When the news reached British audiences late on Saturday night that Donald Trump had been shot by an unknown assailant, the first reaction was one of shock. It is no secret that American politics, more so than our own, has become increasingly polarised over the past 10 to 15 years, yet it remains overwhelmingly within basic norms.
Yet on closer reflection, some thought it was not so surprising after all. There is an external awareness that there is a consistent thread of violence, particularly gun violence, in US public discourse, but it is hard to imagine this in the UK. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 was of course the “main event”, followed by that of Abraham Lincoln. James Garfield and William McKinley also made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of public service.
In a way, we are reminded of this bloody history every time we look at the US President, by the cocoon of security in which the sitting President is enveloped. Since 1901, the US Secret Service has been tasked with protecting the President and presidential candidates. Federal Law The President and Vice President cannot refuse this security, and hundreds of agents are on guard around the clock. The President is never alone and travels in an armored limousine called “The Beast.”
At first glance, the situation is quite different in the UK, where assassinations of government leaders are as rare as quiz questions and there has only been one prime minister who has died a violent death. Spencer Percivalwas an inconspicuous, aristocratic Tory lawyer who had served in that position for two and a half years before being shot dead in the House of Commons lobby.
Yet one does not have to look very far to find an even darker record: two members of parliament have been murdered in the past decade. Jo Cox He was murdered in the street by a white supremacist in 2016. David AmesThe veteran Conservative member was stabbed multiple times by an Islamic extremist during a 2021 constituency rally.
Furthermore, from the early 1970s until the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, politicians in the UK, and especially in Northern Ireland, were subject to the shadow of terrorism, with only four members of Parliament actually losing their lives, as well as British politicians and members of the Royal Family. Lord Mountbatten — but it could have been much worse. In 1984, the Provisional IRA He planted a bomb. The attack at the Grand Hotel in Brighton left five people dead and nearly killed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and many of her cabinet members, so our public affairs have not been entirely peaceful.
It is dangerous to treat all political violence as the same without examining the motives. In Britain, the terrorism associated with Northern Ireland was gruesome and tragic, but understandable; both sides in the conflict were known to everyone. Other murders could be directly linked to political intent, however twisted. (Percival’s assassin, John Bellingham, was unusual in that he was probably mentally ill and blamed the government for the failure of his own business.)
In America, that’s not necessarily universal. It’s too early to know what motivated 20-year-old Thomas Crooks to try to kill Donald Trump (though we may one day find out). Many suggest that Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was insane. Charles Guiteau, who shot Garfield, was likely angry about not being able to run for public office, but he may well have had neurosyphilis.
Famously, John Hinckley Jr., who shot and wounded President Reagan, was obsessed with actress Jodie Foster, who was 18 at the time. On the morning of the assassination attempt, he wrote her a letter, promising to “inspire” her. He was acquitted by reason of insanity.
Other murders are far more politically or ideologically motivated.
Any decent citizen abhors violence and its presence in a political system. But can violence be eradicated? No major European country can boast a history free of assassinations or assassination attempts. In the past 50 years alone, heads of government have been killed in Serbia, Israel, Lebanon, Sweden, India, Egypt and South Korea.
Of course, political leaders have a responsibility to avoid inflammatory rhetoric, but it is patently absurd for Republicans to claim that this is the preserve of the left. Similarly, protective security is important, and the Secret Service will likely need to be overseen in the wake of President Trump’s shooting.
Politics matters, and unfortunately that means it can be a matter of life and death: it’s a never-ending debate about how we order our societies, how we relate to each other, and how the nation interacts with the rest of the world.
The assassination attempt on Donald Trump was abhorrent and intolerable, but not at all surprising given the circumstances: Four out of 45 presidents have been killed. The response should be one of shock, condemnation, and examination of specific operational failures. But violence cannot be allowed to derail the political process.
Elliot Wilson is a freelance writer on politics and international affairs and co-founder of the Pivot Point Group. He served as a senior member of the British House of Commons from 2005 to 2016, including as secretary of the Defence Committee and secretary of the UK delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
