Long history of shootings in US presidential politics

WASHINGTON - Shots were fired

during a rally speech by Donald Trump

, in an incident that investigators are treating as a possible assassination attempt on the former US president.

Here are some notable examples of past shootings involving US presidents or presidential candidates:

Ronald Reagan (1981)

President Reagan was shot and seriously wounded as he left an event at the Hilton hotel in Washington. The attacker was John Hinckley Jr, who was granted unconditional release in 2022.

Mr Reagan spent 12 days in hospital. The incident boosted his popularity, as he displayed humour and resilience during his recovery.

Gerald Ford (1975)

President Ford was left unscathed in two separate assassination attempts by women in September 1975, both in California and within a span of just 17 days.

George Wallace (1972)

While campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr Wallace was shot four times and paralysed for life at a shopping mall in Laurel, Maryland.

The assassination attempt on Mr Wallace, known for his segregationist views and populist appeal, highlighted ongoing political tensions in the US and the potential for domestic violence during the Vietnam War era.

Robert F. Kennedy (1968)

President John F. Kennedy’s brother Robert, who was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, was shot and killed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

The assassination had a profound impact on the 1968 presidential race and occurred just two months after the killing of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, adding to the political turmoil of the late 1960s.

John F. Kennedy (1963)

While riding in his motorcade with his wife Jackie, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, by Lee Harvey Oswald.

The Warren Commission investigating the assassination concluded in 1964 that Oswald, a former marine who had lived in the Soviet Union, had acted alone.

Many Americans believe the death of JFK, as President Kennedy was known, spurred a more violent period in US politics and society, with the Vietnam War build-up and civil rights struggle as a backdrop.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933)

As president-elect, FDR, as President Roosevelt was known, was the target of an assassination attempt in Miami, Florida. He was unharmed, but Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was killed in the attack.

Theodore Roosevelt (1912)

Like Trump, Mr Roosevelt was running for the White House as a former president when he was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The bullet, which remained lodged in his chest for the rest of his life, was slowed by the folded 50-page speech and steel eyeglass case in his breast pocket.

Famously, Mr Roosevelt decided to deliver his scheduled speech despite being shot.

William McKinley (1901)

President McKinley was shot and killed by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo, New York.

Abraham Lincoln (1865)

President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and Confederate sympathiser, while watching a play called Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington.

Booth’s attack, just days after the Confederate surrender in the Civil War, was part of a larger plot that included attempts to assassinate Vice-President Andrew Johnson and then Secretary of State William Seward. AFP