Difference between assassination and murder?

Question

Why do they say that abraham lincoln was assassinated but any person walking down the street was murdered?

Answer 1

Assassinate is defined as: to kill suddenly or secretively, esp. a politically prominent person; murder premeditatedly and treacherously.

Murder: the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder), and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder).

Whenever anyone attempts to kill a high ranking official or even a pope, it's called an "attempted assassination"

Answer 2

Short form: an assassination is the killing of a specific, usually well-known [as to status--such as a head of state or a Royal] person for a particular reason to do with who they are and what they stand for. Thus, a relatively obscure Royal duke was assassinated by a partisan in the early 1900's, triggering his nation and its opponents into the first World War. Kennedy was assassinated, but John Lennon was murdered... Lincoln was assassinated, but the Tate-LoBianco [Manson Family] killings were murders. Your garden-variety gang killing is a murder, but shooting a senator would be an assassination.

Answer 3

The term "assassination" is not linked to the prominence or social status of the victim of fatal violence but rather to the motive of the perpetrator. If the perpertrator is motivated to kill for idealogical reasons such as targeting someone who hold public office (the president, the queen) or holds beliefs contrary to yours (Martin Luther King) then "assassination" is the proper term to use. This is why a reporter known for writing pro-democracy editorials in a dictatorship can said to have been "assassinated" just the same as a president.

To show a clear difference, if Bill Clinton would have been killed while he was in office by an Iraqi for having bombed his country, that could have been properly called an assassination. Had Hilary gotten mad about his philandering and killed him for it, that would have been "murder".

The same holds true for other terms the best example of which would be "execution". The state "executes" people for in direct response to past misdeeds and that only occurs after a decision making process occurs and a concious choice to deprive that person of their life occurs. This is why you will hear the term "execution" used in relation to organized crime in comparison to the more generic "murder"

Hope I helped....

Answer 4

Assassination is the murder of a public figure, usually a political figure or moral leader. it is plotted, seldom if ever a impulsive action. I
Assassination of a crown prince and his wife was one of the main causes of WWI.

Assassinantion is often used to create political unrest in order to change regimes.

The Assassination of the Romanov family in 1919 paved the way for the Leninist take over of Russia.

One of the major strengths of American democracy is that this country was stable enough to survive the turmoil and public murders of the 60's without tearing the whole of society apart.

Answer 5

Assassination is usually the murder of a prominent person for political reasons. Murder is just killing someone.

Answer 6

Im not sure but I think that in the case of an assassination the person is usually hired to kill...and in the case of a murder they usually arent hired to kill.

Answer 7

assassination usually refers to a murder for political reasons

Answer 8

Assassination usually has a purpose to it which is political and is of somebody prominent in society.
Murder can be for no reason at all and applies to anybody.

Answer 9

An assasination is a targeted attack often with political or cultural overtones.

Peace...

PS Assasination is a degree or category of murder...

Answer 10

The word that is appropriate is ordered according to how important you are when you are killed:

assassinate president
murder average person
put to sleep dog
abort fetus