Assassination attempts on presidents are been something new. It is something that has happened multiple times over the last several decades. The assassination cases have been a debate over the years and the circumstances leading to these attempts have also been questioned. The reasons for such incidents in the United States have been different.
It has frequently happened for political reasons where certain people were not satisfied with the activities of the presidents. But sometimes they have also been personal and some of them happened due to the attackers’ mental stability. A few others were also declared legally insane.
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U.S. Presidents Who Were Assassinated
1. Abraham Lincoln
The Civil War ended on April 15, 1985, and President Abraham Lincoln went to the Ford’s Theater with his wife. The duo was watching the play ‘Our American Cousin’ when he was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth. He was transported to Petersen House where he died the next morning at 7:22 a.m. Although the authorities attempted to capture John, he managed to save himself from being arrested. However, he was cornered in a barn at Port Royal, Virginia on April 26, 1985, and was shot dead by U.S. Army Troops after he refused to surrender.
2. James Garfield
President James Garfield was killed by a mentally disturbed man named Charles Guiteau, who was stalking him for weeks. Garfield was shot dead on July 2, 1881, on the platform of a train station in Washington D.C.
Guiteau was immediately arrested after shooting Garfield and was hanged on June 30, 1882.
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3. William McKinley
President William McKinley went to the Pan-American Exposition in New York on September 6, 1901. McKinley was busy greeting the visitors and an individual named Leon Czolgosz shot McKinley twice in the abdomen. McKinley later succumbed to gangrene resulting from the bullet wounds.
After McKinley was shot, the crowd attacked Leon and was rescued by the cops. He was sentenced and found guilty. He was executed by an electric chair on October 29, 1901, and he mentioned in his last words that he regretted not being able to see his father and was feeling sorry for what he did.
4. John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy’s assassination was described to be one such incident that has been a topic of discussion on various occasions. He was driving past crowds of onlookers in downtown Dallas during his motorcade from the airport on November 22, 1963. He was struck in the neck and back of the head, leading to his death.
Lee Harvey Oswald was identified as the accused and he planned the assassination from the sixth floor of the Texas State Book Depository building. Although Oswald fled the spot, he was captured the same day and he also shot another police officer, J.D. Tippit. Oswald was in police custody for some time and was shot dead on live television.
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