There is a history of political violence in the US targeting those in the highest office.
Abraham Lincoln (1865)The 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, days after the American Civil War (1861 to 1865) had come to an end.
Lincoln died of his injuries the next morning.
Garfield died of his injuries two months later.
McKinley died of gangrene from his wounds eight days later, aged 56.
Former US President and current frontrunner in the 2024 race for the White House, Donald Trump, was shot at in an election rally in Butler Country, Pennsylvania, on Saturday (July 13). Trump sustained an injury to the ear but is not seriously hurt.
There is a history of political violence in the US targeting those in the highest office. Four US Presidents have been assassinated so far.
1. Abraham Lincoln (1865)
The 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, days after the American Civil War (1861 to 1865) had come to an end. Lincoln was seated to watch the play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC when John Wilkes Booth, the assassin, slipped into the Presidential box and shot him in the head. Booth was a sympathiser of the Confederates, the losing side of the Civil War. He was also a well-known actor at the time and disapproved of Lincoln’s intent to extend equal voting rights to Black Americans. Lincoln died of his injuries the next morning.
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2. James A Garfield (1881)
Barely six months after taking office, the 20th President of the United States, James A Garfield, was shot in the back and shoulder at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881. The President was on his way to deliver a speech at his alma mater Williams College, and had to pass through the station. The shooter, Charles J. Guiteau, was a supporter of Vice-President Chester A Arthur and wished to see him ascend to the Oval Office. Garfield died of his injuries two months later.
3. William McKinley (1901)
The 25th President, William McKinley, was six months into his second term when he was shot twice in the abdomen at close range while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901. McKinley died of gangrene from his wounds eight days later, aged 56. Leon Czolgosz was charged with his murder. This incident supposedly expanded the mandate of the US Secret Service to Presidential protection.
4. John F Kennedy (1963)
The 35th President, John F Kennedy, was fatally shot in the head while riding with his wife and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in an open convertible in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. He was gearing up to announce his re-election campaign. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the shooting, and the police claimed he was motivated by personal reasons and disillusionment with the establishment. Several conspiracy theories continue to surround the case to date.
