Quick Answer
Four U.S. presidents have been assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln in 1865, James A. Garfield in 1881, William McKinley in 1901, and John F. Kennedy in 1963. Two other presidents were shot while in office but survived: Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 and Ronald Reagan in 1981. In total, 6 U.S. presidents have been shot while in office, 4 of them fatally.
Overview of Presidential Assassinations and Attempts
The first U.S. president to be assassinated was Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. He was shot in the back of the head and died the next morning. His assassination took place just days after the end of the American Civil War.
The second president assassinated was James A. Garfield in 1881. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau at a railroad station in Washington D.C. Guiteau shot Garfield twice from behind, grazing his arm with one shot and hitting him in the back with the second. It took Garfield nearly 3 months to succumb to his wounds. During that time, doctors tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet lodged in his body.
In 1901, William McKinley became the third U.S. president to be assassinated. McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Czolgosz shot McKinley twice in the stomach at close range. McKinley initially seemed to recover from the wounds, but his condition rapidly deteriorated and he died 8 days later of gangrene caused by the gunshot wounds.
The most recent presidential assassination was that of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Oswald fired 3 shots from a nearby building, one of which struck Kennedy in the head. Kennedy was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a nearby hospital. The assassination of JFK has gone on to become one of the most infamous and controversially analyzed events in U.S. history.
In addition to the 4 presidents who were successfully assassinated, 2 others survived assassination attempts while in office.
In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt was shot while campaigning for a third term as president. Roosevelt was saved by the thick speech and glasses case he had in his breast pocket, which slowed the bullet. Despite bleeding from the chest wound, Roosevelt insisted on giving his scheduled speech before going to the hospital.
More recently, in 1981, Ronald Reagan survived being shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside a hotel in Washington D.C. Hinckley fired 6 shots at Reagan, one of which ricocheted off the presidential limousine and hit Reagan in the chest. Reagan suffered a punctured lung but made a full recovery after undergoing surgery.
So in total, 6 U.S. presidents have been shot while in office – 4 of them fatally. This includes Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy, Roosevelt, and Reagan. The 4 successful presidential assassinations all took place in a 62-year span between 1865-1963. Since then, improved presidential security has prevented any further fatal attacks on U.S. presidents.
List of Presidents Shot in Office
| President | Year | Location | Assassin | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Lincoln | 1865 | Ford’s Theatre, Washington D.C. | John Wilkes Booth | Fatal |
| James A. Garfield | 1881 | Washington D.C. train station | Charles J. Guiteau | Fatal |
| William McKinley | 1901 | Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, NY | Leon Czolgosz | Fatal |
| Theodore Roosevelt | 1912 | Milwaukee, WI campaign event | John Flammang Schrank | Survived |
| John F. Kennedy | 1963 | Dealey Plaza, Dallas, TX | Lee Harvey Oswald | Fatal |
| Ronald Reagan | 1981 | Outside Washington D.C. hotel | John Hinckley Jr. | Survived |
This table summarizes the 6 U.S. presidents who were shot while in office, along with when and where the shootings took place, who assassinated or attempted to assassinate them, and whether the shooting was fatal or not. As shown, 4 presidents (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy) were successfully assassinated, while 2 others (Roosevelt, Reagan) survived their assassination attempts.
Abraham Lincoln Assassination
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 is arguably the most infamous presidential assassination in U.S. history. Lincoln was shot while attending a play titled Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. He was seated in a private viewing box with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln when Booth entered the box and shot him once in the back of the head at point blank range.
Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer, had plotted for months to kidnap Lincoln and exchange him for Confederate prisoners of war. With the Civil War nearly over in April 1865, Booth decided to assassinate the president instead. After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped down to the stage and escaped out the back door of the theater. He fled on horseback but was killed 12 days later when Union soldiers tracked him down to a farm in Virginia.
Doctors attended to Lincoln immediately after he was shot but the wound proved fatal. He was moved across the street to the Petersen House boarding house where he remained in a coma through the night. Lincoln died early the next morning on April 15, 1865 at the age of 56. His death came just 5 days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered to Union forces, effectively ending the Civil War.
