Bhubaneswar: The attack on former US President Donald Trump on Saturday at a public rally triggers memories of the past incidents of political violence in the country.
According to reports, there has been at least 15 separate occasions of direct assaults against Presidents, Presidents-elect and candidates, with five resulting in death. Here’s a look at some of the assassinations and attempted assassinations that have occurred over the decades:
ASSASSINATIONS
Four US Presidents were assassinated while in office, so far. Here’s a list of those who were assassinated and how:
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President
He was killed by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington on April 14, 1865. He was the first President to be assassinated. He was attack while he and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, were attending a special performance of the comedy “Our American Cousin” at the theatre. He was shot in the back of the head. Following the attack, he was rushed to a house across the street for treatment but he succumbed to the injury the next morning. It was claimed that his support for Black rights led to the killing. He had issued the Emancipation Proclamation granting freedom to slaves within the Confederacy during the Civil War, around two years before the attack on him. On April 26, 1865 Booth was shot near Bowling Green Virginia, where he was hiding.
James Garfield, the 20th President
Garfield was assassinated in barely six months after taking office. He was shot by Charles Guiteau on July 2 in 1881 in Washington at a train station. He was shot at while boarding a train to New England. He died of his wounds two and a half months later. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of telephone, had designed a device specifically for the President to detect the bullet lodged in his chest. But, it was an unsuccessful attempt. After being kept at White House for several weeks, he was taken to New Jersey shore, where he died. Guiteau was convicted and executed in June 1882.
William McKinley, the 25th President
He was assassinated on September 6, 1901, by an anarchist in Buffalo, New York, shortly after delivering a speech. A man fired two shots into his chest as he was shaking hands with people. Gangrene set in around the bullet wounds and he died on September 14. He had completed six months of his second term in office. Leon F Czolgosz, a jobless 28-year-old Detroit resident, confessed to the crime. He was found guilty and put to death in the electric chair on October 29, 1901.
John F. Kennedy, the 35th President
He was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald—a hidden assassin who was armed with a high-powered rifle— in November 1963 in Dallas, Texas. At the time of the attack, he was riding in a motorcade with first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy. He was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died soon after. Following his death, Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into office on an airplane. Police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald hours after the attack. Two days later, as he was being taken from police headquarters to the county jail, a Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot Oswald dead.
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS
Gerald Ford, the 38th president
He had faced two assassination attempts within weeks in 1975. He survived both the attacks. Ford was on his way to a meeting with California’s governor in Sacramento when Charles Manson disciple Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme pointed a pistol at him. It wasn’t fired. The attacker was sentenced to jail and released in 2009. A woman Sara Jane Moore, shot once aiming Ford outside a hotel in San Francisco, but it didn’t hit the leader. A bystander grabbed her arm as she was attempting to fire again. She was sent to prison and released in 2007.
Ronald Reagan, the 40th President
After giving a speech, he walking to his motorcade outside the Hilton Hotel but was shot by John Hinckley Jr in March 1981. One of the bullets hit him under the left armpit. The attacker was in the crowd. Three other people, including his press secretary, James Brady, were shot. Brady was partially paralysed as a result. Hinckley was arrested and confined to a mental hospital. In 2022, Hinckley was freed from court.
George W Bush, the 43rd president
A grenade was thrown towards him while he was attending a rally in Tbilisi in 2005 with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Both the leaders were behind a bulletproof barrier. The grenade was wrapped in cloth and it reached as close as 100 feet from them. However, it didn’t explode. Vladimir Arutyunian was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
ATTACK ON PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
Theodore Roosevelt: The former president was shot in Milwaukee in 1912. At the time of the attack he was campaigning for the presidential elections. Roosevelt had previously served two terms as President. He had folded papers and a metal glasses case in his pocket, which apparently blunted the bullet’s impact. He didn’t suffer major injuries. John Schrank was arrested and spent the rest of his life in mental hospitals.
Rober F Kennedy: Moments after giving his victory speech for winning the 1968 California primary, he was killed at Los Angeles. He was a senator from the New York and brother of John F Kennedy. He seeking the Democratic Presidential nomination when he was killed at a Los Angeles hotel —Five other people were wounded in the shooting. Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death. Later, he was commuted to life in prison.
George C Wallace: On January 13, 1972, Wallace declared himself a Democratic presidential candidate. He was shot at the same year. He became paralyzed from the waist down even after undergoing a surgery for about four to five hours following the attack. He was shot four times by Arthur Bremer during a campaign at the Laurel Shopping Center in Laurel, Maryland. At the time of the attack, he was receiving high ratings in national opinion polls. He had served as Alabama Governor.
