Assassination

Assassination is the murder of an important or popular person, usually, a political leader, like the head of a country or of a political party. Assassinations are usually done for political reasons or for payment.  A person who assassinates someone is called an assassin.

Throughout history, assassinations have happened for many different reasons. Sometimes, assassinations have been used to take over governments. Other times, assassinations have been used to kill military leaders during wars, or for religious reasons. Some assassins want revenge, or just want to be famous.

In ancient to medieval times

Assassinations have happened ever since people started living in group societies.

The Old Testament of the Bible mentions assassinations in the Books of Judith, Kings, Samuel and Chronicles.2 Kings 12:1921; 2 Samuel 3:2628 RSV; 2 Chronicles 32:21

An ancient Indian writer, Chanakya, who lived from about 350 to 283 BC, wrote much about assassinations in a book called Arthashastra.  One of his students later assassinated some of his enemies, including two of Alexander the Great's generals.

Famous victims of assassinations include Philip II of Macedon (336 BC), who was Alexander's father, and Julius Caesar (44 BC). There is evidence that Alexander was assassinated by poisoning. Several emperors of the Roman Empire were assassinated so that a different leader could take their place.

In the Middle Ages, many emperors in the Byzntine Empire were murdered so that new emperors could take power.

In the 12th and the 13th centuries, the Shia Order of Assassins in Persia and Syria fought their Sunni and Christian enemies by killing their leaders. That is when the term "assassination" started.

During the Renaissance, assassinations happened in Western Europe.  Kings William the Silent of the Netherlands (1584), Henry III of France (1589),Durant, Will; Durant, Ariel (1961). The Age of Reason Begins. Simon and Schuster, 1961. p. 361.  and Henry IV of France (1610)Miquel, Pierre (1980). Les Guerres de Religion. Paris: Club France Loisirs. p.399.  were all assassinated.

An early use of state assassination in the area which later became the United States, happened in 1620. It happened in Plymouth in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where the Pilgrims had landed. Native Americans already lived there, but the Pilgrims wanted the land to themselves. Myles Standish invited a local Native American tribal chief, the chief's 18-year-old brother, and two other Native Americans to a feast. They locked the door, killed the three older men and hanged the teenager in public as a warning to the other Native Americans to stay away.

In modern history
Assassinations have been common in modern history. This section does not list every assassination that has happened in modern history. It lists some examples of world leaders who were assassinated, and explains some of the reasons why these assassinations happened.

In Imperial Russia, two emperors were assassinated within 80 years: Paul I (1801)Radzinsky, Edvard (2005). Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar. Free Press. pp. 16–17 and Alexander II (1881).p. 419

In the United States, four presidents were assassinated within 100 years. They were Presidents Abraham Lincoln (1865), James Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963).

After Abraham Lincoln was killed, Andrew Johnson became president  for four years.  During that time, 12 people who held important political jobs were assassinated. The next president, Ulysses S. Grant, led the United States from 1869 to 1877  During that time, 11 government leaders were assassinated; another 9 were attacked, but survived.

The World Wars
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in 1914.  Some historians say this assassination started World War I.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Joseph Stalin's NKVD assassinated some people outside of the Soviet Union, including Leon Trotsky. They were mostly people who Stalin thought were against him or could take power from him. Stalin wanted to make sure to keep the power he had and so he killed many of his opponents, mostly within the Soviet Union.Ellman, Michael (2005). "The role of leadership perceptions and of intent in the Soviet Famine of 1931–1934 ." Europe-Asia Studies 57 (6): 826.

Between 1934 and 1944, different individuals and groups tried 27 different times to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust and World War II. Objection to anti-Jewish policy and gaining better terms with the Allies were among the various motives for assassination. None of the attempts were successful.Zentner, Christian; Bedürftig, Friedemann (1991). The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. New York: Macmillan. pp. 47-48. 

