ORLANDO, Fla. — Although the alleged assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday caused shock across America, the episode is far from unique.
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Over the course of the country’s nearly 250 years of democratic history, a slew of presidents, presidential candidates, and other political leaders have been at the center of assassination plots.
“Politics always brings a lot of high feelings, and that’s normal. In recent years, we’ve been going very far into antagonism on both sides,” said David Head, a historian with the University of Central Florida. “Something like this hasn’t happened in a while, so there’s always a temptation to think that it’s all in the past.”
Here are 10 notorious cases of assassination attempts against political figures in American history:
Barack Obama, 2011: In 2011, 21-year-old Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, a conspiracy theorist, was arrested for firing rounds at the White House in an attempt to kill then-President Barack Obama. Ortega-Hernandez was sentenced to 25 years in prison following the attack.
Abraham Lincoln, 1865: One of the most famous episodes in American history, the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, happened on April 14th, 1865, at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. His killer, John Wilkes Booth, was a supporter of the Confederacy. He was killed days after the assassination plot.
James Garfield, 1881: Garfield had been the president for less than six months when he fell victim to an assassination attempt in Washington, D.C., in July of 1881. The president was shot in the shoulder and back; he went on to get treatment for his injuries but died of an infection.
William McKinley, 1901: Similarly to what happened to former president Garfield, Republican President McKinley also died of an infection after an assassination attempt against him in September of 1901. McKinley was shot in the stomach by an anarchist during a visit to New York.
John F. Kennedy, 1963: Just as infamous as the killing of President Lincoln, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy went down as a devastating chapter of American history. The incident happened in Dallas, Texas, in November of 1963. The president and his wife, Jackie, were in an open-topped car when he was shot. He died soon after. The gunman, later identified as Lee Harvey Oswald, was also killed.
Ronald Reagan, 1981: Republican President Ronald Reagan was hurt after an assassination attempt in March of 1981 near a hotel in Washington, D.C. The attempt came soon after Reagan took office and left the Republican severely hurt – he had internal bleeding and a broken rib, among other injuries. The president had surgery spent several days in hospital, and returned to office weeks later.
Teddy Roosevelt, 1912: In October of 1912, former President Theodore – Teddy – Roosevelt was at the center of an assassination attempt when he was shot at while he campaigned in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time, the Republican had a copy of his speech in his jacket, which absorbed part of the damage. The president was able to finish his speech before heading to the hospital.
Gerald Ford, 1975: It was during a hand-shake interaction with supporters in Sacramento, California, that the 38th President of the United States, Gerald Ford, was also the target of an assassination attempt. The attacker was at arm’s length from the Republican when she attempted to shoot at him, unsuccessfully. She was later identified as Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme and was sentenced and spent more than 30 years in prison for the attack.
Representative Gabrielle Giffords, 2011: During an episode known as the “2011 Tucson Shooting,” former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords and 18 other people were shot during a rally in the parking lot of a supermarket in the metropolitan area of Tucson. 6 people were killed in the incident, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. The gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, was arrested moments later and has received seven sentences of life in prison without parole.
Representative Steve Scalise, 2017: Trump supporter and U.S. Representative Steve Scalise was one of the four people shot at a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2017. The congressman was severely injured in the incident and was forced into multiple surgeries following the attack. According to the Secret Service, the gunman, identified as James T. Hodgkinson, fired at least 70 rounds from a 9mm pistol and an SKS 7.62mm rifle at Scalise.
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