List of assassinated American politicians

This is a list of assassinated American politicians sorted alphabetically. They were elected or appointed to office, or were candidates for public office.

There are 54 assassinated American politicians listed. The most common method of homicide was with one or more gunshots, leading to the death of 49 politicians on the list.

Politician	Portrait	Party	Year	Office	Site	Method	Assassin	Suspected motive	Ref
Charles Bent			1847	Governor of New Mexico Territory	Taos, New Mexico (at home)	arrows and scalping	Tomás Romero; Pablo Montoya	Targeted during Taos Revolt, a popular uprising against newly asserted US authority over the region after the Mexican-American War.	^[1]
Tommy Burks		Democratic	1998	Tennessee State Senator	Cumberland County, Tennessee (at home)	gunshot	Byron Looper (the incumbent Putnam County Assessor)	Killed by political opponent in 1998 State Senate race	^[2]
Louis Cardis		Democratic	1877	Texas State Representative	El Paso, Texas	gunshot	Charles Howard	Killed as part of the San Elizario Salt War, a dispute over salt mining claims between white and Hispanic settlers	^[3]
Anton Cermak		Democratic	1933	Mayor of Chicago	Miami, Florida (in motorcade)	gunshot to lung	Giuseppe Zangara	Disputed; suspected of striking Cermak instead of intended target President-elect Franklin Roosevelt	^[4]
José Francisco Chaves		Republican	1904	New Mexico Superintendent of Public Instruction	Pinoswells, New Mexico	gunshots (through the window of his home)	unknown assailant	unknown	^[5]
John M. Clayton		Republican	1889	Representative-elect from Arkansas	Plumerville, Arkansas	gunshots (through the window of his home)	unknown assailant	Unknown, but killed in the context of a disputed election	^[6]
Linda Collins		Republican	2019	Arkansas State Senator	Pocahontas, Arkansas (outside her home)	stabbed	Rebecca Lynn O’Donnell	Killed during an argument over money theft.	^[7]
Richard J. Daronco			1988	Judge, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York	Pelham, New York (at home)	gunshot	Charles Koster	Assailant was the father of a plaintiff whose harassment suit was dismissed by Daronco.	^[8]
James E. Davis		Democratic	2003	New York City Councilman	New York City (at City Hall)	gunshots	Othniel Askew	Killed by prospective challenger for 2003 Council special election	^[9]
Henry Denhardt		Democratic	1937	Former Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky	Shelbyville, Kentucky (outside the Armstrong Hotel)	gunshots	E.S. Garr; Roy Garr	Killed by brothers of his late fiancée whom he was charged with murdering	^[10]
Louis F. Edwards		Democratic	1939	Mayor, Long Beach, New York	Long Beach, New York (outside his home)	gunshot	Alvin Dooley	Edwards' political influence thwarted Dooley's re-election to post in a police union.	^[11]
John Milton Elliott		Democratic	1879	Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge	Frankfort, Kentucky (after conversation on a public street)	gunshots	Thomas Buford (Henry County District Judge)	Assailant was brother of a plaintiff who lost a farm after Elliott dismissed motion for stay of foreclosure	^[12]
James A. Garfield		Republican	1881 (details)	President of the United States	Washington, D.C. (at railway station)	gunshot to spine (died three months later)	Charles J. Guiteau	Targeted after assailant was rejected by Republican officials for a patronage appointment	^[13]
William Goebel		Democratic	1900	Governor of Kentucky	Frankfort, Kentucky (outside Old State Capitol)	gunshot to the chest	Unknown political opponents	Uncertain, but killed in the context of the disputed, fraudulent 1899 Kentucky gubernatorial election.	^[14]
Bill Gwatney		Democratic	2008	Chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas	Little Rock, Arkansas (at his office at party headquarters)	gunshots	Tim Johnson	Unknown; multiple theories proposed.	^[15]
Carter Harrison, Sr.		Democratic	1893	Mayor of Chicago	Chicago, Illinois (at home)	gunshot	Patrick Eugene Prendergast	assailant was rejected for appointment to a patronage post as corporation counsel.	^[16]
