Direct Assaults Against Presidents, Presidents-Elect, and Candidates
Released: 2009-12-28T00:00:00

Introduction

Concerns about the safety of Presidents have existed throughout the history of the Republic, beginning with George Washington in 1794, when he led troops against the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. The intervening years have witnessed a variety of incidents of actual and potential harm to Presidents (as well as immediate family members and other high-ranking officials). These situations extend to illegal entries onto the White House grounds and the White House itself; violence and conflict near the President's residence or where he was visiting; unauthorized aircraft flying near the White House and, in one instance, a plane crashing into the building; schemes to use airplanes to attack the White House; other threats of attack, including bombings and armed assaults; feared kidnapping and hostage-taking; assassination plots; as well as immediate, direct assaults against Presidents. In addition to incumbents, Presidents-elect and candidates for the office have been subject to assaults or threats.

General Findings

This report identifies assassinations of and other direct assaults against Presidents, Presidents-elect, and candidates for the office of President. There have been 15 such attacks (against 14 individuals), with five resulting in death. The first incident occurred in 1835, involving President Andrew Jackson, when an attacker's pistol misfired. The most recent occurred in 2005, when a would-be assassin in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia, tossed a grenade (which did not explode) at the platform where President George W. Bush and the Georgian President were speaking. The tally of victims reveals the following:

Of the 43 individuals serving as President, 10 (or about 23%) have been subject to actual or attempted assassinations. Four of these 10 incumbents—Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy—were slain. Four of the seven most recent Presidents have been targets of assaults: Gerald R. Ford (twice in 1975), Ronald W. Reagan (in a near-fatal shooting in 1981), William J. Clinton (when the White House was fired upon in 1994), and George W. Bush (when an attacker tossed a grenade, which did not explode, towards him and the President of Georgia at a public gathering in Tbilisi in 2005). Two others who served as President were attacked, either as a President-elect (Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933) or as a presidential candidate (Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, when he was seeking the presidency after being out of office for nearly four years). Two other presidential candidates—Robert F. Kennedy, who was killed in 1968, and George C. Wallace, who was seriously wounded in 1972—were also victims, during the primaries. In only one of these 15 incidents (the Lincoln assassination) was a broad conspiracy proven, although such contentions have arisen on other occasions. Only one other incident involved more than one participant (the 1950 assault on Blair House, the temporary residence of President Harry S Truman); but no evidence of other conspirators emerged from the subsequent investigation or prosecution. Of the 15 direct assaults, 11 relied upon pistols, two on automatic weapons, one on a rifle, and one on a grenade. All but two of the attacks (both against Gerald Ford) were committed by men. All but one of the 15 assaults occurred within the United States.

Specific Incidents

The following table identifies the direct assaults on Presidents, Presidents-elect, and candidates for the office of President. It specifies the date when the assault occurred, the victim, his political party affiliation, the length of his administration at the time of the attack or whether he was then a candidate or President-elect, the location of the attack, its method and result, and the name of the assailant, along with the professed or alleged reason for the attack (if known).