# How many elected federal officials have been assasinated in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-elected-federal-officials-have-been-assasinated-in-the-us/566911 "2011-01-08T20:21:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-elected-federal-officials-have-been-assasinated-in-the-us/566911/1 "2011-01-08T20:21:52Z")
The shooting of Congresswoman Giffords made me wonder: since the Constitution was ratified, how many elected federal officials have been assasinated?\* There were four Presidents: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy. The only Congressperson I can think of was Leo Ryan, killed in Jonestown. have there been others? What about Senators? \*By assasinated, I mean killed because of the fact that they held elected federal office, however tangentially. For example, [Ryan was at Jonestown in his official capacity, to investigate allegations of abuse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Ryan#Travels_to_Jonestown). Being killed by a jealous spouse, or as a bystander during a bank robbery, wouldn’t count, for the purposes of this inquiry. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-elected-federal-officials-have-been-assasinated-in-the-us/566911/2 "2011-01-08T20:28:17Z")
John Clayton, US Rep-Elect of Ohio, shot by unknown assailant, 1889 James Hinds, US Rep from Arkansas, shot by unknown assailant(s), 1868 Robert F. Kennedy, US Senator from New York and Presidential candidate, shot by Sirhan Sirhan, 1968 Huey Long, US Senator from Louisiana, shot by Carl Weiss Leo Ryan, US Rep from California, shot by nutters at Jonestown, 1978 Those are all I can find after consulting a few handy Wikipedia lists. There have also been a handful of assassinated federal judges. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-elected-federal-officials-have-been-assasinated-in-the-us/566911/3 "2011-01-08T20:34:36Z")
Thanks for the response. Of course - Kennedy. I forgot he was a Senator at the time. I also now remember Huey Long. The others I hadn’t known about. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-elected-federal-officials-have-been-assasinated-in-the-us/566911/4 "2011-01-08T20:52:42Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > There have also been a handful of assassinated federal judges. [John H. Wood, Jr.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_H._Wood,_Jr.) (shot by the father of actor Woody Harrelson), [Richard Daronco](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_J._Daronco), and [Robert Smith Vance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Smith_Vance). An assassin also killed the husband and mother of [Joan Lefkow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Lefkow). ETA: Also some prior to the 20th century, but I’m not sure who. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-elected-federal-officials-have-been-assasinated-in-the-us/566911/5 "2011-01-09T09:30:18Z")
During the Civil War, there were a lot of elected officials who went into the military, and were killed in the war. But I don’t think the term ‘assassinated’ applies to that. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-elected-federal-officials-have-been-assasinated-in-the-us/566911/6 "2011-01-09T18:45:31Z")
You’re right - at, least I wouldn’t think so. Deaths in the line of military duty aren’t normally considered assassination. Similarly, by the test I set out in the OP, I wouldn’t say Judge Rolls was killed as a result of his federal office - he just happened to be there, as far as anyone can tell. (I didn’t know about his death when I posted the example of a by-stander at a bank robbery in my OP - which in retrospect now seems a bit creepy.)