Thomas Haughey		Republican	1869	US Representative from Alabama	Courtland, Alabama (at a political rally)	gunshot	Collins (first name unknown)	Assailant was a supporter of the target's rival for the Republican nomination for the Congressional race; both men exchanged verbal insults and engaged in fisticuffs before a weapon was brandished	^[17]
Thomas C. Hindman		Democratic	1868	Former US Representative from Arkansas	Helena, Arkansas (at home)	gunshots through window	Unknown assailants	Unknown; multiple theories proposed.	^[18]
James M. Hinds		Republican	1868	US Representative from Arkansas	Monroe County, Arkansas (on horseback)	gunshot	George Clark	Killed by a Ku Klux Klan member as intimidation of Republican carpetbaggers	^[19]
Edward Dexter Holbrook		Democratic	1870	Former Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from Idaho Territory	Idaho City, Idaho (outside the County Courthouse)	gunshot	Charles Douglas	Killed by the brother-in-law of James Crutcher, as a result of a dispute between Holbrook and Crutcher for control of the Boise County Democratic Party	^[20]
Elisha G. Johnson		Republican	1875	Florida State Senator	Near Lake City, Florida or Fernandina, Florida	gunshot	Unknown	Break 12–12 tie in Florida Senate.
Leon Jordan		Democratic	1970	Missouri State Representative	Kansas City, Missouri (outside a restaurant)	gunshots	Unknown	Unknown, alleged to have been an organized crime contract killing	^[21]
John F. Kennedy		Democratic	1963 (details)	President of the United States	Dallas, Texas (in motorcade)	gunshots from sniper	Lee Harvey Oswald	Disputed	^[22]
Robert F. Kennedy		Democratic	1968 (details)	United States Senator from New York and a leading 1968 Democratic presidential candidate	Los Angeles, California (at the Ambassador Hotel)	gunshot	Sirhan Sirhan	Targeted as supporter of Israel in the Arab–Israeli conflict	^[23]
Ed King			1986	Mayor of Mount Pleasant, Iowa	Mount Pleasant, Iowa	gunshot	Ralph Davis	Upset by sewage backup on his property.	^[24]
George LeBreton			1844 (details)	Oregon Secretary of State	Oregon City, Oregon (in his office)	gunshots	Cockstock	Killed by a native as part of Native American resistance to white settlement in the area	^[25]
Abraham Lincoln		Republican	1865 (details)	President of the United States	Washington, DC. (Ford's Theatre)	gunshot	John Wilkes Booth, a renowned stage actor	Assailant was a Confederate sympathizer who believed the war was still ongoing	^[26]
Russell G. Lloyd, Sr.		Republican	1980	Former Mayor of Evansville, Indiana	Evansville, Indiana	gunshot	Julia van Orden	Assailant was mentally ill and believed she was being harassed by the city; she believed Lloyd was incumbent mayor	^[27]
Huey Long		Democratic	1935 (details)	United States Senator from Louisiana and a potential 1936 U.S. presidential candidate	Baton Rouge, Louisiana (inside the State Capitol)	gunshots	Carl Weiss	Uncertain, but Weiss was affiliated with a political family that opposed Long's machine	^[28]
Allard K. Lowenstein		Democratic	1980	Former Representative from New York	New York City (in his office)	gunshots	Dennis Sweeney	Assailant had a history of mental illness and believed that Lowenstein had been plotting against him since their acquaintance at Stanford University	^[29]
Edwin Stanton McCook		Republican	1873	Governor of Dakota Territory	Yankton, Dakota Territory (at a saloon used for a public meeting)	gunshot	Peter Wintermute	assailant had lost a fistfight with McCook over financing the Dakota Southern Railroad; he returned with a pistol, publicly humiliated by his loss	^[30]
William McKinley		Republican	1901 (details)	President of the United States	Buffalo, New York (at Pan-American Exposition)	gunshot	Leon Czolgosz	Assailant was aligned with anarchist movement and killed President as symbol of American inequality	^[31]
Mike McLelland		Republican	2013	District Attorney for Kaufman County, Texas	Forney, Texas (at home)	gunshot	Eric Williams	Killed by former justice of the peace who was convicted of burglary while in office	^[32]
