Presidential Politics and Assassination Attempts 

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS AND ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS

There have been 20 attempted assassinations of presidents or presidential candidates in US history, of which six were successful. As Black militant H. Rap Brown said in 1967, “Violence is as American as cherry pie.” Why could this be true? 

1. US presidents wield a great deal of power. Therefore, perpetrators of violence against presidents or presidential candidates think they can change the course of history by their acts.

2. Firearms are widely available. 

3. Social and political tensions are strong, exacerbated by media polarization.

4. There is and has been a great deal of social isolation and untreated mental illness in the US.

Political violence benefits nobody. We must all oppose it.

Sources: Politico, 7/14/24 and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 9/5/23