Throughout history, many world leaders have fallen victim to assassinations — from Julius Caesar to Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Yet in the modern era, few nations have endured this tragedy as often as the United States of America. Here, we look at the “Mount Rushmore” of assassinated American presidents — four heads of state whose lives were violently cut short while in office.
Note: This list only covers sitting U.S. presidents — not other leaders, activists, or public figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. or John Lennon.
Abraham Lincoln; Assassinated American Presidents
The first assassinated U.S. president was Abraham Lincoln, “The Great Emancipator,” shot by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. Originally part of a wider plot to destabilise the Union by also killing Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William H. Seward, and General Ulysses S. Grant, the plan ultimately succeeded only in Lincoln’s murder.
Lincoln was watching Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., when Booth — a well-known Shakespearean actor — entered the presidential box and shot him at point-blank range. Booth leapt to the stage, breaking his leg, and shouted “Sic semper tyrannis!” (“Thus always to tyrants”), echoing the words of Julius Caesar’s own assassins — a role Booth had once played.
A massive manhunt followed, with a $100,000 reward offered (around $1.67 million today). Booth fled to Virginia, where he was cornered in a barn that soldiers set ablaze. He was ultimately shot dead by Sergeant Boston Corbett.
Unlike many assassins motivated by fame, Booth was already a national celebrity. His act was driven by political fanaticism rather than the pursuit of attention.
James A. Garfield; Assassinated American Presidents
The 20th president, James A. Garfield, was assassinated in 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau — a mentally unstable man convinced he deserved a diplomatic post for his “support” during Garfield’s campaign.
Garfield served only 199 days in office, making him the second-shortest-serving U.S. president. Ironically, Robert Todd Lincoln — son of Abraham Lincoln — was serving in Garfield’s cabinet at the time.
Guiteau purchased a revolver with an ivory handle (believing it would make a better museum exhibit) and ambushed Garfield at Washington’s Baltimore and Potomac Railway Station. The first bullet grazed Garfield’s shoulder; the second lodged near his pancreas.
Despite lingering for weeks, Garfield succumbed to infection on September 19th. His death was likely hastened by unsterile medical practices; some historians believe he might have survived had the bullet been left alone.
Guiteau’s trial was as erratic as his crime — he insulted his lawyers, requested written notes from spectators, and even delivered testimony in poetry. Found guilty and declared sane, he was hanged in 1882, dancing and reciting verse on the gallows.
William McKinley; Assassinated American Presidents
William McKinley, the 25th president, oversaw an era of economic growth, the Spanish–American War, and the Gold Standard Act of 1900. His life was ended in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz, a Polish-American anarchist.
On September 6th, at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, Czolgosz concealed a revolver beneath a handkerchief and shot McKinley while pretending to shake his hand. Only hours earlier, McKinley had given away his trademark red carnation — a lifelong good-luck charm.
Czolgosz had been radicalised by the economic hardship of the Panic of 1893 and viewed McKinley as a symbol of oppression. The president survived for eight days, seemingly recovering, before dying from gangrene and sepsis caused by the bullet wounds.
Czolgosz was executed in the electric chair, declaring: “I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people — the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime.”
McKinley’s death prompted a major change in U.S. security: the Secret Service, previously under the Treasury Department, was formally tasked with protecting the president — a duty it continues today.
John F. Kennedy; Assassinated American Presidents
John F. Kennedy’s assassination on November 22nd, 1963, is arguably the most famous in American history, and one of the most scrutinised events of the 20th century.
Riding in an open-top motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, Kennedy was struck by two bullets, one fatally to the head. His wife Jacqueline was seated beside him. The official account names Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone gunman, firing from the Texas School Book Depository.
Captured after killing a local police officer, Oswald never stood trial — two days later, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot him live on television. Ruby’s act has fuelled decades of conspiracy theories, ranging from organised crime to CIA plots.
Kennedy, the first Catholic president, had navigated crises such as the Cuban Missile standoff, tensions with the USSR, and escalating conflict in Vietnam. His death shocked the world, leaving questions about his potential second term forever unanswered.
Even today, debate continues about the “true” circumstances of JFK’s assassination — an enduring mystery compounded by Oswald’s own silencing.
From Lincoln’s death in the shadow of civil war to Kennedy’s killing in the glare of live television, each assassination shook America to its core. These events didn’t just end presidencies — they altered the nation’s political course, spurred security reforms, and left cultural scars that still resonate today.
While only four U.S. presidents have been assassinated, the consequences of those acts have rippled through generations, shaping how leaders are protected and remembered. The rarity of such tragedies is cold comfort; their legacy is one of caution, controversy, and the haunting question of what might have been had history taken a different turn.
