List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots

Assassination attempts and plots on the President of the United States have been numerous, ranging from the early 19th century to the present day. This article lists assassinations and assassination attempts on incumbent and former presidents and presidents-elect, but not on those who had not yet been elected president.

On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson was the first president to experience an assassination attempt when Richard Lawrence twice tried to shoot him in the East Portico of the Capitol after Jackson left a funeral held in the House of Representatives Chamber. The attempt failed when both of Lawrence's pistols misfired.^[1]

Four sitting presidents have been killed: Abraham Lincoln (1865, by John Wilkes Booth), James A. Garfield (1881, by Charles J. Guiteau), William McKinley (1901, by Leon Czolgosz), and John F. Kennedy (1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald).

Ronald Reagan (1981, by John Hinckley, Jr.) is the only U.S. president to have been injured in an assassination attempt while in office and survive. Two former presidents, Theodore Roosevelt (1912, by John Schrank) and Donald Trump (2024, by Thomas Matthew Crooks) have also been injured in attacks.^[2]

In all of these cases, the attacker's weapon was a firearm. Only Gerald Ford experienced attempted assassination by a female assailant, which happened in two separate occasions.

Many assassination attempts, both successful and unsuccessful, were motivated by a desire to change the policy of the American government.^[3] Not all such attacks, however, had political reasons. Many other attackers had questionable mental stability, and a few were judged legally insane. Historian James W. Clarke suggests that most assassination attempters have been sane and politically motivated,^[3] whereas the Department of Justice's legal manual claims that a large majority has been insane.^[4] Some assassins, especially mentally ill ones, acted solely on their own, whereas those pursuing political agendas have more often found supporting conspirators. Most assassination plotters were arrested and punished by execution or lengthy detainment in a prison or insane asylum.

The fact that the successor of a removed president is the vice president, and all vice presidents since Andrew Johnson have shared the president's political party affiliation, may discourage such attacks, at least for policy reasons, even in times of partisan strife.^[5] The third person in line, the Speaker of the House, as outlined in the Presidential Succession Act, is often of the opposing party, however.

Threats of violence against the president are often made for rhetorical or humorous effect without serious intent,^[6] while credibly threatening the president of the United States has been a federal felony since 1917.^[7]