Assassinations and Attempted Assassinations of​ US Presidents

From the first President George Washington to the current President Joe Biden, there have ⁢been 45 presidents in the 248-year history⁣ of the ⁣United ⁤States. Of these, four were assassinated. However, several presidents came close to being assassinated. While the presidents were safe, ​others were‍ killed or injured.

Abraham Lincoln, the First President to be Assassinated in the United States

Abraham Lincoln, ⁢the 16th President and the most admired president in most polls today, was the first president in American ‌history to be assassinated. President Lincoln, who took office in 1861, is credited with leading⁣ the American Civil War to victory, unifying ‌the nation on the brink of division, and achieving great feats such as the emancipation of slaves.

The assassin was an actor named John Wilkes Booth, who was a strong opponent of the abolition of slavery. ‌On April 14, 1865,⁤ Booth approached President Lincoln right behind him while he was watching a play at Ford’s Theater in downtown Washington with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and fired a pistol.

President Lincoln, who was shot in the back of the‍ head, was taken to a private home across the street from the ‌theater, ⁤but died the next morning. Booth, the assassin, hid in a‌ barn on ⁢a Virginia farm for more than ten​ days before being shot dead by Union troops ⁤on April 26.

President Garfield was Assassinated Just Six‍ Months After Taking Office

Sixteen years after the ⁤assassination of President⁤ Abraham Lincoln, the second presidential ‍assassination occurs in⁤ the⁢ United States. The⁢ 20th President was James Garfield. President Garfield was shot and killed by a man named Charles Guiteau in the Washington train station‍ in July 1881.

A self-proclaimed loyal Republican,‍ Guiteau sought office, believing he had contributed to the‌ election of President Garfield. However, when his efforts were ignored, ‌he became resentful and decided to assassinate President Garfield. Guiteau shot President Garfield twice, fatally wounding him.

Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, was also a​ contemporary. Bell tried to find the bullet embedded in the president’s body with a specially designed device, ​but failed. President‌ Garfield died two months later, on September 19. He was‌ 49 years ⁤old, just six months after‍ taking office.

President McKinley, Who Opened the 20th Century

In September 1901,​ in the 20th century, the 25th President William McKinley was⁤ shot by an assassin. President McKinley was the last president ‌of ⁣the United States in the 19th century and the first president of the 20th century.

During his term from 1897 until his death in 1901, President McKinley led the United States to​ victory in the Spanish-American War, fostered ‍American industry, and implemented the gold standard policy.⁣ He was re-elected. However, ⁤he was assassinated six months after⁤ starting his second term.

President McKinley was attending the ⁢National Industrial Exposition in Buffalo, New York at the time. Among the crowd was an anarchist assassin. The assassin shot President McKinley twice‌ in the chest at close range, ⁤fatally wounding him. President McKinley⁢ underwent surgery, but never recovered and ‍died eight days later. ‌He was 58 years ⁢old.

John F. Kennedy, the Youngest⁤ President in American⁤ History

John F. Kennedy, the ‌35th President of the United States, was the ⁤youngest president in American history when elected. When he took office in 1960, President Kennedy was 43 years old. However, on November⁢ 22, 1963, while he was visiting Dallas, Texas to campaign for the next presidential ‌election, he was shot by an assassin and died at the young age of 46.

At the time, ⁤President Kennedy ⁣was riding in an open car with ‍his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, through downtown Dallas when he was shot in the neck by assassin​ Lee Harvey Oswald on the sixth‍ floor of a nearby warehouse building. Oswald then shot him again in the ‌head, killing him instantly.

Attempted Assassination Cases

The first attempted assassination​ of a president in ⁢American history occurred during‍ the time of the 7th President,⁤ Andrew Jackson. A man named Richard Lawrence attempted to assassinate President Jackson while he‍ was attending a funeral at the Capitol in 1835, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

The 26th President Theodore Roosevelt was also almost assassinated. After leaving office, ‍he was campaigning for reelection in ​Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1912. He was shot in the chest by⁣ a young German man. President Roosevelt finished his speech despite bleeding from his chest.

Meanwhile, the⁢ 32nd President Franklin Roosevelt, the only four-term president in American history, was almost assassinated while he was president-elect.⁤ He was shot while giving a speech ‌in Miami, Florida, in February 1933, just 20 days before his‌ inauguration. Roosevelt was unharmed, but the mayor of Chicago, who was nearby, was killed and several others were injured.

President Roosevelt gave his famous inauguration speech the following month: ⁢“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

French President Emmanuel Macron

The impeachment motion against President Emmanuel Macron, led by a hard-left party, passed its⁣ first ‌hurdle in the French National Assembly. Experts generally predict that the impeachment motion is unlikely to be passed in the National Assembly.

President Macron was born in 1977 and is currently 46 years old. Both his parents were doctors and he grew up wealthy. President Macron graduated from Henri ​IV, ‌one⁣ of the most prestigious schools in France. He also attended Nanterre University, Paris Institute of Political Studies, and the National School of Administration.

President Macron once worked at the investment bank ‍Rothschild. As a Socialist, he served as Minister of Economy under President François Hollande. However, in 2016, he formed a new party called En Marché (Republic on the ​Move) in opposition to the Socialist Party’s policies.

And in the‌ 2017 presidential election, he ran as the party’s candidate and won in a runoff, defeating far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. President Macron won the 2022 re-election in a runoff against Le Pen.