13 Failed Assassination Attempts On US Presidents

When: October 14, 1912

The Attempt: Former president Theodore Roosevelt was running for office again in 1912, despite the fact that his former party had given its nomination to someone else. That didn't stop Roosevelt. Instead, he formed his own political party - the Progressives - to run.

His campaign brought him to Milwaukee. On the evening of October 12, he was leaving his hotel to give a speech at a nearby auditorium. While Roosevelt greeted the crowd that had gathered around his car, a man shouldered his way forward and shot the president in the chest.

Luckily, Roosevelt had tucked his 50-page speech into his breast pocket - and that, along with his glasses case, had slowed the bullet, mitigating its impact. 

The Aftermath: Roosevelt managed to calm the crowd, who bayed for the would-be assassin's immediate death. Instead, authorities arrested the shooter. 

As for Roosevelt, he still had a speech to give. And so the “Bull Moose” made his way to the auditorium and delivered the promised speech, despite the fact that the bullet was still lodged in his chest. 

Doctors opted to leave the bullet there, weighing that the benefits of the operation weren't worth the trouble. 

When: January 30, 1835

The Attempt: Andrew Jackson was leaving the US Capitol when he found himself face-to-face with Richard Lawrence. The men had never met before, but Lawrence had come to harm the president.

Lawrence believed that Jackson had wronged him on two fronts. He thought the president had killed his father; he also insisted that he was English king Richard III and that Jackson had prevented Congress from giving him his rightful funds. 

And so Lawrence drew a pistol and fired a shot. The gun jammed, and as the president attempted to club him with a cane, Lawrence was able to draw a second pistol. It also jammed. Jackson escaped injury.

The Aftermath: Lawrence was quickly apprehended, arrested, and put on trial. A jury declined to deliver a guilty verdict, due to Lawrence's mental state, and he was instead committed to an asylum for the rest of his life.

The attempt on Jackson's life rattled the president and Washington, DC, as a whole. No American president had faced an assassin before. Martin Van Buren, Jackson's vice president, was so alarmed by the incident that he began arming himself when coming to the Senate. 

When: February 15, 1933

The Attempt: Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, and he had his work cut out for him. America was deep in the Great Depression, and it would be his job as president to help his fellow Americans recover.

Just a few weeks away from his inauguration in 1933, he was visiting Miami. Chicago mayor Anton Cermak was there too. Roosevelt was sitting in his car, after having just given a quick speech at a Miami park, when a man stepped forward and yelled, “Too many people are starving!” He then fired his gun.

The Aftermath: Roosevelt emerged unscathed - but Cermak wasn't so lucky. The gunman had shot him in the belly. 

Roosevelt took Cermak into his car, and they raced to the hospital. Unfortunately, after weeks of pain and discomfort, Cermak died on March 6.

When: September 1975

The Attempt: Gerald Ford became president of the United States after Richard Nixon and his vice president Spiro Agnew resigned in disgrace. Though, like many presidents, Ford encountered threats on his life, he had the dubious distinction of receiving a pair of threats only weeks apart.

On September 5, 1975, Ford was heading to a meeting with the California governor in Sacramento when a woman named Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme pulled out a gun, but was quickly apprehended. She was reported to be a member of the Manson Family, the notorious California-based cult that had committed a number of murders in the state.  

Seventeen days later, Ford was again in California - and again faced an assassination attempt at the hands of a different woman, Sara Jane Moore. This time, a bystander prevented her from shooting the president; instead, her bullet hit another person in the crowd.

The Aftermath: After the pair of assassination attempts, the president received an abnormal piece of security equipment: a six-pound, bulletproof trench coat. Due to its heft, the coat wasn't a favorite of Ford's, and he didn't like wearing it.

When: April 14, 1993

The Attempt: Former president George HW Bush was planning on visiting Kuwait in the wake of the Persian Gulf War, which had ended two years earlier. 

Seventeen people in Kuwait with ties to the Iraqi Intelligence Service were waiting for him - but not to express their love. Instead, they filled a car with explosives and intended to kill Bush.

Kuwaiti authorities unraveled the plot in time, thus saving Bush's life. 

The Aftermath: Bush was no longer president; he had lost the 1992 election to challenger Bill Clinton. 

President Clinton reacted aggressively to the plot against Bush. On June 26, he authorized a missile attack against Iraq. The missiles specifically targeted the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Despite this, several Iraqi civilians were killed in the strike. 

When: March 30, 1981

The Attempt: Ronald Reagan had just wrapped up a meeting at a hotel in Washington when a series of shots rang out. Secret Service agents quickly shoved the president into the awaiting limousine, but they weren't quick enough. One of the bullets hit him, entering his side and stopping just short of his heart. The president began coughing, and blood came up.

Reagan wasn't the only one who had been shot. His press secretary, a Secret Service agent, and a police officer were also wounded at the scene.

The Aftermath: The president was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors immediately went to work to remove the bullet and stop the bleeding. He underwent a two-hour surgery and lost a great deal of blood. However, the procedure was a success, and the president was soon back at work. 

In the wake of the attempted assassination, new details began to emerge. The shooter, 25-year-old John Hinckley Jr., claimed he planned the attack in a bid to get the attention of Hollywood actor Jodie Foster.