The Aims of a Presidential Assassin
On the history — and meaning — of the modern presidential assassination attempt
When you think what must be done,
Think of all that it can do:
Remove a scoundrel,
Unite a party,
Preserve the Union,
Promote the sales of my book,
Insure my future,
My niche in history,
And then the world will see
That I am not a man to overlook!-Lyrics from “What Does a Man Do…?/Gun Song” from the play Assassins
Assassination attempts humanize presidents in ways other actions often cannot. American presidents wield tremendous power and have access to almost anything they need or want within reason, but the public often sees the power of the presidency while forgetting the person. When presidents are attacked and killed, however, we often see the person beyond the imagery, as well as the anxious faces of their spouses, children, and other loved ones. Americans, regardless of political leanings, are angered when our leaders are attacked because the attack is, at its root, an attack upon ourselves. The wounded president reminds us in the most poignant way that they are indeed just like us.
Assassination attempts on presidents are shockingly commonplace. Throughout American history, we have had to date four sitting presidents killed in office (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy) and one injured (Reagan). Two former presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and now Donald Trump, were also injured in assassination attempts. We have also had at least thirteen presidents (Jackson, Taft, Hoover, FDR, Truman, Nixon, Ford, Carter, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, and Biden) who were subject to assassination plots or failed attempts, and there were additional attempts on Lincoln, Kennedy, and Trump we are aware of beyond those in which they were killed or injured. If you are keeping count, over 40% of our American presidents have been subject to a known assassination event in some manner.
The reasons for these assassinations and attempts are diverse and varied. Some assassins, like Charles Guiteau, sought revenge for perceived slights when he assassinated President Garfield. Others have acted for political reasons of their own — some of which make little sense to the rest of the world. Leon Czolgosz, for example, assassinated President McKinley because he was an anarchist and felt the president represented everything wrong with society. Lynette Fromme (more on her in a minute) tried to kill President Ford to save the trees in California.
The assassination attempts upon Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan stand out as unusual ones even on this infamous list. The motives of their assailants were convoluted and worth keeping in mind as we try to understand the actions of the attempt upon Donald Trump in July 2024.
September 1975
Two different women attempted to take Gerald Ford’s life in California during September 1975. Lynette Fromme, also known as Squeaky, was a devoted member of the Manson family, but she had not been at the Tate/LaBiana murders and so was not in prison. Following the incarceration of Charles Manson in 1971, Fromme was increasingly interested in environmental issues. Then, in August 1975, there was a report issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and widely publicized by The New York Times suggesting that smog was very widespread in urban and rural areas. After reading it, Fromme decided the only way to save the California redwood trees from smog was to assassinate the president. On September 5, she dressed all in red and went to the California state capitol with a Colt .45 pistol. She aimed and fired about two feet away from President Ford, but the gun did not have a bullet in the chamber. After the first “click” sound of her failed shot, Secret Service agents reacted and she was subdued. It is believed Fromme did not know how to handle the gun and that that is the only reason President Ford was not shot point-blank. Fromme, however, later maintained she had intentionally ejected the round before firing, but that likely was an attempt to improve her sentencing. Fromme was sentenced to life in prison but was paroled in 2009, approximately two and a half years after the death of President Ford.
On September 22, 1975, seventeen days after Fromme’s attempt, Gerald Ford was out in California again, this time in San Francisco. As he left a hotel, would-be assassin Sara Jane Moore fired a .38 caliber revolver at him from about 40 feet away and missed. As she aimed to fire again, a bystander named Oliver Sipple grabbed the gun. The shot went wide and injured a taxi driver. Sipple, a disabled Vietnam veteran, became a divisive figure: His actions likely saved the president’s life, but he was also a gay activist in a time when that would complicate a hero narrative. His actions were acknowledged but not lauded by the Ford administration and media.
Over the years, Moore has given multiple justifications for her attempt, most of which seem to center around her rather than any radical politics. She was sentenced to life in prison but paroled in 2007 after the death of President Ford.