During World War II, the Allies used assassinations to kill important Nazi and Japanese leaders:
 Czechoslovak soldiers assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most important people in the Nazi government (1942)
 The United States Army assassinated Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, an important military leader (1943)
 Polish rebels assassinated top Nazi leaders whenever they couldStrzembosz, Tomasz (1978) (in Polish). Akcje zbrojne podziemnej Warszawy 1939–1944. Warszawa: Panstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. pp. 401-406. .

Activists
Some famous human rights activists were also assassinated in the next few decades.  They were assassinated by people who did not like the things they were doing to work for human rights.  The most famous activists who were assassinated include:
 Mohandas Gandhi (1948), a leader of non-violent protests against British control over India
 Malcolm X (1965), a civl rights leader
 Martin Luther King, Jr. (1968), one of the most important leaders of the Civil Rights Movement

 Central Intelligence Agency (1960  1970) 
Between 1960 and 1965, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) tried at least eight times to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro.p. 71  Around this time, the CIA also made plans to assassinate Patrice Lumumba, the only democratically-elected leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.pp. 19–24

Between 1960 and 1970, the CIA also encouraged and in some cases helped with assassinations of the following:p. 256
 Rafael Trujillo, the President of the Dominican Republic
 Ngo Dinh Diem, the President of South Vietnam
 General René Schneider, the head of the Chilean Army, who refused to let the Army overthrow the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende

The 1970s  1980s

In 1979, the Iranian Revolution turned Iran into an Islamic Republic.  A group called Iran Human Rights Documentation Center says that between 1979 and the 1990s, leaders of the Iranian government had 162 people assassinated, in 19 different countries.  The group says Iran stopped the assassinations because a German court put out an arrest warrant for the head of Iranian military intelligence.

Anwar Sadat, the President of Egypt, was assassinated in 1981 at a parade.  He was killed by people who wanted to take over the country and make it into an Islamic Republic. That same year, 40th U.S. President Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt.

In 1983, Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated.  Aquino was against Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator who ruled the Philippines. The people of the Philippines were so upset that they started the non-violent People Power Revolution, which led to the end of Marcos's government.  Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino, became President of the Philippines.Skard, Torild (2014). Women of Power: Half a Century of Female Presidents and Prime Ministers Worldwide. Bristol: Policy Press. pp.162-172. 

In India, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984.  Her son Rajiv Gandhi became the next Prime Minister. He was assassinated in 1991.  (They were not related to Mohandas Gandhi.)

The 1990s to today

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995.  The Israelis and Palestinians were working on a peace agreement.  Rabin was killed by an Orthodox Jew who did not agree with the peace treaty.  Many historians think Rabin's murder is one of the main reasons the peace talks fell apart.

In Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007.  Bhutto had been the first woman who was ever elected to lead a Muslim country.  An Al-Qaeda leader said that Al-Qaeda assassins had killed Bhutto.  He said that it did so because Bhutto was trying to get rid of violent Jihadist militia groups in Pakistan.  He said this made her important to the United States, so Al-Qaeda killed her.

In the 2020s, President of Haiti Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in 2021 and former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe was assassinated in 2022. In 2024, then-former President Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts in Pennsylvania and Florida. In 2025, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a college campus in Utah.

Statistics
One research study looked at assassinations of national leaders (leaders of countries, like presidents or prime ministers).  The study showed that:
 Since 1895, assassins have tried to kill national leaders 298 different times.  59 of those world leaders were killed.
 Since 1950, a national leader has been assassinated in nearly two out of every three years.

Another study looked at all assassinations between 1946 and 2013.  It included not just national leaders, but also other members of government (including local governments), and people who were against the government.  This study found that between 1946 and 2013, a total of 954 people were assassinated in 758 different attacks.

This study also looked at who was most likely to be assassinated. Of the 954 people who were assassinated:
 21% were members of parliament
 18% were opposition leaders (leaders of political parties or groups that spoke out or fought against the government)
 17% were national leaders
 14% were government ministers
 10% were diplomats
 5% were local politicians, like governors or mayors

References