We all know the sad facts that four U.S. Presidents have been assassinated, with many more plots foiled at some stage of planning. But how many assassination attempts have been made against other officials? The only ones I could think of were Governors George Wallace and Frank Steunenberg (an Idaho governor killed in 1905). Have there been any shooting or major plots to kill congressman, vice presidents, cabinet members, or federal judges?
Wikipedia provides one of its usual weird lists, List of people who survived assassination attempts. It’s a worldwide list, but includes many American figures.
That’s parallel to its List of assassinations, which gives successful tries.
Do you consider the fairly recent (2011) shooting of Congressman Giffords (2011 Tucson shooting - Wikipedia) to be an “assassination attempt”? Or does that require a more organized, i.e. sane, attacker?
You counted the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, but it should be noted that Booth’s original conspiracy intended to assassinate Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward as well. The man assigned to kill Johnson lost his nerve and did not make the attempt, and the man assigned to kill Seward attacked him with a knife after his gun jammed, but Seward was not mortally wounded (in part thanks to the metal splint affixed to his injured jaw).
Harvey Milk was only a district supervisor but his assassination became famous.
Robert Kennedy was assassinated while running for president. He was a senator at the time.
You remembered George Wallace and forgot about Robert Kennedy?
Louisiana Senator Huey Long (1935).
The Lincoln assasination was supposed to include Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. (Seward was badly wounded but survived.)
(On preview, I see Kennedy and Seward were already noted.)
Sure. Judge John Wood was assassinated by actor Woody Harrelson’s father (a contract killing), and Judge John Roll was killed during the attempted assassination of Giffords that is mentioned above.
Yes; after all Charles Guiteau and John Hinkley didn’t exactly have it all together.
Oh, and Vice-President Burr and former Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton famously made an appointment to attempt to assassinate each other.
Leo Ryan was a US Congressman, shot and killed by the People’s Temple, shortly before their mass suicide/murder. Also, someone already mentioned Harvey Milk, but did not mention Mayor George Moscone, who was assassinated at the same time.
Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago was killed in what is usually regarded as an assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin Roosevelt, but according to some theories Cermak was actually the intended target.
Larry Flynt, editor of Hustler.
If we’re going to extend the OP’s question to include important people besides elected or appointed government officials ( Larry Flynt? :dubious: ), the list would include Martin Luther King Jr. of course.
And Malcolm X.
Hijack: That’s some swift justice! Cermak’s assassin was executed days after Cermak’s death (a month after the shooting).
So famous that people have nearly forgotten that his killer, Dan White, also assassinated the then-mayor of San Francisco, George Moscone.
Seven months before Lee Harvey Oswald murdered President Kennedy, he attempted to murder retired General Edwin Walker
October 1912 former President and current Bull Moose party candidate Theodore Roosevelt was shot by John Flamming Schrank. The put hit his eyeglass case and a folded 50 page speech. Roosevelt knew he wasn’t seriously wounded and gave a 90 minute speech. Schrank was determined as insane and spent 29 years in a mental hospital before dying. Roosevelt carried the bullet in his chest the rest of his life.
So forgettable was Mayor Moscone that folks forgot about him again in the 12 hours between posts #11 & #17 