Fact check: Which US presidents have been the target of the most assassination attempts?

Executive summary: The historical record shows that no single U.S. president clearly stands apart as the undisputed target of the most assassination attempts; instead, multiple presidents across different eras have faced repeated threats and attempts, with four presidents killed in office (Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy) and several others repeatedly targeted. Contemporary reporting and compiled timelines emphasize a persistent pattern of threats against sitting and former presidents—from Andrew Jackson in the 1830s through the recent shooting of former President Donald Trump in September 2024—illustrating that assassination attempts are distributed across many presidencies rather than concentrated on one ^{[1] [2] [3]}.

1. Why the casualty list is short but the target list is long: The United States has four confirmed presidential assassinations—Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy—yet the broader catalog of attempts and plots names many more leaders. Historical lists and timelines compiled in public records and media retrospectives catalog attempts and plots aimed at presidents and presidential candidates including Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. These sources treat assassinations and assassination attempts as distinct categories and consistently document isolated, often unsuccessful plots alongside the four fatalities, showing that while lethal success was rare, the frequency of attempted violence against top officials is comparatively high ^{[1] [3] [4]}.

2. Patterns across time: political turmoil, public exposure, and technology: The historical record reveals waves of attempts tied to political crises, public visibility, and available weapons; 19th-century attacks occurred in crowded public spaces or by ideologically motivated individuals, while 20th- and 21st-century attempts reflect higher-profile media events and improved security that often prevented fatalities. Modern examples, such as Secret Service interventions and rapid medical response, have reduced lethality even when attempts occur. Contemporary timelines emphasize that improvements in protective measures changed outcomes, converting many potential fatalities into survivable incidents, a trend visible in accounts of attempted attacks on presidents from Truman through Trump ^[4].

3. Multiple attempts on individual presidents — who stands out? Contemporary compilations and news timelines note several presidents who faced repeated attempts or plots. Gerald Ford is repeatedly cited for surviving two separate assassination attempts within a short span in 1975; Theodore Roosevelt was shot while running as a former president in 1912 but had been targeted earlier; Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman each faced plots and foiled attempts during service; and recent leaders from Bill Clinton through Donald Trump have been the targets of plots or attempts in the post-1990 era. These sources portray a diffuse pattern of repeated targeting across different administrations, with some presidents, like Ford, standing out for multiple close calls, but not creating a clear single “most targeted” individual ^{[5] [4] [2]}.

4. Recent developments change the narrative but not the conclusion: Coverage of the September 16, 2024 shooting that wounded former President Donald Trump adds a high-profile modern incident to the record and underscores ongoing vulnerabilities of public figures. Reporting on that event highlights the continuing reality of violent threats to presidents and former presidents, but contemporary lists and historical timelines compiled before and after that event maintain the same broad conclusion: attempts are spread across many presidencies rather than concentrated on a single officeholder. Recent reporting therefore updates the roster of incidents without overturning the longer-term pattern documented in the historical compilations ^{[2] [1] [3]}.

5. What the sources agree on — and where questions remain: Across the provided summaries and timelines there is agreement on the four assassinated presidents and a broad list of attempted attacks spanning two centuries. Sources consistently document both successful and thwarted plots, and they differ mainly in emphasis and detail rather than fundamental facts. Remaining questions concern precise tallies and definitions—what counts as an “attempt” versus a “plot” or “threat”—which affect any ranking of who was targeted most. Given the diversity of incidents and the definitional differences in the sources, the authoritative conclusion from the compiled accounts is that no single president is unambiguously the most-targeted; multiple presidents share repeated targeting across history ^[1].