Last Saturday afternoon, former president Donald Trump became the target of an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump survived with a grazed left ear while one rally attendee was killed and two more were critically injured. The tragedy shook the nation and left many wondering what it says about the current state of U.S. politics.
Political discussions and differences should never turn into violence.
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As Yoda from Star Wars said, “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” May we learn to seek understanding and truly understand with empathy and compassion and change how we speak and treat each other. By doing this and replacing our fears with hope, faith, and love, we can be sure to build a society founded on lasting and peaceful values.
After the assassination attempt, political leaders, on both sides of the aisle, condemned the assassination attempt and any violence and called for unity, as a nation:
While we may disagree, we are not enemies.
We are neighbors, friends, co-workers, citizens, and – most importantly – we are fellow Americans.
We must stand together. pic.twitter.com/ipr2WD7eHZ
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 15, 2024
Tonight, all Americans are grateful that President Trump appears to be fine after a despicable attack on a peaceful rally. Violence has no place in our politics. We appreciate the swift work of the Secret Service and other law enforcement.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) July 13, 2024
As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe.
As we learn more details about this horrifying incident, let us pray that all those…
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 13, 2024
Karen and I thank God that President Trump is safe and recovering following yesterday’s attempted assassination and are grateful for the swift response by Secret Service that undoubtedly saved lives. We are praying for his full recovery and for those lost and injured in this…
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) July 14, 2024
At Biasly, we analyzed each president who experienced an assassination attempt to provide insight into what happened with former President Trump. There have been four presidential assassinations. Trump was the third president to suffer an injury from an attempt and still live (since Reagan). We also included a list of reasons why these presidents were often targeted at the bottom.
1. Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson, who served 2 terms totaling 8 years, faced 1 assassination attempt. Richard Lawrence, a house painter, attempted to shoot Jackson with two pistols outside the Capitol Building, both of which misfired. Lawrence was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Date: January 30, 1835
Perpetrator: Richard Lawrence
Motivation: Believed he was King Richard III and that Jackson was preventing him from claiming his rightful throne.
Details: Lawrence attempted to shoot Jackson at point-blank range, but both of his pistols misfired.
2. Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, who served a total of 4.1 years as president, faced 1 fatal assassination attempt. The first plot, dubbed the Baltimore Plot, was an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln en route to his inauguration. In the second attempt, a sniper’s shot narrowly missed Lincoln’s head as he rode through the city unguarded. The fatal assassination took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Originally, Booth planned to kidnap Lincoln in exchange for the release of Confederate prisoners. However, after Lincoln’s April 11, 1865, speech promoting voting rights for Black people, Booth shifted his plan to assassination. That evening, while Lincoln attended the play Our American Cousin with his wife and two guests, Booth shot him in the back of the head with a .44-caliber Derringer pistol. Mortally wounded, Lincoln was moved to the Petersen House across the street, where he remained in a coma for nine hours before passing away the following morning. Reports indicate that as he died, his face relaxed into a peaceful expression, the first seen in many years. Booth, on the run for 12 days following the assassination, was eventually found and killed by Union Army soldiers. Four co-conspirators were later hanged for their roles in the plot.
Date: April 14, 1865 (assassinated)
Perpetrator: John Wilkes Booth
Motivation: Booth was a Confederate sympathizer who believed that killing Lincoln would aid the South’s cause in the Civil War.
Details: Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre and died the following day.
3. William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft, who served 1 term (4 years) as president, faced 2 assassination attempts. The first occurred during his historic 1909 summit with Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, and the second was in 1910 when a stranWilliam Howard Taft
Date: 1909 and 1910 (assassination attempts)
Perpetrators: Unknown
Motivation: Not explicitly stated, but given the period, the motives could have been political or personal.
Details: The first attempt on Taft’s life took place during his historic 1909 summit with Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, and the second occurred in 1910 when an unknown individual allegedly plotted to kill Taft during a visit to his aunt in Millbury, Massachusetts.
4. Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover had 1 assassination attempt during his presidency. This occurred during his “goodwill tour” of Central and South America when Argentine anarchists, led by Severino Di Giovanni, plotted to blow up his train in the Andes Mountains.
Date: During his “goodwill tour” of Central and South America (assassination attempt)
Perpetrators: Argentine anarchists led by Severino Di Giovanni
Motivation: The motive is unclear, but given the context, it was likely political, as anarchists typically advocate for stateless societies in opposition to organized governments.
