Assassinated American Presidents?

Question

I know quite a few have been killed over a vast time period and so it is hard to generalise- but, if you had to, what is the most common motive for these assassinations? Is it mostly due to a particular President's regime or just a nutcase with a gun wanting to kill a person in power? Thanks.

Answer 1

It's a bit hard to define a nutcase in this context, and it's also quite hard to pick one clear motive for each assassination or attempt. John Wilkes Booth probably had a political motive for assassinating Lincoln, but he might also have had less 'sane' motives. Czolgosz, who killed William McKinley, objected to what he saw as the injustices in American society - but you could argue that he wasn't disagreeing with McKinley's regime in particular, just the way society at the time was organised.

My feeling is that Presidents usually come and go too often for these attacks to be personal. The assassins are going after 'the President', whoever that happens to be. The exception is Lincoln, and you could argue that his killing was different because it came from a civil war, where he would have had a whole host of people who saw him as 'the enemy'.

I read a good book once called "On being mad or merely angry" by James W. Clarke, which looked at the whole question of why John Hinckley tried to shoot Reagan, and what it was that pushed people over the edge and turned them into would-be assassins. I think the same author wrote an earlier book called "American Assassins" which took you through all the different stories and motives. Your local library could probably get a copy in for you, if you're interested.

Answer 2

Assassination is the murder of an individual; usually a political or famous figure. An added distinction between assassination and other forms of killing is that an assassin usually has an ideological or political motivation, though many assassins (especially those who are not part of an organised movement) also show elements of insanity. Other motivations may be money (as in the case of a contract killing), revenge, or as a military operation.

In the USA, Presidents Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy died at the hands of assassins, while many other presidents survived attempts on their life. Most of these assassinations however turned out to have no more than nebulous political backgrounds, adding a new threat - the mentally deranged assassin.

I hope it helps!

Answer 3

No one has mentioned the 20 year curse that started back in 1860 when Lincoln was killed. Every 20 years after that, a president was assassinated or there was an attempt. The last present to fall under this curse would be Bush. So, far, no attempts have been made on his life, but his term isn't over.

Coincidently, Lincoln was disliked in the north and south. The United States has had the highest rate of inflation in its history which I think ran around 40%. It wasn't until around 1902 that people began raising money for a monument.

Answer 4

Abraham Lincoln - assassinated by John Wilkes Booth killed Abraham lincoln to create political chaos in the government.

James Garfield - assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau, disgruntled by failed efforts to secure a federal post, on July 2, 1881, at 9:30 a.m., less than four months after taking office.

William McKinley - assassinated by Leon F. Czolgosz. His last words were "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people — the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime."


John Kennedy - assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. The reasons are unknown. Lee Oswald was killed before he could be brought to trial and possibly shed light on his actions.




g-day!

Answer 5

Lincoln was killed by an ardent Confederate sympathizer and actor
Garfield was killed by an office seeker who was spurned for working in the civil service
McKinley was killed by an anarchist who was an immigrant
Kennedy was killed by someone who may or may not have been a communist or someone other patsy

Answer 6

I think either attention seekers or some people believe that there are these massive cover-ups by huge organziations because the preisdent is about to change somthing.

I personally think they are just lunatics and attention seekers who should be locked up.

Answer 7

Mostly mentally derranged. Here's the lot for you.

In the history of the presidency, four presidents have actually died from assassination. Another six were the subject of assassination attempts. Following is a description of each assassination and attempt.

Assassinations

Abraham Lincoln - Lincoln was shot in the head while watching a play on April 14, 1865. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth escaped and was later shot and killed.Conspirators who helped plan Lincoln's assassination were found guilty and hung. Lincoln died on April 15, 1865.

James Garfield - Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed government office seeker, shot Garfield on July 2, 1881. The president did not die until September 19th of blood poisoning. This was related more to the manner in which the physicians attended to the president than to the wounds themselves. Guiteau was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882.

William McKinley - McKinley was shot two times by anarchist Leon Czolgosz while the president was visiting the Pan-American Exhibit in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901. He died on September 14, 1901. Czolgosz stated that he shot McKinley because he was an enemy of working people. He was convicted of the murder and electrocuted on October 29, 1901.

John F. Kennedy - On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was mortally wounded while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas. His apparent assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed by Jack Ruby before standing trial. The Warren Commission was called to investigate Kennedy's death and found that Oswald had acted alone to kill Kennedy. Many argued, however, that there was more than one gunman, a theory upheld by a 1979 House Committee investigation. The FBI and a 1982 study disagreed. Speculation continues to this day.

Assassination Attempts

Andrew Jackson - On January 1, 1835, Andrew Jackson was attending a funeral for Congressman Warren Davis. Richard Lawrence, attempted to shoot him with two different derringers, each of which misfired. He was tried for the attempted assassination but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum.

