Every now and then, some nutjob decides to take a shot at the president. It does, however, seem like it’s been a quite a while since the last serious threat.
The last attempt that even came close to an assassination of a United States President was nearly 26 years ago.
What’s the longest time frame in U.S. history between genuine attempts on the president’s life?
This question is problematic in its definition. I am friends with the son of a SS agent who spent his life on presidential detail. His father was guarding Reagan at the time he was shot. He then went on to lead the detail for ex-president Ford. From what they tell me, assassination attempts occur with stunning regularity and being on SS presidential detail is perhaps the most stressful job in the world. Most of these attempts aren’t very good ones. However, some of them are real threats but the SS really doesn’t want them publicized because it creates a negative image. It is hard to say how good one would have to be to meet your criteria.
However, Clinton had two assassination attempts that were marginal. A man crashed a small plane into the White House lawn and another man opened fire on the White House.
George W Bush had one that should meet your definition:
“May 10, 2005: While Bush was giving a speech in the Freedom Square in Tbilisi, Georgia, Vladimir Arutinian threw a live Soviet-made RGD-5 hand grenade towards the podium where he was standing and where Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and their two wives and officials were seated. It landed in the crowd 18.6 metres (61 feet) from the podium after hitting a girl, but did not detonate because the red tartan (plaid) handkerchief wrapped tightly around it didn’t allow the firing pin to deploy fast enough.”
George HW had a real scare as well:
“April 13, 1993: Sixteen suspected terrorists, in the employ of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, smuggled a car bomb into Kuwait with the intent of killing Bush as he spoke at Kuwait University. The plot was foiled when Kuwaiti officials found the bomb and arrested the suspected assassins. Bush had left office in January 1993. On June 26, 1993, the U.S. launched a missile attack targeting Baghdad intelligence headquarters in retaliation for the attempted attack against Bush.”
The first recorded presidential assassination attempt was made against Andrew Jackson in 1835. So that would make it 46 years. Answers - The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions