John AdoyiThroughout American history, several US presidents and candidates have faced assassination attempts. This goes back to the 1800s when the American politics was at its peak. Four presidents have been assassinated while others survived narrowly.
The latest is the assassination attempt on former president, Donald Trump.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPrime Business Africa reports that an assassination attempt was made on Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, by a 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks fired five shots which killed one and injured two other attendees of the rally. Trump was lucky the bullet only pierced through his upper ear with minor injury as blood stain was seen on his ear and cheek. However he safe.
U.S. Secret Service said the attacker has been killed.
READ ALSO: US Election: Trump Speaks On Assassination Attempt at Pennsylvania Rally
Here is a look at some of them in history.
Abraham Lincoln (1865)
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. President Lincoln was assassinated on 14 April 1865 by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Lincoln succumbed to his injuries the following morning. Booth was shot and killed on 26 April 1865, after he was found hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia.
James A. Garfield (1881)
James Garfield was America’s 20th President. On 2nd July 1881, President Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. He had only been in office for six months when the fatal shooting occurred. Garfield died from his wounds in September 1881, after a prolonged struggle with infection. Garfield was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur and Guiteau was found guilty and executed the following year.
William McKinley (1901)
President William McKinley was shot on 6th September 1901, by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley died eight days later from gangrene caused by his wounds. Czolgosz was found guilty during trial and put to death on an electric chair on 29 October 1901. William McKinley was the 25th President and he was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt (1912)
Former President Theodore Roosevelt was shot by John Schrank on 14th October 1912, while campaigning for his reelection. Roosevelt survived the assassination attempt, and delivered a speech immediately afterward, despite the bullet lodged in his chest. He recovered fully after several weeks.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933)
On 15th February 1933, Giuseppe Zangara attempted to assassinate the then President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt the 32nd President in Miami, Florida. Roosevelt was unharmed, but Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who was standing near him, was fatally wounded. Guiseppe Zangara was convicted for the shooting and sentenced to death.
Harry S. Truman (1950)
On 1st November 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, attempted to assassinate President Harry S. Truman at Blair House in Washington, D.C. The attack was thwarted, though a police officer and Torresola were killed in the ensuing gunfight. Oscar Callazo was arrested and sentenced to death. In 1952, Truman commuted the sentence to life in prison. He was released from prison in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter.
John F. Kennedy (1963)
Kennedy the 35th President was fatally shot by a hidden assassin armed with a high-powered rifle as he visited Dallas in November 1963 with first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Shots rang out as the president’s motorcade rolled through Dealey Plaza in Dallas.
Kennedy was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he died soon after.
He was succeeded by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Hours after the assassination, police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald after finding a sniper’s perch in a nearby building, the Texas School Book Depository and Two days later, Oswald was being taken from police headquarters to the county jail when Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby rushed and killed Oswald.
Robert F. Kennedy, (1968)
He was the brother of J. F. Kennedy that was killed in 1963. Kennedy was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was killed at a Los Angeles hotel. Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death that was later commuted to life in prison.
George C. Wallace (1972)
George Wallace was a presidential candidate. He was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was shot during a campaign in Maryland in 1972, an incident that left him him paralysed for the rest of his life. The man who shot him, Arthur Bremer, was convicted and sentenced to prison. He was released in 2007.
Gerald Ford (1975)
Gerald Ford survived two assassination attempts within 17 days in 1975. The first was by Lynette Fromme on 5 September and the second by Sara Jane Moore on 22 September.
Ronald Reagan (1981)
Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of U.S. Survived an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. on 30 March 1981. Reagan was shot but recovered after surgery.
Hinckley was arrested but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was confined to a mental hospital.
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