Since 1789, 45 presidents have been at the top government post of the United States. The reforms, laws and transformations that the first persons of the state put into practice did not always please the masses. Intrigues, conspiracies and political intricacies gave rise to new attempts of radical interventions in the life of the country's leaders. So how many US presidents were killed? Let's count.
Abraham Lincoln
The sixteenth president, who occupied the highest public office in the distant 1861, fell the first fatal victim. Truly grandiose events fell on this representative of the Republican Party. It was during the reign of Abraham throughout the country that slavery was finally abolished. Under Lincoln, the Civil War of 1861-1865 took place. The bloody confrontation between the North and the South ended in a victory for the northerners. America has entered a new stage of economic development, defeating the old and decaying foundations. But the days of the head of state were numbered.
At the Washington Theater on April 14 (only five days after the end of military events), during the production of the play “My American Cousin,” a single, but such an accurate shot rang out. A bullet hit Lincoln's head, he was able to live another day, but did not come to consciousness. So how many US presidents have been killed? The account is open: "Abraham, you are the first."
Actor John Booth, who made a crushing shot, managed to escape. However, on April 26, he was overtaken in Virginia, where he resisted the detention and was shot.
James garfield
A short stay among the leaders of the country awaited the twentieth American president, elected in March 1881. An interesting fact is that the future killer - a supporter of the far-right movement, a certain Charles Guitot - actively supported Garfield during the election campaign and campaigned to vote for him.
This man clearly did not suffer from disinterestedness: for his participation, he hoped to get as much as a responsible post under the wing of the head of the country. However, there were no vacancies in the presidential team, alas. And Charles, who could not cope with the insult, turned out to be a good shooter: on July 2, 1881, he severely wounded Garfield in the back in Washington, at the railway station. Consider how many US presidents were killed? Already two. Let the fatal shot and not take life instantly. James only died on September 19 of that year. The doctors worked here quite unprofessionally. They not only did not remove the bullet, but also brought the infection. Maybe consciously ... Who knows? The killer survived Garfield, ending his days on the gallows in June 1882.
William McKinley
Answering the question of how many US presidents were killed at the post, we approached the third (penultimate) death victim. Republican McKinley was a favorite of the American people. He was believed and identified with Lincoln. And their life ended almost the same: tragically and sadly.
During his second term, September 5, 1901, William had the misfortune to attend the Pan American exhibition in Buffalo. A killer awaiting him - anarchist Leon Cholgosh - shoots the president in the stomach. The beginning of the 20th century did not differ in special miracles in medicine. Infection and subsequent gangrene caused the death of the head of state, who died 9 days after being wounded. The killer was punished with an electric chair.
John Kennedy
With the question "how many presidents of America were killed," we got to the final stage, whose name is John F. Kennedy. Here are just the points in this story, alas, not set.
Already the first reforms of the young president, who took over the reins of government in January 1961, on January 20, did not appeal to powerful circles. Contrasting the economic course with the country's largest industrial corporations, John literally forced them to lower prices.
Of the significant events that marked his reign, it is worth noting the support of Martin King, who fought for the rights of blacks. It was Kennedy who defused military tension by making concessions to the USSR and removing nuclear missiles from Turkey. As a result, we have the growing authority of the communist power and the Pentagon’s discontent.
Arguing how many US presidents were killed, you can philosophize. Perhaps Kennedy would have lived happily if he had not started running again. By that time, in addition to the Pentagon and the CIA, the FBI and the mafia were in a political conspiracy against him. The united forces of this world were not going to endure the reforms of fearless John for another 4 years.
In November 1963, Kennedy was killed during his trip to Dallas in front of thousands of people in full view. The guards pretended to be incapacitated, since it itself was in collusion. While poor John was shot with rifles, the "loyal" bodyguards frantically looked in some other direction.
However, he managed to blame Lee Harvey Oswald, who once lived in the USSR. According to the official version, he acted alone, and shot the president from the top floor of the book depository. He himself was killed on November 24, two days after Kennedy's death.
And who is lucky?
But not all of the planned killings of American presidents were successful. Fortunately for the eight political leaders of the United States, many attempts were thwarted due to poor preparation, due to coordinated actions of the guard, by chance or other reasons. The leader on this list was Bill Clinton, whose life from 1993 to 1995 was attacked as many as thirty times. The detainees, in the amount of 95 people, according to official figures, were mentally unbalanced people. They did not succeed in causing significant harm to the health of the head of state. Summarizing how many US presidents were killed, we confidently call the number 4. The list of failed assassination attempts is twice as long. In addition to Clinton, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, George W. Bush and three other elected representatives were also born in the shirt, which we will talk about in more detail.
Andrew Jackson
The seventh president was the first of those who dared to encroach on life. But he did a lot for this ... The law he signed on the eviction of the Indians was inhuman. Liberating fertile lands from the aboriginals of the mainland, wealthy American landowners were slowly seizing captured territories. Meanwhile, the settlers died in the thousands.
A powerful financial corporation called the Second Bank of the United States was also abolished at the behest of Jackson. Instead, a chain of private credit institutions has formed.
Actually the assassination attempt took place in January 1835 exactly in the Capitol building. Unemployed house painter Richard Lawrence came close to the president (how could this happen?) And pulled the trigger twice. By chance, the gun misfired.
Theodore Roosevelt
Having brilliantly withstood two terms at the highest state post, Roosevelt did not calm down and, having missed all the rules for four years, began to run again.
During the election campaign in October 1912, he participated in a political rally, where during his own speech he was shot in the chest. Doctors were afraid to remove the bullet: until the last days it remained in Theodore's body. Roosevelt died in 1919.
Ronald reagan
In March 1981, when leaving the hotel in broad daylight, a young man jumped to Reagan, who managed to fire as many as six shots. Then there were four injured, including the head of state.
Ronald was lucky because he was injured in the lung not directly, but with a rebound: the bullet bounced off the glass of the limousine. The successful operation allowed Reagan to return to government post.
Here, perhaps, is the whole chain of successful and failed attempts to end the life of the country's leaders. So how many times have US presidents been killed? Now you know.