Details: During Hoover’s tour, the anarchists plotted to blow up his train in the Andes Mountains. The assassination attempt was thwarted.ger allegedly plotted to kill Taft during a visit to his aunt in Millbury, Massachusetts.
5. James A. Garfield
James A. Garfield, who served less than 1 term (around 0.54 year) as president, faced 1 fatal assassination attempt. On July 2, 1881, less than four months into his term, Garfield was shot twice by writer and lawyer Charles J. Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. One bullet grazed Garfield’s shoulder and the other pierced his back. Despite surviving the initial attack, Garfield succumbed to complications from infections caused by unsterilized medical interventions 79 days after the shooting.
Guiteau was immediately arrested. After a public trial, he was found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging on June 30, 1882. Guiteau, assessed as mentally unbalanced or suffering from neurosyphilis, claimed to have shot Garfield out of disappointment for being passed over for an ambassadorship to France.
Date: July 2, 1881 (assassinated)
Perpetrator: Charles J. Guiteau
Motivation: Guiteau was a disappointed office seeker who believed that Garfield’s death would lead to a more favorable political environment for his own ambitions.
Details: Garfield was shot at a Washington, D.C. train station and died of his wounds on September 19, 1881.
6. William McKinley
William McKinley, who served 4.6 years as president, faced 1 fatal assassination attempt. On September 6, 1901, during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, McKinley was shot twice in the abdomen by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. Despite initial signs of recovery, McKinley’s condition worsened due to gangrene around his wounds, and he died on September 14, 1901.
Czolgosz was immediately subdued and captured by members of the crowd, and was later sentenced to death after a two-day trial. Czolgosz’s actions led to the Secret Service being directed by Congress to protect the U.S. President as part of its mandate. The exact political outcomes Czolgosz expected from his actions remain unclear.
Date: September 6, 1901 (assassinated)
Perpetrator: Leon Czolgosz
Motivation: Anarchist ideology; Czolgosz believed that McKinley was a symbol of oppression.
Details: McKinley was shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, and died on September 14, 1901.
7. Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt, who served nearly 2 terms totaling 7.6 years (filling the remainder of McKinley’s term and serving one full term), faced 1 assassination attempt after his presidency. In the 1912 presidential election, John Schrank, a New York saloon-keeper, shot Roosevelt in the chest while he was campaigning in Milwaukee. The bullet was slowed by a folded campaign speech and a metal glasses case in Roosevelt’s pocket. Despite the injury, Roosevelt delivered his scheduled speech before receiving medical treatment. The bullet, which had lodged in his chest muscle, was left there by doctors for the rest of his life. Schrank was found legally insane and was institutionalized until his death in 1943. Despite this incident, Roosevelt lost the election to Woodrow Wilson.
Date: October 14, 1912 (injured from an assassination attempt)
Perpetrator: John Flammang Schrank
Motivation: Schrank believed that no president should seek a third term, interpreting Roosevelt’s candidacy for a non-consecutive term as a threat to democracy.
Details: Roosevelt was shot while campaigning but delivered his speech with the bullet in his chest, surviving the attempt.
8. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served 4 terms totaling 12.1 years, faced 1 assassination attempt before his term. The first was by Giuseppe Zangara, who fired five shots at Roosevelt but missed him, and the second was a plot by the Nazi German Waffen-SS to assassinate Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin at the Tehran Conference in 1943.
Date: February 15, 1933
Perpetrator: Giuseppe Zangara
Motivation: Zangara was dissatisfied with the political and economic system; he blamed powerful people for his personal woes.
Details: Zangara missed FDR but killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.
9. Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman, who served nearly 2 terms totaling 7.8 years, faced 1 assassination attempt. The first was a plot by the Zionist paramilitary organization Lehi, which sent letter bombs to Truman. The second was an attack by two Puerto Rican activists on Truman at the Blair House.
Date: November 1, 1950
Perpetrators: Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola
Motivation: Puerto Rican nationalists wanting to draw attention to their independence cause.
Details: The attempt occurred at Blair House, where Truman was staying. Torresola was killed, and Collazo was wounded and later imprisoned.
10. John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, who served less than 1 term totaling 2.8 years, faced 2 assassination attempts, one of which was fatal. On December 11, 1960, while vacationing in Palm Beach, Florida, President-elect Kennedy was targeted by Richard Paul Pavlick, a former postal worker. Pavlick intended to crash his dynamite-laden car into Kennedy’s but changed his mind after seeing Kennedy’s wife and daughter. He was arrested three days later when the dynamite was discovered in his car. Charges against Pavlick were dropped after Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas.
