Presidential assassinations, whether successful or not, are often politically motivated. However, some assassins have been mentally ill or acted without a clear purpose. Most assassins are captured and executed or imprisoned.
Let’s look at some of the successful assassinations that have taken place in the history of the United States since its founding in 1776:
Abraham Lincoln – 16th President of the United States
On April 20, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated. While watching a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth, just days after the Civil War ended.
President Lincoln Assassinated at the Theater
After being shot, Lincoln was taken to a nearby area for treatment and remained unconscious for eight hours before passing away the next morning.
Booth, a sympathizer of the Confederate South, was angered by the South’s surrender and Lincoln’s plans to grant African Americans the right to vote and abolish slavery. Two weeks after assassinating Lincoln, Booth was tracked down and shot dead by Union soldiers at a Virginia farm.
James Garfield – 20th President of the United States
Just four months into his term, President James Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau at a train station in Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1881. Garfield was hit by two bullets, one in the back and another that pierced his back. Due to improper medical treatment, he died from his wounds three months later, on September 19, 1881.
President Garfield Assassinated at the Train Station
His assassin, Guiteau, was captured and sentenced to death by hanging.
William McKinley – 25th President of the United States
On September 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, while attending a musical event in Buffalo, New York. The first shot missed, but the second entered his abdomen. McKinley died eight days later, on September 14, 1901, due to infection from his wounds.
Czolgosz was captured and sentenced to death by electric chair a few weeks later.
John F. Kennedy – 35th President of the United States
President Kennedy was assassinated by a hidden sniper with a high-powered rifle during his visit to Dallas in November 1963, accompanied by his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy. The shots rang out as the presidential motorcade made its way through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. Kennedy was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital but was pronounced dead just 30 minutes later.
President Kennedy and his wife, moments before the assassination
His vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, took the oath of office aboard Air Force One, becoming the only president to be sworn in on an aircraft.
Hours after the assassination, the police captured Lee Harvey Oswald, who was found in a nearby building, the Texas School Book Depository. Two days later, as Oswald was being transferred from police headquarters to the county jail, he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner.
