An attempt on the life of former U.S. president Donald Trump occurred during a recent political rally, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) terming it an assassination attempt. Reportedly, Trump sustained a non-fatal injury to his ear as a result of the shooter’s actions. Multiple past American leaders have had their lives threatened, including both successful and unsuccessful assassination attempts.
Four American presidents have fallen victim to assassinations during their tenures in office. In 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. James Garfield, the nation’s 20th president, was shot at a train station in the same city in 1881, ultimately dying from the injuries sustained several months later. President William McKinley was the target of an anarchist’s assassination plot in 1901 in Buffalo, New York. John F Kennedy was shot on a trip in Dallas, Texas in 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald while traversing the city in a motorcade.
Trump joins a list of three other presidents who experienced assassination attempts but were able to survive the incidents. His ear was hit by a bullet during a campaign speech in Pennsylvania, leading to rushed evacuation by security officials. Another leader who survived an assassination attempt was Ronald Reagan, who was shot outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC in 1981 – a bullet initially intended for his limousine ended up striking him under the left armpit. Gerald Ford escaped unhurt from two assassination attempts in quick succession in the year 1975. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was shot in the chest while at a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but made a recovery.
Other notable American figures have also been targets of assassination. In 1968, Robert F Kennedy, a contender for the White House, was killed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Alabama governor George C Wallace sustained a gunshot wound in 1982 that left him paralysed from the waist downwards. These events stand testament to the various threats American leaders face.