Theodore Roosevelt - An assassination attempt was actually not made on Roosevelt's life while he was in the office of president. Instead, it occurred after he had left office and decided to run for another term against William Howard Taft. While campaigning on October 14, 1912, he was shot in the chest by John Schrank, a mentally disturbed New York saloonkeeper. Luckily, Roosevelt had a speech and his spectacle case in his pocket that slowed down the .38 caliber bullet. The bullet was never removed but allowed to heal over.

Franklin Roosevelt - After giving a speech in Miami on February 15, 1933, Giuseppe Zangara shot six shots into the crowd. None hit Roosevelt though the Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak was shot in the stomach. Zangara blamed wealthy capitalists for his plights and those of other working people. He was convicted of attempted murder and then after Cermak's death due to the shooting he was retried for murder. He was executed by electric chair in March, 1933.

Harry Truman - On November 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican nationals attempted to kill President Truman to bring attention to the case for Puerto Rican independence. The President and his family were staying at the Blair House across from the White House and the two attempted assassins, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, tried to shoot their way into the house. Torresola killed one and wounded another policeman while Collazo wounded one policeman. Torresola died in the gunfight. Collazo was arrested and sentenced to death which Truman commuted to life in prison. Carter freed Collazo from prison in 1979.

Gerald Ford - Ford escaped two assassination attempts, both by women. First on September 5, 1975, Lynette Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, pointed a gun at him but did not fire. She was convicted of attempting to assassinate the president and sentenced to life in prison. The second attempt on Ford's life occurred on September 22, 1975 when Sara Jane Moore fired one shot that was deflected by a bystander. Moore was trying to prove herself to some radical friends with the assassination of the president. She was convicted of attempted assassination and sentenced to life in prison.

Ronald Reagan - On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot in the lung by John Hinckley, Jr. Hinckley hoped that by assassinating the president, he would earn enough notoriety to impress Jodie Foster. He also shot Press Secretary James Brady along with an officer and a security agent. He was arrested but found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was sentenced to life in a mental institution.

Answer 8

the following are assassinations and also attempted assassination attempts on American Presidents:

Assassinations and Attempts in U.S. Since 1865

* Lincoln, Abraham (president of U.S.): Shot April 14, 1865, in Washington, DC, by John Wilkes Booth; died April 15.
* Seward, William H. (secretary of state): Escaped assassination (though injured) April 14, 1865, in Washington, DC, by Lewis Powell (or Paine), accomplice of John Wilkes Booth.
* Garfield, James A. (president of U.S.): Shot July 2, 1881, in Washington, DC, by Charles J. Guiteau; died Sept. 19.
* McKinley, William (president of U.S.): Shot Sept. 6, 1901, in Buffalo by Leon Czolgosz; died Sept. 14.
* Roosevelt, Theodore (ex-president of U.S.): Escaped assassination (though shot) Oct. 14, 1912, in Milwaukee while campaigning for president.
* Cermak, Anton J. (mayor of Chicago): Shot Feb. 15, 1933, in Miami by Giuseppe Zangara, who attempted to assassinate Franklin D. Roosevelt; Cermak died March 6.
* Roosevelt, Franklin D. (president-elect of U.S.): Escaped assassination unhurt Feb. 15, 1933, in Miami.
* Long, Huey P. (U.S. senator from Louisiana): Shot Sept. 8, 1935, in Baton Rouge by Dr. Carl A. Weiss; died Sept. 10.
* Truman, Harry S. (president of U.S.): Escaped assassination unhurt Nov. 1, 1950, in Washington, DC, as 2 Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to shoot their way into Blair House.
* Kennedy, John F. (president of U.S.): Shot Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Tex., allegedly by Lee Harvey Oswald; died same day. Injured was Gov. John B. Connally of Texas. Oswald was shot and killed two days later by Jack Ruby.
* Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (black activist): Shot and killed in a New York City auditorium, Feb. 21, 1965; his killer(s) were never positively identified.
* King, Martin Luther, Jr. (civil rights leader): Shot April 4, 1968, in Memphis by James Earl Ray; died same day.
* Kennedy, Robert F. (U.S. senator from New York): Shot June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan; died June 6.
* Wallace, George C. (governor of Alabama): Shot and critically wounded in assassination attempt May 15, 1972, at Laurel, Md., by Arthur Herman Bremer. Wallace paralyzed from waist down.
* Ford, Gerald R. (president of U.S.): Escaped assassination attempt Sept. 5, 1975, in Sacramento, Calif., by Lynette Alice (Squeaky) Fromme, who pointed but did not fire .45-caliber pistol. Escaped assassination attempt in San Francisco, Calif., Sept. 22, 1975, by Sara Jane Moore, who fired one shot from a .38-caliber pistol that was deflected.
* Jordan, Vernon E., Jr. (civil rights leader): Shot and critically wounded in assassination attempt May 29, 1980, in Fort Wayne, Ind.
* Reagan, Ronald (president of U.S.): Shot in left lung in Washington by John W. Hinckley, Jr., on March 30, 1981; three others also wounded.

those who assassinated or attempted assassination during the 20th century nut cases.