5 Failed Assassination Attempts On US Presidents
Published:Statistically speaking, being President of the US is a very dangerous job, with four Presidents being assassinated while in office (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy), and a handful more who have survived assassination attempts! Our 5 Failed Assassination Attempts of US Presidents dives into a little more detail about a few Presidents who encountered would-be assassins and lived to tell the tale!
1) Andrew Jackson
Outside of the Capitol Building, a man named Richard Lawrence tried to shoot Jackson with two handguns, both of which misfired. Lawrence was arrested after Jackson beat him badly with his cane. Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a mental institution until his death in 1861.
2) Theodore Roosevelt
After he had left office, Roosevelt was running for President again for the Progressive Party. Before giving a speech, John F. Schrank, a saloon worker from New York who had been following him for weeks, shot Roosevelt once in the chest with a revolver. His metal glasses case is what slowed the bullet and saved his life. Schrank was arrested. After realizing he was not badly wounded, Roosevelt continued the speech with a bullet in his chest. He then went to a hospital and the doctors determined that it would be too risky to remove it. So Roosevelt lived with the bullet in his chest for the rest of his life. During Schrank’s trial he was deemed legally insane and lived in an institution until he died in 1943.
3) George W. Bush
While George W. Bush gave a speech in the country of Georgia, would be assassin Vladimir Arutyunian threw a hand grenade at the podium. The grenade was live and had its pin pulled but it did not detonate due to a handkerchief that was tightly wrapped around it. Vladimir escaped that day but was arrested the next month and was sentenced to life in prison.
4) Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt had five shots fired at him by Giuseppe Zangara while in Florida. The assassination attempt came just three short weeks before he was to be sworn in for his first term in office. Zangara didn’t injure Roosevelt, he did manage to murder the Mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, along with injuring five other people. Giuseppe Zangara was charged with murder, was found guilty, and was executed.
5) Ronald Reagan
While returning to his limousine after a speech in Washington D.C., Ronald Reagan and three others were hit by bullets shot by John Hinckley, Jr.. Reagan was hit by a lone bullet which punctured a lung, broke one rib, and caused internal bleeding. Reagan was quickly rushed to a hospital and was hospitalized for a few weeks. John Hinckley was arrested at the scene of the would be assassination. He was found to be mentally insane and was sent to an institution, though just this month (July 2016), Hinckley won his freedom and is set to released. Upon his release, he will go and live with his mother in Virginia.
