The Dark History of Presidential Assassination Attempts: A Legacy of Survival and Tragedy

Reagan narrowly escaped death in 1981

Yesterday saw a second assassination attempt on former President Trump. Sadly, when you step into the shoes of a U.S. president, you assume one of the most powerful and dangerous roles in the world. While America’s highest office embodies leadership, liberty, and democracy, it has also attracted those willing to kill for their ideals, grievances, or notoriety. In more than two centuries, there have been numerous assassination attempts on sitting and former U.S. presidents, some tragically successful, others narrowly avoided.

Here, we revisit the chilling moments when the nation’s fate teetered on a single pull of the trigger.

The First Shock: Abraham Lincoln (1865)

On April 14, 1865, the joyous aftermath of the Civil War came crashing down. As Abraham Lincoln sat in Ford’s Theatre enjoying a play, actor John Wilkes Booth slipped into the presidential box and fired a single, fateful shot. Lincoln’s death the following day was the first time a sitting president had been assassinated, plunging the country into mourning and setting a grim precedent for the vulnerability of future presidents.