Four US presidents have been assassinated; others were targeted, as were presidential candidates

WASHINGTON (AP) – Before Saturday apparent attempted murder of former President Donald Trump, there have been several cases of political violence against US presidents, former presidents and major party presidential candidates.

A look at some of the murders and attempted murders that have occurred since the country’s founding in 1776:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the 16th president

Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated, shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, when he and his wife Mary Todd Lincolnattended a special performance of the comedy “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater in Washington.

Lincoln was taken to a house across the street from the theater for medical treatment after being shot in the back of the head. He died the next morning. His support for black rights was cited as a reason for his murder.

Two years before the assassination, during the Civil War, fought over slavery, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation granting freedom to slaves within the Confederacy.

Lincoln was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson.

Booth was shot and killed on April 26, 1865, after being found hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia.

JAMES GARFIELD, the 20th president

Garfield was the second president to be assassinated, six months after taking office. He was walking through a Washington train station on July 2, 1881, to catch a train to New England when he was shot by Charles Guiteau.

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet lodged in Garfield’s chest using a device he designed specifically for the president. The mortally wounded president remained at the White House for several weeks but died in September after being washed ashore in New Jersey. He had held the position for six months.

Garfield was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur.

Guiteau was found guilty and executed in June 1882.

WILLIAM McKINLEY, the 25th president

McKinley was shot after giving a speech in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901. He was shaking hands with people passing through a receiving line when a man fired two shots into his chest at close range. Doctors expected McKinley to recover, but gangrene had set in around the bullet wounds.

McKinley died on September 14, 1901, six months into his second term.

He was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

Leon F. Czolgosz, an unemployed 28-year-old Detroit resident, admitted to the shooting. Czolgosz was found guilty at trial and sentenced to death in the electric chair on October 29, 1901.

JOHN F. KENNEDY, the 35th President

Kennedy was shot to death by a hidden assassin armed with a high-powered rifle while visiting Dallas in November 1963 with the first lady. Jacqueline Kennedy. Shots were heard as the president’s motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas.

Kennedy was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died soon after.

He was succeeded by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was sworn in in a conference room aboard Air Force One. He is the only president to take the oath of office on an airplane.

Hours after the assassination, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald after finding a sniper in a nearby building, the Texas School Book Depository.

Two days later, Oswald was being taken from police headquarters to the county jail when Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby ran up and fatally shot Oswald.

GERALD FORD, the 38th president

Ford faced two assassination attempts within weeks in 1975 and was not injured in either incident.

On the first attempt, Ford was on his way to a meeting with the governor of California in Sacramento when Charles Manson disciple Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme pushed through a crowd in the street, pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and pointed it at Ford. The gun was not fired.

Fromme was sentenced to prison and released in 2009.

17 days later, another woman, Sara Jane Moore, confronted Ford outside a San Francisco hotel. Moore fired a shot and missed. A bystander grabbed her arm when a second shot was attempted.

Moore was sent to prison and released in 2007.

RONALD REAGAN, the 40th president

Reagan was leaving a speech in Washington, D.C., and walking to his motorcade when he was shot by John Hinckley Jr., who was in the crowd.

Reagan recovered from the March 1981 shooting. Three other people were shot, including his press secretary, James Brady, who was partially paralyzed.

Hinckley was arrested and confined to a mental hospital after a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity for shooting Reagan. In 2022, Hinckley was released from court supervision after a judge determined he was “no longer a danger to himself or others.”

GEORGE W. BUSH, the 43rd president

Bush was attending a rally in Tbilisi in 2005 with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili when a hand grenade was thrown at him.

The two men were behind a bulletproof barrier when the grenade, wrapped in cloth, landed about 30 meters away. The grenade did not explode and no one was injured.

Vladimir Arutyunian was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, presidential candidate

Kennedy was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was killed in a Los Angeles hotel – moments after giving his victory speech for winning the 1968 California primary.

Kennedy was a U.S. senator from New York and the brother of President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated five years earlier.

Five other people were injured in the shooting.

Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. That was commuted to life in prison, where Sirhan remains after his last request for release was denied last year.

GEORGE C. WALLACE, presidential candidate

Wallace was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was shot during a campaign stop in Maryland in 1972, an incident that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Wallace, the governor of Alabama, was known for his segregationist views, which he later renounced.

Arthur Bremer was convicted of the shooting and sentenced to prison. He was released in 2007.