Harvey Milk		Democratic	1978 (details)	San Francisco City Supervisor	San Francisco, California (in his City Hall office)	gunshots	Dan White, outgoing San Francisco City Supervisor	Assailant had recently resigned from office due to financial setbacks; he changed his mind and sought reappointment; Moscone denied this request upon the advice of Milk	^[33]
George Moscone		Democratic	1978 (details)	Mayor of San Francisco	San Francisco, California (in his City Hall office)	gunshots			^[33]
Albert Patterson		Democratic	1954	Alabama Attorney General-elect	Phenix City, Alabama (walking to his vehicle)	gunshots	Unknown	Target was elected on promise to crack down on organized crime in the state, which was rooted in Phenix City	^[34]
Clementa C. Pinckney		Democratic	2015 (details)	South Carolina State Senator	Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, South Carolina	gunshot	Dylann Roof	White supremacy	^[35]^[36]^[37]
John M. Pinckney		Democratic	1905	US Representative from Texas	Hempstead, Texas	gunshots	Unknown	Killed during riot instigated by opponents of alcohol prohibition	^[38]
David Ramsay			1815	South Carolina State Senator and former Continental Representative	Charleston, South Carolina	gunshots	William Linnen	Assailant retaliated after target had deemed him insane during criminal court inquiry	^[39]
George Lincoln Rockwell		American Nazi	1967	Virginia gubernatorial candidate	Arlington, Virginia	gunshots	John Patler	Assailant was angered by Rockwell expelling him from the American Nazi Party	^[40]
John Roll		Republican	2011 (details)	Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona	Casas Adobes, Arizona	gunshots	Jared Lee Loughner	Caught in crossfire as assailant opposed to government authority targeted Congresswoman Gabby Giffords	^[41]
Tomás Romero			1848	Alcalde of Taos Pueblo	Taos, New Mexico (while imprisoned)	gunshots	John Fitzgerald	Killed following capture for inciting Taos Revolt; assailant retaliating for his brother's death in this uprising	^[1]
Leo Ryan		Democratic	1978 (details)	US Representative from California	Port Kaituma, Guyana (on airport tarmac)	gunshots	Unknown members of the People's Temple	Ambushed while investigating allegations of human rights abuses at the Jonestown compound	^[42]
John P. Slough		Democratic	1867	Chief Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court	Santa Fe, New Mexico (at his office)	gunshot	William Ryerson (an incumbent Territorial Legislator)	Killed after a public dispute in which each accused the other of corruption	^[43]
Solomon P. Sharp		Democratic-Republican	1825 (details)	Kentucky Attorney General, Kentucky State Senator-elect	Home in Frankfort, Kentucky	stabbed (at home)	Jereboam O. Beauchamp	Killed over long-standing dispute based on political differences, and on Sharp fathering a child with the woman whom Beauchamp later married	^[44]
Joseph Smith		Reform	1844 (details)	Mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, presidential candidate	Carthage, Illinois (while in jail)	gunshots	The Carthage Greys	Founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) targeted by an anti-Mormon mob for his growing political power	^[45] ^[46]
J. Christopher Stevens		Democratic	2012 (details)	Ambassador to Libya	Benghazi, Libya	arson	members of Ansar al-Sharia and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb	Unknown	^[47]^[48]
John W. Stephens		Republican	1870	North Carolina State Senator	Yanceyville, North Carolina (in the County Courthouse)	gunshots	Unknown, mobbed by estimated 8 to 12 men	Killed by Ku Klux Klan member as part of intimidation of Republicans	^[49]
Frank Steunenberg		Democratic	1905	Former Governor of Idaho	Caldwell, Idaho (outside his home)	bomb (set at his front gate)	Harry Orchard; possibly others	Killed by a mine owners' association informant in an attempt to cast blame on the Western Federation of Miners	^[50]
James Strang		Democratic	1856	Michigan State Representative	Beaver Island, Michigan (at a steamship terminal)	gunshot	Thomas Bedford	Killed by a disgruntled former member of a Mormon sect led by Strang	^[51]