The assassination shocked the American public and was strongly condemned in both the North and South. Booth and his co-conspirators were reviled as traitors to the nation. Lincoln’s funeral train retraced the 1,600 mile route from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois as thousands of mourners paid their respects along the way. He was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield on May 4, 1865.
Lincoln’s assassination had long-lasting repercussions for the country. It derailed plans for a reconciliation between the North and South during post-war Reconstruction. Instead, resentment and animosity continued between the regions for decades after the Confederate defeat. Lincoln has gone down as one of the greatest presidents and his death is regarded as a major turning point in American history.
James A. Garfield Assassination
The second U.S. president to be assassinated was James A. Garfield in 1881. Garfield had been president for just four months when he was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker with delusions of grandeur.
On July 2, 1881, Garfield was walking through a train station in Washington D.C. with Secretary of State James G. Blaine when Guiteau stepped out and shot the president twice from behind at point blank range. One shot grazed Garfield’s arm while the other lodged in his back, fracturing a rib and becoming lodged in his abdomen.
Guiteau, who had no personal quarrel with the president, later admitted he shot Garfield in the hopes it would make Vice President Chester A. Arthur president. He believed Arthur would reward him with an ambassadorship for the assassination. After shooting Garfield, Guiteau attempted to leave the train station but was apprehended soon after.
Garfield survived the initial gunshot wounds and doctors were unable to locate the bullet in his body. At the White House, doctors probed the wound with unsterilized fingers and instruments in an effort to find the bullet. This likely led to a massive infection and caused Garfield’s condition to steadily deteriorate over the summer.
On September 19, 1881, Garfield died of his wounds at the age of 49. He served just 200 days as president before succumbing to the effects of the gunshot and systemic infection. Guiteau was convicted of murdering the president in January 1882 and was executed by hanging on June 30, 1882.
Garfield’s assassination highlighted the need for improved medical care and led to the passage of the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. This legislation mandated that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit rather than political affiliation. Reformers believed this would prevent a disgruntled office seeker like Guiteau from murdering the president again.
William McKinley Assassination
The third president to be assassinated was William McKinley in 1901. McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York on September 6, 1901.
Czolgosz shot McKinley twice at close range while the president was shaking hands in a receiving line at the exposition. One bullet grazed his shoulder, while the other penetrated his stomach. The crowd tackled Czolgosz and beat him severely before police intervened. McKinley initially seemed to recover well from his wounds after undergoing surgery to repair the damage. However, his condition took a turn on September 13 after the wounds became gangrenous. McKinley died of his wounds on September 14, 1901, just eight days after being shot.
Czolgosz was a self-proclaimed anarchist who held a grudge against the government and monopolies. He claimed he shot McKinley because he was “the enemy of the people” as president. Czolgosz was convicted of the murder and executed by electric chair on October 29, 1901, less than two months after committing the assassination.
McKinley’s assassination helped lead to the passage of legislation to create the Secret Service, a permanent protective police force for the president, in 1902. It also caused the government to clamp down on anarchists living in the United States, whom they viewed as a threat to public safety and order.
The president was succeeded in office by his vice president Theodore Roosevelt, who went on to finish McKinley’s second term and was elected to a term of his own in 1904.
John F. Kennedy Assassination
The most recent presidential assassination was that of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. Oswald fired three rifle shots from a nearby building as Kennedy’s motorcade passed below.
One shot missed the motorcade entirely, another passed through the president’s neck and struck Governor John Connally who was riding in front of him, while the final shot struck Kennedy in the head, killing him. Kennedy was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital but was pronounced dead at 1 pm, about 30 minutes after being shot. Connally survived his gunshot wounds.
Oswald, a former Marine and self-proclaimed Marxist, fled the scene of the shooting and was apprehended in a movie theater over an hour later. Two days after the assassination, Oswald was shot and killed by nightclub owner Jack Ruby while being transferred to county jail. Ruby claimed he killed Oswald out of grief and regret for the murder of Kennedy.
