The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump this weekend shocked the nation as media outlets called for an investigation and politicians tried to manage rising tensions between the two major parties.
Naturally, many have compared this deadly incident to the most recent similar assassination attempt on a president, the shooting of President Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was shot in the chest by a crazed gunman, John Hinckley, on March 30, 1981, just over two months after taking office. He was 70 years old at the time of the attack outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC.
Shooting at Trump rally investigated as assassination attempt
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures with his face covered in blood as gunshots ring out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Reuters/Brendan McDiarmid)
The Trump campaign, emboldened by his unexpected show of strength with crowds after the shooting, has been eager to use such comparisons.
“I compare President Trump to President Ronald Reagan. This deserves historic respect. This is a historic moment in a historic campaign,” Trump-supporting pollster John McLaughlin told the New York Post.
Reporters and commentators scrambled to piece together precise details about the shooter, his motive and whether Trump was seriously injured.
“I just spoke with my father on the phone and he is in great spirits,” Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital in a statement on Saturday, as more information became available. “My father will never stop fighting to save America, no matter what attacks the radical left mounts.”
Former President Trump survives assassination attempt; FBI identifies perpetrator as Thomas Matthew Crooks
Police officers and Secret Service agents jump into the panicked crowd to protect President Ronald Reagan following an assassination attempt (by John Hinckley Jr.) outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The former president’s daughter, Patti Davis, published an essay in The New York Times on Sunday explaining how the assassination attempt affects politically involved families.
In the article, Davis recalled the moment she learned of the attempt on her father’s life, describing the Secret Service agents walking into her therapist’s office during a session and seeing looks of concern on their faces.
“That day was the longest day of my life,” Davis wrote, “because I didn’t know if my father, Ronald Reagan, was alive, and I later learned that the doctors who searched his chest for bullet fragments didn’t know either.”
After being shot in the ear and crouching on the ground, Trump was surrounded by Secret Service agents who moved towards a van and ordered him to evacuate the area.
Victim at Trump rally was former fire chief who bravely shielded his wife and daughter from bullets
President Ronald Reagan looks at a giant get-well card while at George Washington Hospital recovering from a gunshot wound he received during an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. (Photo: © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
In a symbolic moment, Trump paused as he left the stage to raise his fist in solidarity with the crowd, blood visibly appearing on his face as he repeatedly shouted “Fight!”
President Reagan did not witness the mass shooting in front of a large audience like President Trump, but instead his appearance during his visit to the emergency room became the talk of the town.
“Hey, I forgot to duck,” he famously told his wife, Nancy, upon arriving at the hospital, quoting the famous boxer Jack Dempsey saying to his wife after losing his world heavyweight title to Gene Tunney.
Click here to get the FOX News app
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is surrounded by US Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Although it is most often compared to President Reagan’s fight against death, this is not the most recent presidential assassination attempt.
In 2005, Georgian citizen Vladimir Arutyunyan attempted to assassinate former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili as George W. Bush arrived in Tbilisi during a state visit.
The grenade was meant to explode with live ammunition, but failed to detonate. Arutyunyan was eventually located and arrested by Georgian authorities. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Only four sitting presidents have been assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy.