The fatal assassination attempt took place on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. During a presidential motorcade in Dealey Plaza, Kennedy was shot by former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy was shot in the back and the head, and was pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Oswald was later killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. Despite official reports that Oswald and Ruby acted alone, conspiracy theories about a plot or cover-up persist.
Date: November 22, 1963 (successful assassination)
Perpetrator: Lee Harvey Oswald
Motivation: Motives remain unclear; Oswald had connections to Marxist ideologies and possibly sought to make a political statement.
Details: Kennedy was shot while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.
11. Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon, who served almost 2 terms totaling 5.6 years, faced 2 assassination attempts. The first was by Arthur Bremer, who planned to shoot Nixon but lost his nerve. The second was by Samuel Byck, who planned to crash a commercial airliner into the White House.
Date: February 22, 1974
Perpetrator: Samuel Byck
Motivation: Byck wanted to crash a plane into the White House to kill Nixon, whom he blamed for the country’s economic difficulties.
Details: Byck’s plot was foiled when he was killed by police before he could take off.
12. Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford, who served the remainder of Nixon’s term (around 2.5 years), faced 2 assassination attempts. The first was by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, who drew a pistol on Ford, and the second was by Sara Jane Moore, who fired a revolver at Ford from 40 feet away.
Date: September 5, 1975
Perpetrator: Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme
Motivation: Fromme, a member of the Manson Family, wanted to make a statement to protect California redwoods.
Details: Fromme aimed at Ford but was tackled by the Secret Service before she could fire.
Date: September 22, 1975
Perpetrator: Sara Jane Moore
Motivation: Moore was a radical who became disillusioned with the government and sought to trigger a revolution.
Details: Moore fired at Ford but missed due to a bystander deflecting her aim.
13. Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter faced 2 assassination attempts during his presidency. The first was by Raymond Lee Harvey, who was found carrying a starter pistol before Carter’s speech at the Civic Center Mall in Los Angeles. The second was by John Hinckley Jr., who decided against shooting Carter and later attempted to kill President Ronald Reagan.
Date: May 5, 1979
Perpetrator: Raymond Lee Harvey
Motivation: Harvey claimed he was part of a four-person team hired to assassinate Carter, but his claims were dubious and possibly linked to mental health issues.
Details: Harvey was arrested before any attempt could take place.
14. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan, who served 2 terms totaling 8 years, faced 1 assassination attempt. On March 30, 1981, moments after Reagan had finished speaking at the Washington Hilton hotel, John Hinckley Jr. fired six shots at him and the people surrounding him. A bullet ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and hit Reagan in the left underarm. The bullet broke a rib, punctured a lung, and caused serious internal bleeding. Despite being “close to death” upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital, Reagan was stabilized in the emergency room and then underwent emergency exploratory surgery. He was released from the hospital on April 11. White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded in the incident. All three survived, though Brady suffered brain damage and was permanently disabled.
Hinckley was immediately arrested and later revealed he had wanted to kill Reagan to impress actress Jodie Foster. Deemed mentally ill, he was 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.
Date: March 30, 1981 (injured from an assassination attempt)
Perpetrator: John Hinckley Jr.
Motivation: Hinckley sought to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he was obsessed.
Details: Reagan was shot outside the Washington Hilton Hotel but survived.
15. George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush had 1 assassination attempt after his presidency. This was plotted by 14 Kuwaiti and Iraqi men working for Saddam Hussein, who planned to assassinate Bush by a car bomb during his visit to Kuwait University.
Date: April 13, 1993
Perpetrators: Iraqi intelligence service agents
Motivation: Revenge for the Gulf War; Saddam Hussein’s regime plotted the assassination.
Details: The plot was foiled by Kuwaiti authorities, and the bomb intended for Bush was intercepted.
16. Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton faced 2 assassination attempts during his presidency. The first was by Ronald Gene Barbour, a retired military officer who planned to kill Clinton while he was jogging. The second was by Francisco Martin Duran, who fired at least 29 shots at the White House.
Date: September 12, 1994
Perpetrator: Frank Eugene Corder
Motivation: Personal disillusionment and financial problems; Corder sought to commit suicide by crashing a plane into the White House.
Details: Corder crashed the plane into the White House lawn, but Clinton was not in residence at the time.
Date: October 29, 1994
Perpetrator: Francisco Martin Duran
Motivation: Anti-government sentiments; Duran believed that the government was oppressive and targeted the president as a symbol of that oppression.
