From Lincoln to Reagan, all those times American presidents or candidates have been the target of gunfire

While Republican White House candidate and former President Donald Trump has escaped an assassination attempt, it is worth remembering that the United States has experienced many episodes of political violence. In the space of just under two centuries, no fewer than four American presidents have been killed.

“I didn’t think I would see a scene where a president or a former president would be shot like that.” This is the reaction of the franceinfo correspondent in the United States after Donald Trump was the victim of an assassination attempt on Saturday, July 13, during a rally in Pennsylvania. The impression of living a historic moment like we have read about in history books, “the worst of America”as described by Dominique Moïsi, a specialist in international relations, because American political life is indeed marked by many tragic episodes. Between assassinations and attempted assassinations, a look back at a little over 180 years of political violence across the Atlantic.

Four Presidents Assassinated

The United States has had four presidents killed by an assassin during their term. Abraham Lincoln was the very first of them. He was killed in a Washington theater in 1865 by a Southerner, just days after the end of the Civil War. The second victim was the 20th President of the United States, James Garfield, attacked in July 1881 in Washington by a man declared insane. In 1901, while receiving dignitaries at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, was injured by an anarchist and died a few days later from his injuries.

But the assassination that marks the collective conscience remains that of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, on November 22, 1963 in Dallas. In his black convertible limousine that cuts through the crowd, and alongside his wife Jackie, JFK is hit by the bullets of Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine commando who had lived in the Soviet Union.

Presidents narrowly saved

In 1933, it was Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd American president, who escaped death, targeted by a man who fired several times but missed his target. It was the mayor of Chicago at the time who lost his life. Franklin Roosevelt had already survived a previous assassination attempt in 1912 while he was campaigning, as recalled by the journalist specializing in the United States, Thomas Snegaroff.

Other American presidents also survived attacks, such as Andrew Jackson in 1835 or Gerald Ford, who was targeted twice in less than a month in 1975. But until Donald Trump’s attack, the last victim was Ronald Reagan. 43 years ago, on March 30, 1981, the newly elected president was seriously injured by an unbalanced man. After twelve days in hospital, he finally came out safe and sound.

Candidates targeted in campaign

While President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, his brother, Robert Kennedy, known as Bobby, also lost his life five years after him, in 1968, when he was a senator from New York and campaigning for the White House. He was hit by bullets from a Palestinian from Jordan.Sirhan Sirhan, motivated according to him by Kennedy’s support for Israel.

In 1972, George Wallace was campaigning for the Democratic nomination when he was targeted in an attempted bombing at a shopping mall in Maryland. He survived but was left paralyzed for life. Arthur Bremer, the shooter, explained that he only wanted to be famous.