Mike Swoboda			2008 (details)	Mayor of Kirkwood, Missouri	Kirkwood, Missouri (during a city council meeting)	gunshot (died seven months later) ^[52]	Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton	Assailant retaliated for fines levied by municipality for code violations	^[53]
W. H. H. Tison		Democratic	1882	Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives	Baldwyn, Mississippi (while walking)	gunshots	J. Edward Sanders	Killed in retaliation for an alleged assault by his brother S. H. Tison	^[54]
Robert Smith Vance		Democratic	1989	Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit	Mountain Brook, Alabama (at home)	mail bomb	Walter Leroy Moody, Jr.	Killed after court refused to expunge a previous conviction for explosives possession from assailant's record	^[55]
Samuel Newitt Wood		Republican	1891	Kansas Territorial Legislator, Kansas State Senator	Hugoton, Kansas (outside County Courthouse)	gunshots	James Brennan	Killed during armed conflict between the two largest towns of Stevens County, Kansas fighting for county seat	^[56]
John H. Wood, Jr.			1979	Judge, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas	San Antonio, Texas (outside his home)	gunshot	Charles Harrelson	Contract killing ordered by Jamiel Chagra due to target's harsh convictions of Latin American drug kingpins	^[57]
Major Ridge		Cherokee nation	1839	Leader of the Cherokee nation	White Rock Creek	gunshots	Bird Doublehead	Killed as retaliation for alleged responsibility in the deaths of 4,000 Cherokee on the trail of tears
Larry Kuriyama			1970	Hawaii state senator	Honolulu	gunshot	Unknown	Organized crime	^[58]

See also

•  Biography portal
•  Law portal
•  Politics portal
•  United States portal

• List of assassinated people
• List of assassinated US presidents
• List of United States Congress members killed or wounded in office
• List of United States federal judges killed in office
• Political murder

References

1. Durand, John, The Taos Massacres, Puzzlebox Press, Elkhorn, WI 2004
2. "Looper, Byron". The Political Graveyard. from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
3. "CARDIS, LOUIS | The Handbook of Texas Online| Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)". Tshaonline.org. from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
4. Kendall, Peter. "The shooting of Anton Cermak". Chicago Tribune. from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
5. "New Mexico Office of the State Historian | people". Newmexicohistory.org. from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
6. Barnes, Kenneth. "John Middleton Clayton (1840–1889)". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
7. Newsdesk, Region 8. "NEW DETAILS: Rebecca O'Donnell, a bloody knife and a chicken". KAIT. Retrieved December 16, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
8. "Slain Judge Ruled Against His Killer's Daughter". The New York Times. May 23, 1988. from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
9. "Killer Competition". NYMag.com. from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
10. . Archived from the original on May 12, 2016.
11. "15 Nov 1939, Page 1 - The Brooklyn Daily Eagle at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
12. Lewis Franklin Johnson (1916). "Famous Kentucky Tragedies and Trials: A Collection of Important and ..." Books.google.com. p. 205. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
13. . Ghosts of DC. January 25, 2012. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
14. "goebel". Kentuckyexplorer.com. from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
15. . Archived from the original on September 24, 2008.
16. Farrell, John A., Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned, Doubleday, New York, 2011 p.56
17. Nancy E. Marion; Willard Oliver (July 22, 2014). Killing Congress: Assassinations, Attempted Assassinations and Other ... p. 18. ISBN 9780739183601. from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
18. Neal, Diane (1997). The Lion of the South: General Thomas C. Hindman. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. ISBN 0-86554-556-1.
