History of U.S.A Political Assassinations

An assassination can generally be defined as the murder of a targeted individual for political purposes. These “targeted killings” are typically carried out by an assassin with a certain ideological or political agenda. Beginning with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, there have been a number of various political assassination plots in the United States. Among the most famous of these, are the assassinations of President James A. Garfeild, President William McKinley, President John F. Kennedy, black activist, Malcom X and civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. In addition, there have been several publicly-known failed assassination attempts in the last few decades.

Abraham Lincoln (U.S. President)

President Abraham Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated making it perhaps the most famous assassination in US history.  Due to the controversial issues of the time, many wonder if there was some sort of grand conspiracy behind the assassination. President Lincoln, leading the Union through the Civil War and declaring the freedom of slaves within the Confederacy, was viewed as a legitimate “wartime target.” As soon as Lincoln was elected to serve as America’s 16th President he began receiving threatening letters, warning him of assassination plots.

Assassin, John Wilkes Booth, a racist and Southern sympathizer during the Civil War, had organized a group of co-conspirators including Samuel Arnold, John Surratt, Michael O’Laughlen, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt and David Herold. Together, the group, led by Booth, planned and carried out the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Booth harbored ill feelings toward Lincoln and blamed the President for all the South’s troubles. He had first developed a plan to kidnap the President, take him to Richmond and hold him in exchange for Southern prisoners of war. When the operation failed and the Confederate’s situation continued to deteriorate, Booths plans turned in the direction of assassination. The plan was for Booth to carry out the assassination of President Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre, while Atzerodt and Powell were to kill Vice-President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward elsewhere. Booth expected the chaos that would be created by the assassinations to considerably weaken the U.S. government and the Union, allowing for a comeback from the South.

The assassination of President Lincoln took place on Friday, April 14, 1865, during an evening play in Ford’s Theatre, Washington DC, only five days after the Civil War ended with the surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. After sneaking into the presidential box, Booth shot the president in the back of the head at point-blank range. He then proceeded to escape with an accomplice but was pursued by federal authorities, caught, and killed 12 days later. Neither Secretary of State William Seward nor Vice-President Andrew Johnson was killed making the overall goal of the plot unsuccessful.  Booth’s co-conspirators were all later tried and hung.

James A Garfield (U.S. President)

James A. Garfield, the 20th President of the United States was shot July 2, 1881 in a Washington railroad station, by Charles Guiteau, an angry Republican supporter.

One bullet caused a superficial arm wound but the other entered in the right posterior thorax and was lodged just left of the spine. Weeks later, after various medical treatments, President Garfield died from an infection and internal hemorrhage. Apparently, Charles Giteau, a lawyer, had become infuriated when his application to be the U.S. ambassador to France was denied. Immediately after the shooting, Giteau was hauled to prison by the Washington police. He was sentenced to death and was hanged on June, 30, 1882 but most believe that Garfield’s death can be attributed to the careless team of doctors who treated him.

William McKinley (U.S. President)

William McKinley, 25th President of the United States, was shot September 6, 1901 by anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, as he greeted well-wishers at a reception during Buffalo’s Pan-American Exposition.  The President received medical care for two gunshot wounds and although it seemed certain that he would survive, McKinley died six days after the attack. Once again, the president’s surgical team was held largely responsible for the loss of the nation’s leader but later medical evidence revealed that the doctors were not to blame.

The McKinley assassination was believed to be the result of a vast conspiracy. During McKinley’s presidency, men and women in positions of executive power were seen by some in the anarchist movement, as symbols of an oppressive government. At this time, “propaganda by the deed”, a concept that promoted violence against political enemies, had become a popular with anarchist groups in Europe and the United States. Czolgosz justified his crime in trial by saying that he did not feel “that one man should have so much service, and another man should have none.” Leon Czolgosz was executed on October 29, 1901.

John F. Kennedy (U.S. President)

John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, was shot and killed while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas November 22, 1963. The President and his wife were cheered by the surrounding crowd as their open car passed through the streets. Several shots were fired, striking the president in the back of the neck and head. President Kennedy was pronounced dead in less than an hour. Kennedy’s death shocked the nation and both those who opposed Kennedy policies and those who supported them, were greatly affected by the tragic event. To this day no one really knows who the mastermind behind the Kennedy assassination was, but many different theories still exist.

After a short investigation by the Warren Commission, it was concluded that the assassination had been carried out by a single attacker. Lee Harvey Oswald, a 24 year old ex-Marine, was arrested for the Presidents murder hours after the assassination took place but never admitted to having been involved. Oswald was murdered two days after being taken into custody. Further investigation of the assassination plot never produced any substantial evidence but this did not stop wide spread conspiracy theories from forming. Many suspected the involvement of a specific organization or agency such as the; KGB, FBI, CIA, Secret Service or even the Mafia. Some believe that individuals such as, Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro or Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, could have organized the assassination plot. Others even believe in a secret government within the U.S. government being responsible for the attacks. Each was seen as having the motive, opportunity and means to carry this intricate assassination plot.

Malcolm X (black activist)

Malcom X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was one of the most prominent Black Nationalist leaders in the United States. He was the leading spokesman for the Nation of Islam, a religious movement based on black separatism. Malcolm later split from the NOI and formed the Muslim Mosque Inc., as well as the Organization of Afro-American Unity in 1964. Malcolm X was known for his controversial politics and ideology, and as racial tensions ran increasingly high during the early 1960’s he and his followers, made numerous enemies.

Hostility between Malcolm’s followers and rival Black Muslims continued to intensify. After a number of threats against his life, Malcolm was charged by three armed men and shot to death at a rally in a Harlem ballroom February 21, 1965. Talmadge Hayer, Thomas Johnson and Norman Butler were each convicted of the murder but there is still some reason to believe that other parties such as the Nation of Islam or the U.S. government was also involved.  

Martin Luther King Jr. (civil rights leader)

Martin Luther King Jr., a black Baptist minister, influential civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was shot and killed while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis Tennessee, April 4, 1968. King, who advocated social change through non-violent means, had been in Memphis to help a sanitation workers protest. The alleged Assassin, James Earl Ray pled guilty to the crime in order to escape the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison. He later admitted to having been forced by his lawyer, to make the confession and continued to claim his innocence.

A Congressional investigation initiated by U.S. House of Representatives, concluded that Ray may have been part of a bigger conspiracy, possibly planned by a group of Southern extremists. Also, the day of the shooting a team of FBI agents were assigned to observe King. Due to their presence at the scene as well as a claim made by a deputy sheriff, Jim Green, about an FBI-led conspiracy, there was some speculation about the Bureau’s involvement in the assassination. Evidence of any conspiracy or of FBI involvement never materialized.