The current tenant of the White House is perhaps the most targeted, but four of his predecessors have been assassinated, and many others have been attacked. On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was leaving the Hilton Hotel in Washington and heading towards his limousine after a speech to a union organization when John Hinckley, hiding outside in the crowd, shot at him. One of the six bullets ricocheted off the car and punctured his lung, seriously injuring him. His press secretary, a policeman, and a bodyguard were also hit. Ronald Reagan, who had been in power for less than three months, survived. Hinckley, a 35-year-old mentally unstable man, had decided to kill the head of state to impress actress Jodie Foster. It was in the same hotel on Saturday night that an armed individual tried to bypass security to enter the room where the White House correspondents’ dinner was taking place, in the presence of Donald Trump. In American history, the list of presidents and presidential candidates who have been targeted for assassination attempts is very long. Four of them… [Article Continues]
[Context: The article discusses assassination attempts on U.S. presidents.] [Fact Check: The assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan mentioned in the article actually occurred on March 30, 1981, by John Hinckley Jr., as described.]