An official investigation by the Warren Commission concluded in 1964 that Oswald had acted alone in assassinating Kennedy. Despite this, speculation and theories of a larger conspiracy gained widespread public attention in the decades after the event. Kennedy’s assassination marked an end of an era for many Americans, who lost a charismatic young president in a shocking public murder broadcast on live TV.
The president’s death caused a period of national mourning and reflection on what motivated his murder. Kennedy’s funeral and the murder trial of Lee Harvey Oswald were broadcast on national television, allowing the public to directly participate in the drama and tragedy. Many phrases associated with the assassination including “shot heard round the world” and “where were you when Kennedy was shot” have become part of the national consciousness.
Theodore Roosevelt Assassination Attempt
Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to survive being shot while in office when he was wounded in an assassination attempt in 1912. Roosevelt, who served as McKinley’s vice president and succeeded him after his assassination, left office in 1909. He ran again for the presidency in 1912 as the candidate of the Bull Moose Party.
On October 14, 1912, Roosevelt was giving a speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when he was shot by saloon-keeper John Flammang Schrank. Roosevelt had just stepped out of his car to walk through the arena parking lot when Schrank drew a pistol and shot him from close range, hitting him in the chest.
The bullet lodged in Roosevelt’s chest after penetrating his steel glasses case and a folded 50-page speech contained in his jacket. Despite bleeding from the wound, Roosevelt insisted on proceeding to give his scheduled speech. He spoke for 90 minutes before allowing doctors to take him to the hospital.
Doctors determined it was safer to leave the bullet in Roosevelt’s chest rather than trying to remove it, so it remained lodged near his ribs for the rest of his life. Roosevelt considered the failed assassination attempt proof of his fitness for political office. He recovered quickly and returned to the campaign trail just two weeks later.
Schrank admitted he shot Roosevelt out of his belief he should not run for a third term. He was declared insane and committed to a mental hospital for the rest of his life. Roosevelt lost the 1912 election but the assassination attempt helped boost his enduring reputation as a tough, vigorous leader in the American imagination.
Ronald Reagan Assassination Attempt
The most recent assassination attempt against a sitting U.S. president was against Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981. Reagan was shot while exiting the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. after giving a speech.
Hinckley was attempting to assassinate Reagan in order to impress actress Jodie Foster, whom he had become infatuated with. He fired six shots from his revolver, wounding Reagan and three others. One bullet ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and hit Reagan in the chest, lodging in his lung just an inch from his heart.
Reagan was rushed to George Washington University Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery to remove the bullet and repair the damage from his punctured lung. His quick medical intervention and good overall health allowed Reagan to make a full recovery. He was released from the hospital 12 days after the shooting.
The other shooting victims included White House press secretary James Brady who was left permanently disabled, police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy. Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 1982 and remains incarcerated in a psychiatric facility to this day.
Reagan went on to serve two full terms as president until 1989. His grace and humor while recovering from the assassination attempt earned him goodwill from many Americans who supported his policies and leadership.
Conclusion
In summary, four U.S. presidents – Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy – have been successfully assassinated while in office. Assassins murdered Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, McKinley in 1901, and Kennedy in 1963. Each president was shot by a lone gunman with motivations tied to extremist beliefs or a desire for notoriety.
Two other presidents survived assassination attempts: Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 and Ronald Reagan in 1981. Roosevelt was shot while campaigning and insisted on giving his speech before seeking medical treatment. Reagan survived being shot thanks to quick emergency surgery and made a full recovery from his wounds.
The presidential assassinations rattled the sense of order and security in the country. Mourning and manhunts for the killers captured national attention in the aftermath. However, no president has been assassinated in the past 60 years due to advances in medical care and tightened presidential security. The murders of America’s highest elected leader deeply impacted the nation in the past, hopefully lessons have been learned to protect presidents in the present and future.
