Before Saturday’s apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, there have been multiple instances of political violence targeting U.S. presidents, former presidents and major party presidential candidates. A look at some of the assassinations and attempted assassinations that have occurred since the nation’s founding in 1776: ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the 16th president Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated, shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, as he and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, attended a special performance of the comedy “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. Lincoln was taken to a house across the street from the theater for medical treatment after he was shot in the back of the head. He died the next morning. His support for Black rights has been cited as a motive behind his killing. Two years before the assassination, during the Civil War, which was fought over slavery, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation granting freedom to slaves within the Confederacy. Lincoln was succeeded by Vice President Andrew Johnson. Booth was shot and killed on April 26, 1865, after he was found hiding in a barn near Bowling Green, Virginia. JAMES GARFIELD, the 20th president Garfield was the second president to be assassinated, six months after taking office. He was walking through a train station in Washington on July 2, 1881, to catch a train to New England when he was shot by Charles Guiteau. Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone inventor, tried unsuccessfully to find the bullet lodged in Garfield’s chest using a device he designed specifically for the president. The mortally wounded president lay at the White House for several weeks but died in September after he was taken to the New Jersey shore. He had held office for six months. Garfield was succeeded by Vice President Chester Arthur. Guiteau was found guilty and executed in June 1882. WILLIAM McKINLEY, the 25th president McKinley was shot after giving a speech in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 6, 1901. He was shaking hands with people passing through a receiving line when a man fired two shots into his chest at point-blank range. Doctors had expected McKinley to recover but gangrene then set in around the bullet wounds. McKinley died on Sept. 14, 1901, six months after opening his second term. He was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt. Leon F. Czolgosz, an unemployed, 28-year-old Detroit resident, admitted to the shooting. Czolgosz was found guilty at trial and put to death in the electric chair on Oct. 29, 1901. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, the 32nd president Roosevelt, at the time the president-elect, had just given a speech in Miami from the back of an open car when gunshots rang out. Roosevelt was not injured in the February 1933 shooting that killed Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Guiseppe Zangara was convicted in the shooting and sentenced to death. HARRY S. TRUMAN, the 33rd president Truman was staying at Blair House, across the street from the White House, in November 1950 when two gunmen broke in. Truman was not injured, but a White House policeman and one of the assailants were killed in an exchange of gunfire. Two other White House policemen were wounded. Oscar Callazo was arrested and sentenced to death. In 1952, Truman commuted the sentence to life in prison. He was released from […]