ASSASSINATIONS & ASSASINATION ATTEMPTSList of Assassinations and Attempted Assassinations of Presidents, Presidential Candidates

Assassinations of presidents and attempts to assassinate presidents and those campaigning for the office, have been a feature of American history. Here is a list of some of the assassinations and attempted assassinations that have occurred since 1776.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president
14 April 1865. Lincoln, the first president to be assassinated, was shot by John Wilkes Booth as he and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, attended a special performance of the comedy “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. Lincoln was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson. Booth was shot and killed on 26 April 1865, hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia.

James Garfield, the 20th president
2 July 1881. Garfield, the second president to be assassinated, was killed was shot by Charles Guiteau six months after taking office, while walking through a train station in Washington, D.C. to catch a train to New England. The mortally wounded president lay at the White House for several weeks, but died in September after he was taken to the New Jersey shore. He was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur. Guiteau was executed in June 1882.

William McKinley, the 25th president
6 September 1901. McKinley was shot after giving a speech in Buffalo, New York. Doctors had expected McKinley to recover but gangrene then set in around the bullet wounds. McKinley, who was six months into his second term, was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. Leon F. Czolgosz, an unemployed, 28-year-old Detroit resident, admitted to the shooting. He was put to death in the electric chair on 29 October 1901.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president
15 February 1933. Roosevelt, then the president-elect, had just given a speech in Miami from the back of an open car when gunshots were fired. The gunman aimed to kill FDR, but instead mortally wounded Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who was standing next to the president-elect. Zangara admitted to the killing and refused to appeal his conviction, He was executed on 20 March 1933.