by Charles Guiteau. He was a disgruntled office-seeker and supporter of an opposition faction in the Republican Party. Guiteau was captured and convicted of the assassination.
Assassination of William Mckinley in 1901
On 6th September 1901, then-President William McKinley, a Republican, was shot dead using a pistol by Leon F Czolgosz in Buffalo, New York. Czolgosz was motivated by anarchist ideology and was a class antagonist. He was convicted of the crime.
Assassination attempt of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912
On 14th October 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt was shot at by John Schrank in Milwaukee, WI. Roosevelt was running as a Progressive (Bull Moose) candidate then. Schrank was declared insane. He claimed that he had a vision that McKinley wanted him to avenge his death.
Assassination attempt of Franklin D Roosevelt in 1933
On 15th February 1933, then-President-elect Franklin D Roosevelt, a Democrat, was shot at by Giuseppe Zangara with a pistol in Miami, Florida. Though Roosevelt did not receive any injuries, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded. Zangara was convicted of murder. He expressed hatred for rulers and capitalists.
Assassination attempt on Harry S Truman in 1950
On 1st November 1950, an assassination attempt took place on then-President Harry S Truman, a Democrat in Washington DC. The assailants were identified as Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola. They used automatic weapons to fire at Blair House, the temporary residence of the President. Though the President was unharmed, a White House police officer was killed and two others were reported injured. Torresola was killed at the scene while Collazo was captured and convicted. Both of them were supporters of Puerto Rican independence.
The assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963
On 22nd November 1963, then-President John F Kennedy, a Democrat, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The assailant was identified as Lee Harvey Oswald. He killed Kennedy using a rifle. Oswald was dead before the trial. The motive behind the murder of Kennedy remains unknown. Kennedy’s assassination is one of the most controversial murders of top leaders around the world and the source of many conspiracy theories. His assassination has found its way into popular culture as well.
The assassination of Robert F Kenndy in 1968
On 5th June 1968, senator and presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy, a Democrat, was assassinated in Los Angeles, California. The assailant was identified as Sirhan Sirhan who used a pistol to kill Kennedy. He was motivated by opposition to Kennedy’s stance on the Israeli-Arab conflict. He was convicted of the assassination.
Assassination attempt on George C Wallace
On 15th May 1972, an assassination attempt on presidential candidate and then-Alabama Governor George C Wallace, a Democrat, took place in Laurel, MD. The assailant was identified as Arthur Bremer and three others were involved in the assassination attempt. Bremer used a pistol to attack Bremer. He was convicted and imprisoned. To date, it is unclear why he attacked Wallace.
Assassination attempts on Gerald R Ford in 1975
In 1975, then-President Gerald R Ford, a Republican, faced two assassination attempts. The first assassination attempt happened on 5th September in Sacramento, California. The assailant was identified as Lynette Alice Fromme. She was a member of the extremist “Manson family”. She tried to kill Ford using a pistol, but the gun misfired. She was convicted of the crime.
The second attempt took place on 22nd September in San Francisco, California. The assailant was identified as Sara Jane Moore who used a pistol to attack Ford but missed. She was convicted and imprisoned. Moore and Fromme were the only female assailants who attempted to kill a President in the US.
Assassination attempt on Ronald W Reagan in 1981
On 30th March 1981, an assassination attempt took place on then-President Ronald W Reagan, a Republican, in Washington DC. The assailant was identified as John W Hinckley who used a pistol to attack Reagan but he survived with a bullet wound. Hinckley was found not guilty of the assassination attempt because of insanity. He was committed to a mental institution.
Assassination attempt on William J Clinton in 1994
On 29th October 1994, an assassination attempt took place on then-President William J Clinton, a Democrat in Washington DC. The assailant was identified as Francisco M Duran who used a semi-automatic assault rifle for the attack at the White House while Clinton was inside. Duran was convicted of attempted assassination and imprisoned.
Assassination attempt on George W Bush in 2005
On 10th May 2005, then-President George W Bush, a Republican, was attacked in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. The attacker, identified as Vladimir Arutyunian, threw a grenade at Bush and the then-Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. However, the grenade did not explode. Though Bush survived the attack, a police officer was killed while attempting to arrest the attacker. The attacker was convicted of attempted assassination and murdering the police officer. The motive behind the attack remains unknown.
Out of these 15 incidents, the broad conspiracy was proven only in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The investigation into the assassination attempt on Donald Trump is underway.
