# Which World Leader(s) Were The Quickest To Be Assassinated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581 "2016-11-04T02:42:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/1 "2016-11-04T02:42:21Z")
Which world leader(s) - that we’ll define as the head of their country, be the president, prime minister, king/queen, or dictator etc. - was the quickest to be assassinated after assuming power? Human assassins only, please, not examples like president William Henry Harrison. And has there ever been a world leader who was assassinated **before** they even officially took power? I guess I’m assuming that this leader’s society would’ve had a similar election system to the US when power changes hands a bit after the election, not immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/2 "2016-11-04T03:14:55Z")
Well, in terms of quickness, James Garfield was shot 4 months after he took power and died about 6 months after taking power. Balbenus and his coemperor Pupienus, of Rome, were emperors for about 3 months before they were assassinated. Pertinax was emperor for about 86 days before he was assassinated. Le Trung Tong was crowned as Emperor of Vietnam in 1005, and then was assassinated by his brother after 3 days. Sigeric, who was king of the Visigoths in 415, was killed a week later. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/3 "2016-11-04T03:18:08Z")
Bachir Gemayel was elected President of Lebanon, and assassinated before taking office (1982). Pertinax wins the “coolest Emperor name” award, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/4 "2016-11-04T03:18:17Z")
I don’t think leaders assassinated before they took power could count, because if they didn’t take power then how were they leaders? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/5 "2016-11-04T03:30:10Z")
Honorable mention should go to Ronald Reagan, who (barely) survived an assassination attempt just 69 days after he took office. Without modern medicine, he certainly would have died. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/6 "2016-11-04T03:37:59Z")
I don’t know if you’d count Biblical kings, but Shallum, king of Israel, reigned for only a month before he was assassinated and supplanted by Menahem. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/7 "2016-11-04T04:04:50Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I don’t know if you’d count Biblical kings, but Shallum, king of Israel, reigned for only a month before he was assassinated and supplanted by Menahem. And Zechariah, who Shallum had killed, only reigned for 6 months before that. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/8 "2016-11-04T04:11:35Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > I don’t think leaders assassinated before they took power could count, because if they didn’t take power then how were they leaders? The OP specifically asks about such cases, so obviously he intended they should count. If you want to nitpick, you can call them prospective leaders. And Gemayal was the leader of his party and of a militia. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/9 "2016-11-04T15:16:37Z")
Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated before ever being crowned emperor of Austria-Hungary. And then some stuff happened. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/10 "2016-11-04T15:38:12Z")
The northern Chinese [Emperor Mo of Jin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Mo_of_Jin) reigned for half a day or so before being killed in combat against the Mongols in 1234. [Lê Trung Tông](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%AA_Trung_T%C3%B4ng_(Early_L%C3%AA)) of Vietnam was assassinated on order of his brother after a reign of three days in 1005. The infant [John I of France](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_I_of_France) was king for his entire life, all five days of it, in 1316. He may have died of natural causes, but rumors circulated that he had been poisoned by his uncle and regent, who succeeded him as king. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/11 "2016-11-04T17:18:53Z")
I wondered if the OP has in mind some current prospective leaders and what might happen after (or possibly before) one or other of them is elected. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/12 "2016-11-04T18:42:31Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > I don’t think leaders assassinated before they took power could count, because if they didn’t take power then how were they leaders? > [@Colibri](#): > > The OP specifically asks about such cases, so obviously he intended they should count. If you want to nitpick, you can call them prospective leaders. And Gemayal was the leader of his party and of a militia. Correct, the OP specifically asked that so I answered. > [@Isosleepy](#): > > Arch-duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated before ever being crowned emperor of Austria-Hungary. And then some stuff happened. Depends on what you mean by “quick,” as he was the presumptive heir/crown prince (crown emperor?) for 18 years. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/13 "2016-11-04T18:45:50Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I wondered if the OP has in mind some current prospective leaders and what might happen after (or possibly before) one or other of them is elected. **Moderating** Let’s not inject politics in GQ or speculate on what other posters might have in mind. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![merrick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@merrick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrick)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/14 "2016-11-04T19:38:34Z")
[Luis Felipe of Portugal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu%C3%ADs_Filipe,_Prince_Royal_of_Portugal) was assassinated together with his father (King Carlos) by republicans in 1908. He survived his father by 20 minutes, but is not usually counted as a reigning king. [Dipendra of Nepal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipendra_of_Nepal) massacred his family and then shot himself. He was legally King, unconscious and dying, for 56 hours. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/15 "2016-11-04T21:25:06Z")
If you like conspiracy theories: [John Paul I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_I)(1978): Death 33 days after Papal election ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/16 "2016-11-04T23:46:30Z")
Ivan the Terrible killed his son and heir apparent in 1581, then died himself in 1584. Not exactly an assassination since this was more like manslaughter rather than murder, but certainly caused by a person with intent to harm. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/17 "2016-11-05T00:45:56Z")
FDR had an assassination \* attempt\* when he was president elect, but someone jostled the assassin’s arm so he hit Chicago mayor Marv Cermak. Roosevelt didn’t realize he was the target and thought it was a mob hit on the mayor. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/18 "2016-11-05T00:58:33Z")
I thought it was Tony Cermak? Anyway he died, after a couple weeks. The trial of his killer was switched midstream to a murder trial. The perp was tried, convicted and executed in 32 days. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/19 "2016-11-05T01:30:46Z")
[King Edward V of England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_V_of_England) died about two and a half months into his reign, allegedly killed on the orders of his successor, Richard III. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581/20 "2016-11-05T01:45:58Z")
The second reign of King Henry VI of England last just over six months before he was mostly likely murdered by order of Edward IV [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-world-leader-s-were-the-quickest-to-be-assassinated/770581.md?page=2)