4 American Presidents Who Were Assassinated

There are some dangerous jobs that carry an extreme warning. The logging industry is often cited as having the most dangerous jobs in America. Other industries, such as fishing, construction, and working on oil rigs, carry many life-threatening risks, too.

There is one job, however, that is by far one of the most dangerous in America: being the president.

There have been 46 presidents so far, and four of them have been murdered while in office. This result is a staggering 8.7% assassination rate!

Here are the four presidents who met their untimely end at the hands of assassins.

Booth was a famous actor. Well-known in the community, his face was known to many, including Lincoln, who had once remarked that he admired the actor. In fact, Lincoln had, throughout his presidency, invited Booth to the White House, but Booth had never taken up any of the invitations. Nevertheless, Lincoln held absolutely no suspicions that Booth was any danger to him.

On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln and his wife, Mary Todd, arrived late to a production of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC. Lincoln and his wife sat in the presidential booth with Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Clara Harris.

When they arrived, the play stopped, and the orchestra played “Hail to the Chief” while an audience of 1,700 people stood and gave a loud applause.

On that day, Lincoln’s usual bodyguard was unable to accompany the president, and instead, assigned to him was a policeman named John Frederick Parker, an officer with a checkered history who had many infractions against him. After the play resumed, Parker realized that from his vantage point behind the president, he could not see the play, so he moved to a different spot in the audience, severely reducing his ability to protect the president. At intermission, he left the theater altogether and took refreshment at a saloon. John Wilkes Booth was sitting in the same saloon, stealing himself for what he was about to do.

After intermission, Booth went into the theater and, using his credentials as a well-known actor, was able to gain access to the presidential booth. He wedged the door shut and waited for the perfect moment to strike. He knew the play well, and at a particularly funny moment when the audience howled with laughter, Booth pointed his Derringer pistol at the back of Lincoln’s head and pulled the trigger.

Major Rathbone leaped from his seat and grappled with the assailant, but Booth slashed the major with a knife and made his escape by leaping onto the stage below. Lincoln’s death was not immediate. He was taken across the road to a house where doctors attended to him. The injury was fatal, however. The bullet had entered his head behind the left ear and come to a halt behind his right eye. There was nothing that could be done. Lincoln, unconscious the entire time, slipped away at 7:22 the next morning.

Booth was later cornered and died in a shootout with the police, while his accomplices, who had been tasked with other assassinations (all of which failed), were caught and put on trial. Four of them were hanged.

Less than four months into his term as president, James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was shot in the back. His murderer was Charles J. Guiteau, a psychologically unstable man who falsely believed he had been responsible for Garfield’s success in the elections.

Guiteau had a checkered history of finding his place in the world. He worked at a law practice and then as a bill collector. He was also deeply interested in theology and spent time living in a religious commune before trying his hand at politics, where he thought he would have success.

James Garfield, by W.J. Morgan & Co., lithographer. Source: Library of Congress

He was a supporter of Ulysses S. Grant, and expecting him to win the nomination as the Republican candidate, Guiteau wrote a speech entitled “Grant vs. Hancock.” Before he could have it printed, Grant lost the nomination to Garfield, and Giteau made several hurried and careless changes to his speech, replacing the name “Grant” with “Garfield.” As a result, the speech ended up attributing successes to Garfield that were accomplished by Grant. Nevertheless, the speech was printed and disseminated.

Although he never publicly orated the speech, Guiteau was convinced that his speech had helped Garfield win the presidential election of 1880 against his democrat rival, Winfield Scott Hancock.

He expected praise from Garfield and even expected a consulship. He hung around the Republican headquarters and then the White House, trying to get a meeting with Garfield, but to no avail.

Incensed by being ignored, he decided on a route of violence. He wrote threatening letters to the White House, but these, too, were ignored. Guiteau then bought a revolver and stalked his target. On July 3, 1881 at the Baltimore and Potomac Railway Station, Guiteau approached his target from behind and shot twice. The first shot grazed the president’s shoulder, and the second shot caught him in the back. Guiteau was immediately arrested by a policeman who showed up to investigate the gunshots.

Garfield, still alive, was taken to an upper floor of the station and then to the White House, where he lay in bed for weeks, being prodded by doctors. It is widely believed that in the doctor’s quest to remove the bullet, they did more damage to the president, causing the wound to become toxic. The sepsis slowly spread throughout Garfield’s body, and he died 79 days later.

Guiteau’s trial was a media circus, and he delighted in the attention. He even sang in court and was convinced that he was not guilty as he was carrying out the will of God. It was one of the first times the US judicial system had considered the insanity defense. During this time, Guiteau even went so far as to plan to run for president himself; such were his delusions.

The jury decided that Guiteau was guilty, and he was sentenced to death. On the day of his execution, he danced up to the gallows and waved at the audience before reciting a poem. He even shook hands with the executioner.

William McKinley was the 25th president of the United States. Several months into his second term in office, he was murdered by an anarchist who viewed it as his duty to remove McKinley from office.

In 1896, McKinley was elected into office by defeating his rival, Democrat William Jennings Bryan. The hardships of the term were already in full swing. The country had been suffering from an economic depression since 1893. McKinley’s administration would triumph over these problems. He solved the economic crisis and secured victory in the Spanish-American War in 1898.

Leon Czolgosz, the son of Polish immigrants, was born in 1873 in Detroit, Michigan. In 1893, he lost his job in a labor dispute and spent the next few years struggling financially, picking up odd jobs wherever he could. He became interested in anarchism, a movement that had been the cause of several attempted assassinations in Europe already.

Despite the upturn in American economic fortunes, Czolgosz still harbored resentment towards McKinley, whom he blamed for his misfortunes. He moved to Buffalo, although it is uncertain the motive behind this move. He did not have any clear plans to kill the president, but he would act upon the opportunity that presented itself.

After his second inauguration in 1901, McKinley toured the country, culminating in a speech at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo on June 13. While in Chicago, Czolgosz learned of the president’s intended visit to Buffalo, and when he returned, Czolgosz purchased a revolver. On September 3, he made up his mind that he would kill McKinley.

On September 5, McKinley toured the fair in Buffalo after giving a speech. Czolgosz was in the crowd but decided not to attempt anything as he was being jostled, and hitting the president would be difficult. He tried to get close afterward, but he was pushed away by security. The next day, McKinley was scheduled to take a trip to Niagara Falls before returning to Buffalo.

After returning to Buffalo, he attended a grand reception at the Temple of Music, where he greeted thousands of people who lined up to shake the president’s hand. Czolgosz was in the crowd waiting for the chance. When he got to the president, with his gun concealed in a handkerchief, he pulled the trigger twice. It was 4:07 pm. The president lurched forward as onlookers gazed in horror.

Immediately, Czolgosz was set upon by members of the crowd as well as McKinley’s security detail, while McKinley was guided towards a chair. He sat down and ordered the beating of Czolgosz to cease.

McKinley was taken to the exposition hospital, but no qualified surgeon was available immediately. The delay worsened the president’s state. One of the bullets had caught on a button and had not entered the president’s body, but the other pierced his abdomen and left the president in a critical condition.

He was operated on successfully, and over the next few days, he seemed to be in recovery, but the toxins in his blood caused by gangrene resulted in an infection that put the president back into critical condition. In the early hours of September 14, President William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, succumbed to his wounds.

Czolgosz was sentenced to death by electrocution, which was carried out on October 29, 1901.

The most recent of the American presidential assassinations, the murder of John F. Kennedy, sent huge shockwaves through the entire world.

Kennedy’s term as president had been a successful one, and although he had not formally announced it, Kennedy was sure to seek a second term. In late 1963, the campaign began as he toured the United States and spoke on issues such as peace and conservation. Jacqueline Kennedy joined her husband on November 21 as they departed for Texas aboard Air Force One. The plan was to visit five cities in two days.

The first stop was San Antonio, and then on to Houston before ending the day in Fort Worth, where they would spend the evening. On the morning of November 22, Kennedy was warmly greeted by a crowd as he gave a speech. Afterward, he spoke at the breakfast of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce at the Texas Hotel.

Then, it was on to Carswell Air Force Base for a thirteen-minute flight to Dallas. Upon landing, they greeted a gathering of people by the fence before taking the motorcade, which was to drive ten miles to the Trade Mart, where Kennedy was to give a speech. Kennedy rode in the presidential limousine with the top down, giving onlookers a clear vantage of their president. It also made him an easier target for any would-be snipers. At around 12:30 pm, they turned off Main Street onto Dealey Plaza. Crowds lined the streets, greeting the president and waving flags.

As they passed the Texas School Book Depository, the sound of gunfire punctuated the cheers from the crowd, which quickly turned into screams and gasps of shock and disbelief.

A bullet pierced the back of the president’s neck, and another went into the back of his head. The motorcade immediately rushed the president to the hospital, but there was nothing that could have been done. John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead at 1 pm.

The assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was on the run, but not for long. He murdered a policeman who stopped to question him and was later apprehended. Before he could be tried, Oswald was murdered by a nightclub owner, Jack Ruby, in the basement of a Dallas police station and on live television. Ruby pulled out a gun and shot Oswald to death.

The murder of Oswald was judged to be pure retaliation for the killing of Kennedy. Ruby was sentenced to death but appealed the decision. Before he could be retried, he died of a pulmonary embolism.

Being the president of the United States has always been a risky job. As technology improves, so does the ability to defend the president against the threat from assassins. The danger, however, increases too, as the president is at the center of political unrest and turmoil, which creates environments in which people mad enough to try their hand at assassination become emboldened.

Despite all the security, being the president of the United States is still as dangerous as it ever was.