19. "James Hinds (1833â€"1868)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
20. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 25, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
21. . Archived from the original on November 2, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
22. "AARC Public Library - HSCA Final Assassinations Report". ASSASSINATION ARCHIVES. from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
23. "Palestinian terror stretches back to RFK killing at the Ambassador Hotel - Opinion". Jewish Journal. May 29, 2008. from the original on December 31, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
24. "Mayor Edward King, shot and killed last week during..." UPI. December 15, 1986. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
25. "Oregon Secretary of State Agency History, page 11". Bluebook.state.or.us. Retrieved April 28, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
26. Kauffman, Michael W. (2005). American Brutus. Random House Digital. p. 185. ISBN 9780307430618. from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
27. "View Article". Local.evpl.org. from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
28. "Huey Long's Assassination - Who Killed Huey Long". Hueylong.com. September 10, 1935. from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
29. William Henry Chafe (1998). Never Stop Running: Allard Lowenstein and the Struggle to Save American ... ISBN 9780691059730. from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
30. Thomas E. Simmons. . Sdshspress.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
31. "McKinley Assassination Ink: A Documentary History of William McKinley's Assassination". Mckinleydeath.com. from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
32. . Archived from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
33. Mike Weiss, Double Play: The Hidden Passions Behind the Double Assassination of George Moscone and Harvey Milk (San Francisco: Vince Emery Productions, 2010) pp. 213-216, 474.
34. "Albert L. Patterson". Encyclopedia of Alabama. from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
35. Johnson, M. Alex (June 17, 2015). "'This Was a Hate Crime': Nine People Killed at Historic South Carolina Church". NBC News. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
36. Staff (June 18, 2015). . The Post and Courier. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
37. Bruton, F. Brinley (June 18, 2015). "Charleston Church Shooting: Rev. Clementa Pinckney Among the Victims". NBC News. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
38. "Members of the U.S. Congress Who Have Died of Other Than Natural Causes While in Office" (PDF). Policyarchive.org. (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
39. The Analectic Magazine, September 1815 (collected in Volume 6), "Biographical Memoir of David Ramsay, M.D." (by Robert Y. Hayne but uncredited in source), p. 224.
40. Miller, Michael E. (December 16, 2018). "The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville". The Washington Post. from the original on December 17, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
41. Jijo Jacob (January 10, 2011). "Who is Jared Lee Loughner?". International Business Times. from the original on December 25, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
42. Reiterman, Tim; Jacobs, John (1982). Raven: The Untold Story of Rev. Jim Jones and His People. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24136-1.
43. Death Comes for the Chief Justice (1992) by Gary L. Roberts, p. 70.
44. Cooke, J.W. (January 1998). "The Life and Death of Colonel Solomon P. Sharp Part 1: Uprightness and Inventions; Snares and Nets" (PDF). The Filson Club Quarterly. 72 (1).
45. "Joseph Smith: Campaign for President of the United States" (2009) by Arnold K. Garr.
46. "American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church" (2014) by Alex Beam.
47. "Profile: Libya's Ansar al-Sharia". BBC News. June 13, 2014. from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
48. Hsu, Spencer S.; Marimow, Ann E. (October 3, 2017). "Screams, explosions and fire in Benghazi: Bodyguard details ambassador's last moments". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 14, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
49. "LIFE IN NORTH CAROLINA. - The Murder of Senator John W. Stephens A Terrible Scene Shall His Assassins Be Amnestied?" (PDF). The New York Times. February 26, 1873.
50. "Idaho Meanderings: "The Gate on 16th Avenue" - A Century Ago and Today". Steunenberg.blogspot.com. January 30, 2009. from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
51. . Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
52. . Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved September 6, 2008.
53. . St. Louis Post Dispatch. February 7, 2008. Archived from the original on February 8, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2008.
54. {{cite news|author=-->