Assassinations, attempts and plots in the US: From Lincoln to Trump

The country has an extensive and bloody history of political violence, including prevented attacks and famous assassinations that have marked Americans' memories. This Saturday in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump joined the list of presidents who have been victims of such attacks. 

Many presidents, former presidents and presidential candidates have been the victims of assassination attempts, though four sitting presidents have been murdered: Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy. Others, like Trump, have been injured in attacks.

Andrew Jackson

In January 1835, the president was shot while attending a funeral outside the Capitol. As Jackson was leaving after the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis, the attacker, Richard Lawrence, pointed a pistol at Jackson, but the trigger failed to fire. Lawrence drew a second pistol, which also misfired. Historians recount that Jackson attacked Lawrence with his cane.

Theodore Roosevelt

On the campaign trail, Roosevelt was the victim of an assassination attempt. The attacker was John Schrank, who missed his target. Roosevelt not only survived, but finished giving his speech.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Before assuming the presidency, in Miami, Franklin Delano Roosevelt suffered an assassination attempt at the hands of Giuseppe Zangara, who was later sentenced to death. Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was killed in the attack.

Harry S. Truman

During his term in office, two Puerto Rican nationalists, Óscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, attempted to assassinate Truman in November 1950 at Blair House. Truman was not injured, but a policeman and one of the attackers were shot and killed.

Gerald Ford

President Ford suffered two assassination attempts in 1975. One of his attackers was Lynette Alice "Squeaky" Fromme, a member of the Charles Manson cult, whose attempt was foiled before she could fire. Shortly thereafter, a woman named Sara Jane Moore shot at Ford in San Francisco but also missed. She was sentenced to life in prison and released decades later.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's assassination took place in a box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., in April 1865. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate supporter. Wilkes Booth was on the run for nearly two weeks before being trapped on a Virginia farm and killed by Union Army soldiers.

James A. Garfield

His assassination occurred when he had been in office only a few months. He was shot at a train station in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1881, but did not die immediately. He suffered for many weeks from the wounds caused by the two bullets that struck him. The assassin was Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed man. He claimed that he had shot the president because he was angry that he had not been appointed ambassador. Guiteau was convicted and hanged later that year.

William McKinley

Republican President William McKinley was shot on Sept. 6, 1901, at a New York state fair by an anarchist. He died eight days later from infection. The assassin was Leon Czolgosz, who was tried and sentenced to death a month later. The McKinley case prompted the U.S. Secret Service to begin providing round-the-clock security for sitting presidents.

John F. Kennedy

The most famous American assassination is that of John F. Kennedy, who was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while traveling through Dallas in a convertible with his wife Jackie. The sequence is well known, JFK was shot twice in the head and back while waving to the crowd and was pronounced dead at a local hospital a few minutes later. The official investigation concluded that Oswald had no accomplices, but the characteristics of the assassination gave rise to numerous speculations that are still today the subject of newspaper articles, documentaries, series, novels and films.

Oswald, in turn, was assassinated by Jack Ruby in the Dallas police station.

JFK's brother, Robert F. Kennedy, was a senator from New York when he ran for president in 1968. He suffered an attack at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles the night he won the California primary. His assassin, Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, is a Palestinian who admitted to carrying out the assassination and that he had decided to do it because of Bobby Kennedy's sympathies toward the State of Israel. He is currently still imprisoned in California.

Ronald Reagan

President Reagan was wounded in an assassination attempt, shot outside a Washington, D.C., hotel in March 1981, shortly after taking office. The attacker was John Hinckley Jr, who confessed that his actions were intended to attract the attention of a young actress, Hollywood star Jodie Foster.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has faced numerous threats throughout his short political career.

The latest one is still under investigation. Donald Trump was the victim of an assassination attempt while speaking at a rally as part of a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Authorities found the shooter, who was ultimately shot down, though the incident is still under investigation. Trump suffered wounds to his right ear.