VOA新闻杂志2024--A Short History of Attacks on US Presidents, Candidates

A Short History of Attacks on US Presidents, Candidates

Officials are investigating how a gunman was able to fire several shots at former President Donald Trump¹ during a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Trump said one bullet struck his right ear. One person at the gathering² was killed in the attack. Two others were wounded and remain hospitalized.

Officials say the gunman was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks³. Security shot and killed Crooks who was on top of a nearby building.

Trump is expected to receive the Republican presidential nomination⁴ at the party's national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this week.

Political violence, like the attack against Trump, is considered rare in the United States. But Saturday's attempted political killing⁵, or assassination⁶, and history show that presidents and presidential candidates can be the targets of dangerous or deadly attacks.

Here are some attacks listed by the Associated Press:

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president and the first to be killed in office. John Wilkes Booth, an actor, shot Lincoln in the head while he sat with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, as they watched a play at Ford⁷'s Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Lincoln was taken to a nearby house where he died of his wound the next morning. The assassination took place on April 14, 1865 - days after the South's surrender ending the U.S. Civil War.

Booth was killed on April 26 near Bowling⁸ Green, Virginia.

James Garfield

James Garfield was the second president to be assassinated⁹.

Charles Guiteau shot Garfield as he walked through a train station in Washington on July 2, 1881.

Efforts to find the bullet in Garfield's chest were unsuccessful. Garfield was moved to the New Jersey¹⁰ coast where he died on September 6 after only six months in office. Guiteau was tried, found guilty and executed in June 1882.

William McKinley

William McKinley, the 25th president, was shot twice in the chest after giving a speech in Buffalo¹¹, New York, on September 6, 1901. Although doctors expected him to recover, a gangrene infection set in. He died on September 14.

Twenty-eight-year-old Leon Czolgosz admitted to the shooting. He was tried, found guilty, and electrocuted in October of the same year.

John F. Kennedy

The 35th president, John F. Kennedy, was shot in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, while traveling in an open car. He died soon afterward¹² at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Police soon arrested Lee Harvey Oswald after finding evidence in a nearby building, the Texas School Book Depository.

Two days later, Jack¹³ Ruby¹⁴, a nightclub owner, shot Oswald who died. The shooting took place as Oswald was being taken from police headquarters in Dallas in front of television cameras.

There have been several other attacks on presidents and presidential candidates. Here is a short list:

Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president, was shot in Milwaukee in 1912 while campaigning as a third-party candidate. Roosevelt was seeking a third term. Folded papers and a metal container apparently¹⁵ slowed the bullet, and he was not seriously hurt.

His would-be assassin was arrested and spent the rest of his life in mental hospitals.

Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford served as the nation's 38th president. He faced two attempted assassinations¹⁶ within weeks in 1975. The first was by a follower¹⁷ of Charles Manson, Lynette Fromme. She pushed through a crowd in Sacramento, California, but did not fire her weapon. Fromme was sentenced to prison and released in 2009.

Seventeen days later another woman, Sara Jane Moore, fired at Ford and missed in San Francisco. She was released from prison in 2007.

Ronald Reagan

The 40th president, Ronald Reagan, was walking to his car after a speech in Washington when he was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.

Reagan recovered from the March 1981 shooting. Three others were shot including his Press Secretary James Brady. Brady would be partially¹⁸ paralyzed for the rest of his life.

Hinckley was arrested. A jury found him not guilty because he was mentally sick. He was sent to a mental hospital instead. Hinckley was released in 2022 after a judge said he was "no longer a danger to himself or others."

Robert Kennedy

Robert Kennedy, brother of John Kennedy and a senator from New York, was seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in June 1968. He had just won the Democratic primary election in California. After a victory speech at a hotel in Los Angeles, Sirhan Sirhan shot and killed Kennedy and wounded five other people.

Sirhan was found guilty and was sentenced to death. His sentence was commuted¹⁹ to life in prison where he remains²⁰.

George Wallace

Alabama Governor George Wallace was seeking the Democratic presidential nomination when he was shot during a campaign stop in Maryland in 1972. The shooting left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Arthur Bremer was convicted in the shooting and sentenced to prison. He was released in 2007.

I'm Mario Ritter. Jr.

And I'm Caty Weaver²¹.

Darlene Superville and Christina Cassidy reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

assassination -n. the killing of a politically important person or officeholder

commuted to -v. (legal) to exchange a more severe punishment for one that is less severe

paralyzed -adj. having lost the use of a limb because of disease or injury

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

3 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

7 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

8 bowling   

n.保龄球运动

参考例句：

• Bowling is a popular sport with young and old.保龄球是老少都爱的运动。
• Which sport do you 1ike most,golf or bowling?你最喜欢什么运动，高尔夫还是保龄球？

9 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

10 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

11 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

12 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

13 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

14 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

16 assassinations   

n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most anarchist assassinations were bungled because of haste or spontaneity, in his view. 在他看来，无政府主义者搞的许多刺杀都没成功就是因为匆忙和自发行动。 来自辞典例句
• Assassinations by Israelis of alleged terrorists habitually kill nearby women and children. 在以色列，自称恐怖分子的炸弹自杀者杀害靠近自己的以色列妇女和儿童。 来自互联网

17 follower   

n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒

参考例句：

• He is a faithful follower of his home football team.他是他家乡足球队的忠实拥护者。
• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。

18 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

19 commuted   

通勤( commute的过去式和过去分词 )； 减（刑）； 代偿

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment. 他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• The death sentence may be commuted to life imprisonment. 死刑可能減为无期徒刑。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。