History is messy. Most people can name Lincoln and Kennedy right off the bat when asked which presidents have been assassinated, but the middle two? They often get lost in the shuffle of high school history textbooks. It’s a heavy topic, honestly. We’re talking about four men—Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy—who were killed while holding the highest office in the United States. Each death changed the country in ways we still feel today, from the way the Secret Service operates to how we handle presidential succession.
Death at the hands of an assassin isn't just a personal tragedy; it's a massive shock to the political system. It’s wild to think that for the first half of American history, the idea of a president being murdered was almost unthinkable. Then, within a span of less than 100 years, four were gone. It’s a grim "club" that no one wants to belong to.
Abraham Lincoln: The First Heartbreak
April 14, 1865. The Civil War was basically over. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox just days before. You’d think the country would be breathing a sigh of relief, but instead, it got hit with a sledgehammer. John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and Confederate sympathizer, crept into the presidential box at Ford’s Theatre. He didn’t just want to kill Lincoln; he wanted to decapitate the Union government.
Lincoln was shot in the back of the head with a .44-caliber Derringer. It’s a tiny gun, but at close range, it was lethal. He died the next morning at the Petersen House across the street. Most people don't realize how close the rest of the government came to falling that night. Booth’s co-conspirators were supposed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward too. Seward was actually stabbed repeatedly in his bed but survived because of a metal neck brace he was wearing from a previous carriage accident. Talk about a stroke of luck.
The impact of Lincoln’s death can’t be overstated. Reconstruction—the period of rebuilding the South and integrating formerly enslaved people into society—took a massive turn for the worse under Andrew Johnson. Johnson lacked Lincoln's political skill and moral clarity. Many historians, like Eric Foner, argue that the trajectory of American civil rights might have looked entirely different had Lincoln lived to see through his "charity for all" approach.
👉 See also: Why the Recent Snowfall Western New York State Emergency Was Different
James A. Garfield: The Death That Didn't Have to Happen
Garfield is the one everyone forgets. He was only in office for four months when he was shot in 1881. The weirdest part? The bullet didn't kill him. The doctors did.
Charles Guiteau, a guy who was clearly struggling with severe mental health issues and a bizarre sense of entitlement, shot Garfield at a train station in Washington, D.C. Guiteau thought he was responsible for Garfield’s election and deserved a plum diplomatic post in Paris. When he didn't get it, he decided the president had to go.
Garfield lingered for 80 days. It was agonizing. Doctors, including the lead physician Doctor Willard Bliss (his first name was actually "Doctor"), kept poking around in the wound with unwashed fingers and dirty instruments. They were looking for the bullet. This was the era when Joseph Lister’s ideas about antisepsis—using clean tools—were starting to gain traction in Europe, but American doctors were stubborn. They thought "good old American dirt" couldn't hurt anyone. They were wrong. Garfield died of massive infection and sepsis. Alexander Graham Bell even tried to use a primitive metal detector to find the bullet, but he was thwarted by the metal springs in the bed—a relatively new invention at the time.
William McKinley: The Shift to the Modern Age
By 1901, you’d think the Secret Service would be all over the president. Nope. They were still mostly focused on catching counterfeiters. When William McKinley went to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, he wanted to shake hands with the public. He liked being a "man of the people."
✨ Don't miss: Nate Silver Trump Approval Rating: Why the 2026 Numbers Look So Different
Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist who had lost his job during the economic panic of 1893, approached McKinley with a .32-caliber revolver hidden under a handkerchief. He shot McKinley twice in the abdomen. Again, like Garfield, McKinley didn't die instantly. He seemed to be recovering, but gangrene set in.
The real legacy of the McKinley assassination was the immediate and permanent protection of the president by the Secret Service. It also catapulted Theodore Roosevelt into the presidency. TR was a "cowboy" that the Republican establishment had tried to bury in the Vice Presidency to keep him quiet. Suddenly, the most energetic, reform-minded man in politics was in charge. The Progressive Era essentially kicked into high gear because of Czolgosz’s bullets.
John F. Kennedy: The Wound That Never Healed
Then there’s Dallas. November 22, 1963. This is the one that still fuels endless documentaries and late-night internet rabbit holes. Unlike the previous three, JFK’s assassination was captured on film—the Zapruder film—making it a visceral, shared trauma for the entire world.
Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine who had defected to the Soviet Union and then returned, fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. The Warren Commission concluded he acted alone, but a later 1979 report by the House Select Committee on Assassinations suggested a "high probability" of two gunmen. That’s where the "conspiracy" talk usually finds its footing.
🔗 Read more: Weather Forecast Lockport NY: Why Today’s Snow Isn’t Just Hype
Kennedy’s death felt like the end of an era of optimism. It led to the rapid passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which Lyndon B. Johnson pushed through as a tribute to the fallen president. It also deeply changed how we view the presidency—less as a neighborly figure and more as a high-security icon.
Why These Four Matter Today
Knowing which presidents have been assassinated is more than just trivia. It shows the fragility of the executive branch. Every time a president is lost, the power vacuum creates chaos.
- Succession Rules: The 25th Amendment was eventually ratified because the country realized we needed a clearer plan for what happens if a president is disabled or killed.
- Security Evolution: We went from Lincoln having basically no guards to the massive, multi-agency security detail that surrounds modern presidents.
- Political Shifts: Assassinations often kill the "leader" but accelerate their "cause." Lincoln's death led to a botched Reconstruction, while JFK's death helped pass Civil Rights legislation.
If you’re interested in diving deeper, I’d highly recommend reading Manhunt by James L. Swanson for a gripping look at the Lincoln search, or Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard if you want to understand the tragedy of Garfield's medical care. They read more like thrillers than history books.
The next time someone brings up presidential history, you'll have the full picture. It’s not just a list of names; it’s a series of moments where the course of the United States shifted in a heartbeat.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Knowledge:
- Visit the Sites: If you're ever in D.C., Ford's Theatre is a must-see. It's eerie how well-preserved it is.
- Research the "Near Misses": Look into the attempts on Reagan, FDR, and both Roosevelts. It’s a miracle the list of four isn't much longer.
- Audit the Warren Commission: Read the summary of the Warren Report online—it’s fascinating to see the actual evidence they used versus the popular theories you see on social media.