Modern assassination attempts like those on Ford have changed the way we protect presidents and candidates. Presidents and their families did not receive permanent protection until 1951, following an attempt on President Truman. After Kennedy’s assassination, in 1965, it was made a federal crime to assassinate a president. During the same year, former presidents and their wives were granted lifetime protection. Following the 1968 assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, major presidential and vice-presidential candidates also received Secret Service protection. Efforts to protect presidents can go beyond Secret Service assignments, too: Following the attempts on Ford’s life, the Secret Service persuaded him to wear a bulletproof trench coat, which is now on display at his museum in Michigan.
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump will also require Secret Service to reevaluate its protection procedures, and it is likely we will see new ideas or approaches for better security emerge from these assessments.
March 30, 1981
John Hinckley, Jr. was obsessed with the movie Taxi Driver. In particular, he believed he was deeply in love with Jodie Foster. In the film, Foster played a teenage prostitute, but in real life, she was a college student at Yale. Hinckley stalked Foster and believed if he could impress her by shooting President Ronald Reagan, she would enter into a relationship with him.
On March 30, 1981, Reagan was leaving the Washington Hilton with a group of men through the front entrance. Hinckley was outside and fired six shots in under two seconds. Press Secretary James Brady was shot above his right eye, Secret Service officer Tim McCarthy was shot in the chest, and police officer Thomas Delahanty was shot in the neck. Secret Service officer Jerry Parr quickly pushed President Reagan into a waiting limousine, and his actions likely saved Reagan’s life. A bullet hit the car’s window in front of which the president’s head had just been.
As Reagan was being shoved into the vehicle, a shot ricocheted off the car and hit his left side. Initially, Reagan believed he was not injured and wanted to return to the White House. Parr, however, ordered the vehicle to George Washington University Hospital. Upon arrival, Reagan began having problems breathing. The bullet had punctured and collapsed his lung, and he was rushed to surgery. As Reagan was prepped for surgery, he was making jokes. He told his wife he forgot to duck and told the doctors that he hoped they were Republicans. One doctor replied, "Today, Mr. President, we're all Republicans."
The mythos of Ronald Reagan, the president larger than life, was born that day. His popularity soared overnight, and as Washington Post journalist David Broder put it, “He was politically untouchable from that point on.”
John Hinckley, Jr. was found not guilty by reason of insanity on all charges and confined to St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was released in September 2016, twelve years after President Reagan’s death. Initially, there were restrictions, but by June 2022, Hinckley was given an unconditional release. He tried to start a music career upon his release, but public backlash led to his events being canceled. Forty-three years after his assassination attempt, Hinckley’s story is still considered emblematic of a certain kind of political violence. The New York Times Magazine even ran a new story on Hinckley this summer following the attempted assassination in July.
An American president is more than just a person. They are the leader of the executive branch and frequently a symbol of our country, both domestically and abroad. People see the president as a manifestation of our values, goals, and dreams. This symbolism can be a sword that cuts both directions. On the positive side, the president acts as a reflection of the best of us. They can, however, also be perceived by some as emblematic of every perceived wrong. Throughout history, people have targeted presidents for injury as a way to express dissatisfaction with current conditions within the United States. Some, like Charles Guiteau, have misguided beliefs that their actions will cause a course correction and reset America on their idealized path. Others, like Moore, simply want to cause chaos and are perhaps hopeful something better will emerge from the ashes. And some, like Fromme and Hinckley, have reasons born of their delusions.
Presidential assassinations, successful or attempted, are low points in our shared history. They should never be idealized or romanticized; politics by the end of a gun barrel is never democratic. Likewise, presidents should not be lionized solely for these unfortunate events. Presidential policy should not be assumed untouchable based upon their blood shed for the nation. We should always hope for their safety, but never conflate loss or potential loss with politics.
Shannon Bow O’Brien is an associate professor of instruction in UT Austin’s Department of Government.