Details: Duran fired at the White House but was tackled by bystanders.
17. George W. Bush
George W. Bush, who served 2 terms totaling 8 years, faced 1 assassination attempt. This occurred when Vladimir Arutyunian threw a live grenade toward Bush as he was giving a speech in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Date: February 7, 2001
Perpetrator: Robert Pickett
Motivation: Personal grievances against the Internal Revenue Service and the government.
Details: Pickett fired shots outside the White House but did not harm anyone.
Date: May 10, 2005
Perpetrator: Vladimir Arutyunian
Motivation: Anti-American and anti-Western sentiments; Arutyunian opposed U.S. foreign policies.
Details: Arutyunian threw a grenade at Bush during his visit to Georgia, but it failed to detonate.
18. Barack Obama
Barack Obama, who served 2 terms totaling 8 years, faced 3 assassination attempts. Among these were threats by a United States Marine, an attempt by a man of Syrian origins in Turkey, an attack by a man influenced by conspiracy theories, and a foiled plot by the terrorist group FEAR. There were also attempts by a mentally ill man in Colorado, an attempt by two white supremacists, and a letter laced with ricin.
Date: November 11, 2011
Perpetrator: Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez
Motivation: Believed Obama was the Antichrist; Ortega-Hernandez held extreme views against the president.
Details: Ortega-Hernandez fired shots at the White House but was later apprehended.
19. Donald Trump
Donald Trump, who served 1 term of 4 years, faced 3 assassination attempts, 2 during his term and 1 after. The first incident occurred on September 6, 2017, when Gregory Lee Leingang from North Dakota attempted to kill Trump by flipping the presidential limousine using a stolen forklift. This plan failed, and Leingang was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The second attempt happened in November 2017, when a man affiliated with the Islamic State planned to assassinate Trump during his visit to the ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines. The man was caught and detained before he could carry out the attack.
The third attempt took place post-presidency on July 13, 2024, during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Then the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump was shot in the upper right ear by Thomas Matthew Crooks. Despite the gunshot, Trump managed to duck to the ground and was swiftly surrounded by Secret Service personnel. He was seen rising, bleeding from his ear and pumping his fist in the air before being rushed to a vehicle. Trump was sent to a hospital and was released the same day in a stable condition. The shooter and an audience member were killed, and two other audience members were critically injured.
Date: July 13, 2024 (injured from an assassination attempt)
Perpetrators: Thomas Matthew Crooks
Motivation: unknown at the time this article was published
Details: The attempt occurred at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Donald Trump’s ear was grazed but survived the attempt. 1 rally attendee was killed and 2 were critically injured. The Secret Service quickly identified and killed Crooks.
20. Joe Biden
Joe Biden, who is currently serving his first term, has faced 1 assassination attempt during his term. This occurred on May 23, 2023, when 19-year-old Sai Varshith Kandula from St. Louis, Missouri, drove a rented box truck into a barrier that separated the White House grounds from the public. Found to have a Nazi flag in his truck and expressing admiration for the Third Reich, Kandula stated his intentions were to “kill the president” and “seize power”. He was promptly taken into custody by the United States Park Police.
Date: May 23, 2023
Perpetrators: Sai Varshith Kandula
Motivation: wanted to “kill the president” and “seize power.”
Details: drove a rented box truck into a barrier that separated the White House grounds from the public but was quickly apprehended.
Factors Influencing the Targeting of Presidents
- Political Climate: Presidents serving during times of significant political, social, or economic turmoil (e.g., Lincoln during the Civil War, FDR during the Great Depression) were more likely to face assassination attempts.
- Controversial Policies: Presidents who enacted or supported controversial policies (e.g., Jackson’s stance on the national bank, Kennedy’s civil rights support) often became targets.
- Personal Grievances: Some perpetrators were driven by personal grievances or mental health issues, believing that killing the president would resolve their problems or make a political statement (e.g., Guiteau with Garfield, Hinckley with Reagan).
- Symbolic Figure: As the figurehead of the nation, the president often becomes a symbolic target for those wanting to protest or challenge the government (e.g., anarchists targeting McKinley, Puerto Rican nationalists targeting Truman).
- Ideological Extremism: Assailants with extreme ideological beliefs, whether political, religious, or social, have targeted presidents to promote their causes (e.g., Booth with Lincoln, Zangara with FDR).
These factors combined to make some presidents more prominent targets than others, often reflecting the tumultuous periods in which they served or their significant impact on national and international policies.