5 U.S. Presidents Who Survived Assassination Attempts

Recently, Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, which is part of a long history of threats against U.S. presidents. This problem dates back to 1835 when President Andrew Jackson survived the first recorded attempt on a sitting president’s life.

Presidents make tough decisions every day, often making some people very angry. Unfortunately, this can lead to a few individuals taking extreme actions. From shootings and bombings to plane attacks and poisoned letters, the Secret Service works hard to protect the president from many dangers. Despite their efforts, some presidents have been killed, while others have had close calls.

Here, we look at five U.S. presidents who survived assassination attempts:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced many challenges. He led the country through the Great Depression and World War II while dealing with polio, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Despite these difficulties, his strong leadership made him one of the most important U.S. presidents. But his life was almost cut short in 1933.

In Miami, while giving a speech to a crowd of 25,000, an unemployed man named Giuseppe Zangara tried to assassinate him. Zangara bought an $8 pistol and claimed he hated “all officials and anyone who is rich.” He fired six shots, yelling, “Too many people are starving!” He missed Roosevelt but hit five others, including Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, who later died from his wounds.

The crowd quickly subdued Zangara and might have harmed him if not for Roosevelt’s calm response, urging them to let the authorities handle it. Roosevelt went on to focus his presidency on ending the Great Depression.

Bill Clinton (1994 and 1996)

During his presidency, Bill Clinton survived a few assassination attempts. The first occurred in September 1994 when a truck driver named Frank Eugene Corder, struggling with alcohol dependency, tried to crash a small plane into Clinton’s White House bedroom.

Instead, Corder crashed into a magnolia tree planted by Andrew Jackson. Ironically, the Clinton family was staying at the Blair House that night, so even if Corder had hit his target, the attempt would have failed, though it would have caused significant damage to the White House.

In 1996, Clinton faced another threat during a visit to Manila. Osama bin Laden had ordered his operatives to plant a bomb under a bridge that the presidential motorcade was supposed to drive over. Fortunately, Secret Service agents intercepted a message about the bomb in time and rerouted Clinton’s path to avoid the danger. Bin Laden’s involvement was uncovered, but U.S. officials kept this information quiet for many years.

George W. Bush (2005)

In May 2005, President George W. Bush was giving a speech in Freedom Square, Tbilisi, Georgia, alongside Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. During the speech, a grenade was thrown towards Bush from the audience.

Remarkably, it did not explode. According to the FBI, the grenade was live, but the attacker had wrapped it so tightly in a red handkerchief that the firing pin could not deploy properly.

The attacker initially escaped but was later tracked down. He was identified as Vladimir Arutyunian, a local man from Tbilisi. Investigations revealed that Arutyunian had a bunker in the woods filled with chemicals, weapons, and explosives.

His trial was bizarre, at one point featuring Arutyunian appearing with his mouth sewn shut. Ultimately, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the attempted attack on President Bush and the murder of a police officer who had tried to apprehend him.

Barack Obama (2009, 2011, and 2013)

As the first Black president of the United States, Barack Obama faced a significant number of death threats, surpassing many other public figures, including previous presidents. Here are three notable assassination attempts that made headlines during his presidency:

• 2009 Istanbul Attempt: During the Alliance of Civilizations Summit in Istanbul, a Syrian man was arrested for carrying fake press credentials. He confessed that he had been planning to stab President Obama with a knife. This incident highlighted the heightened security risks Obama faced on the international stage.

• 2011 White House Attack: In a bizarre incident, Oscar Ortega-Hernandez fired an assault rifle at the White House, believing himself to be “the modern-day Jesus Christ” on a mission to kill Obama, whom he called “the Anti-Christ.” Ortega-Hernandez was arrested and charged with attempting to assassinate the president. This attack underscored the domestic threats Obama faced from individuals with extreme beliefs.

• 2013 Ricin Letters: In the strangest of the assassination attempts, typewritten letters containing ricin, a deadly poison, were sent to President Obama. Initially, an Elvis impersonator named Paul Kevin Curtis was arrested, but he was later found innocent. The investigation revealed that Curtis had been framed by his online rival, James Dutschke, who was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. This incident demonstrated the complex and unusual threats that could arise from personal vendettas and online conflicts.

Donald Trump (2017, 2018, 2020, and 2024)

During his 2017-2021 presidential term and his third presidential campaign in 2024, Donald Trump faced four assassination attempts:

• September 2017, North Dakota: While visiting the Andeavor Mandan Refinery, Gregory Lee Leingang gained access to a secure area and attempted to use a forklift to flip over the presidential vehicle with Trump inside. The forklift got stuck before reaching the motorcade, and Leingang was apprehended after fleeing.

• In Fall 2018, Ricin Letters: William Clyde Allen III attempted to kill President Trump by mailing letters containing ground caster seeds containing the biotoxin ricin. The authorities intercepted the envelopes before they reached Trump.

• 2020, Ricin Letters: Canadian Pascale Ferrier mailed a ricin-laced letter to President Trump. Like the previous attempt, the envelope was intercepted by authorities before it could harm the president.

• July 2024, Pennsylvania Rally: During a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump was onstage when gunshots rang out. A projectile in the ear struck Trump and fell to the ground as Secret Service agents rushed him to an armoured vehicle. Law enforcement returned fire, killing the assailant, who was positioned on a roof more than 140 yards away. Additionally, one rally attendee was killed during the incident. Trump was quickly declared to be okay after the shooting.