Political Folklore: The Folklore of Political Assassinations

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, while attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, assassinated President William McKinley on September 6, 1901, at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office seeker, assassinated President James A. Garfield on July 2, 1881, in Washington, D.C.

Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party and the first leader of the Soviet Union, died under mysterious circumstances in 1924, leading to a power struggle within the party.

Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist, assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948, in New Delhi, India.

Ronald Reagan was assassinated on March 30, 1981, while giving a speech at a hotel in Washington, D.C.

Yigal Amir, a Jewish extremist, assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

James A. Garfield was assassinated on July 2, 1881, while riding in a carriage in Washington, D.C.

Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb nationalist, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

William McKinley was assassinated on September 6, 1901, while attending a church service in Buffalo, New York.

Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, assassinated President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.

Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was assassinated on April 4, 1968, while giving a speech at a rally in Memphis, Tennessee.

John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer and actor, assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.