open_sketchbook wrote:Actually, if you'll forgive my Canadian ignorance for a second, have their ever been any high-profile assassinations of Republican political figures? (I mean, other than Lincon) All the instances that come to my mind seem to be democrats.
Successful US political assassinations of presidents:
Abraham Lincoln, 1865 - republican
James A. Garfield, 1881 - republican
William McKinley, 1901 - republican
John F. Kennedy, 1963 - democrat
So, 75% of successful presidential assassinations in the US have killed republicans, not democrats.
The first president assasination attempt was in 1835, directed at Andrew Jackson, a "democratic-republican" (the predecessor party to modern democrats, but quite different on some key points. As a trivia note, those opposed to Jackson referred to him as "jackass", and in defiance he adopted the jackass as a symbol. And that's why the democrats are still represented by a donkey to this day).
In 1912 someone shot Theodore Roosevelt, who was running under his Progressive Party or "Bull Moose" party (he had been a republican before that). He insisted on finishing his speech before going to have the bullet removed from his body. Tough guy.
There were unsuccessful attempts on Franklin Roosevelt (D, 1933), Harry Truman (D, 1950), John F. Kennedy (D 1960, this refers to an attempt before his actual killing), Richard Nixon (R 1974), two against Gerald Ford (R, Sept 5, 1975; Sept 22, 1975), Ronald Reagan (R 1981), George H.W. Bush (R 1993), three against Bill Clinton (D, Sept 1994, Oct 1994, 2006), at least one and possibly as many as four against George W. Bush (R, definitely 2005, possibles being in Feb 2001, Sept 2001, and 2008). The secret service claims Barack Obama has received more death threats than any other US President on record. So it seems that the republicans get threatened with assassination pretty often, too, even if the democrats have a slight edge there.
In addition, there have been accusations that both the presidents Zachary Taylor and Warren G. Harding were killed by poison, but never substantiated.
Thomas Marshall (D), a US Vice President during Woodrow Wilson's term, was targeted in 1916,
Alexander Hamilton, a prominent US political figure in the early US, was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. Well, mortally wounded - he died the next day.
Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X weren't elected official, but they certainly were prominent figures in the US who were assassinated.
Historically, assassins have gone after the PotUS, which is why the average Congressperson isn't issued protection unless there is an overt threat (Obama, when he announced his run for PotUS while still the junior senator from Illinois), or they're at the very top of the hierarchy and in line for the office of President (that would be the VP, who is also part of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House).
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- PeZook
