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Explainer | Assassination attempts that shook America: a timeline of US political shootings
- Donald Trump on Saturday joined a long list of American political figures, from Lincoln to Reagan, who have had attempts made on their lives
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Shots were fired during a rally speech by Donald Trump, in an incident that investigators are treating as a possible assassination attempt on the former president.
Here are some notable examples of shootings involving US presidents or presidential candidates, including Abraham Lincoln and JFK.
President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded in 1981 as he left an event at the Hilton hotel in Washington. The attacker was John Hinckley Jnr, who was granted unconditional release in 2021.
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Reagan spent 12 days in hospital. The incident boosted the US president’s popularity, as he displayed humour and resilience during his recovery.
President Gerald Ford was left unscathed in two separate assassination attempts by women in September 1975, both in California and within a span of just 17 days.
While campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972, George Wallace was shot four times and paralysed for life at a shopping centre in Laurel, Maryland.
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