The assassination of a president 

By: Tuffy Fields

Last week members of the United States Whitehouse press corps, guests and members of the elected national government and the president’s cabinet came together for a rare sit-down evening of fellowship at the Whitehouse Press Corps Dinner. From the outside looking in it appeared that the dinner may provide an opportunity for some olive branches to be offered as the guests could talk and laugh while a president and his wife enjoyed a light evening. The venue was not to be as comedic as prior dinners, and this would be the first dinner in five that President Trump attended. Then everything changed as a lone gunman busted into the Hilton Hotel and with guns in hand attacked the event. Fortunately the security detachment displayed amazing professionalism and everyone remained safe as the gunman was subdued, not killed. This will allow an opportunity to get into the mind of a potential assassin and better understand motive. Unfortunately, this is not the first encounter with presidential assassination. 

The history of presidential assassinations in the United States reflects a complex intersection of political conflict, social unrest, and individual motivations. Four sitting presidents—Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A. Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963)—were killed while in office, each under dramatically different circumstances but with lasting national consequences.