Hello and welcome to my podcast My Life and Other Funny Stories. My name is Dagmar Tomášková, I am an English tutor and coach and I created this podcast for English students who want to improve their oral comprehension. As always you can find the transcription of this episode and vocabulary list in the notes of the podcast. 

Now, I am sure you heard about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump that happened just the other day. It was all over the news. Of course, Donald Trump is not the president of the US, as we are speaking right now (who knows what’s coming) but it brought me to the idea to walk you through some assassinations and assassination attempts of American presidents. It is a rather dark but fascinating part of American history. And we will talk about Trump’s attempt at the end as well. 

No.1 Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Let’s start with one of the most famous assassinations in American history: Abraham Lincoln. I am sure you heard about him, as he is one of the most famous American presidents since he was the one who was in office during and after the American Civil War. He was the 16th president of the United States and he was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, while watching a play at Ford’s Theatre.

Lincoln was enjoying the play „Our American Cousin“ when Booth, a famous actor, sneaked into the presidential box and shot him in the head. Booth then jumped onto the stage and shouted „Thus always to tyrants“ in Latin. To be even more specific, it means that tyrannical leaders will be overthrown – and Booth believed that Lincoln was a tyrannical leader. I guess Booth thought he was in his own personal action movie.

Lincoln was carried across the street to a boarding house, where he died the next morning. His assassination shocked the nation and it was a big event in American history.

No. 2 Attempt on Theodore Roosevelt

Next up, we have Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president. He was shot on October 14, 1912, while campaigning in Milwaukee. The interesting thing was that he didn’t let such a little thing like a bullet stop him from giving his speech.

I mean, who needs to go to the hospital when you have a 90-minute speech to deliver, right? There is no time to lose time. Okay, now let’s look at what happened.

Roosevelt was about to give a speech when John Schrank, a saloonkeeper shot him in the chest. Schrank thought that God told him that he had to do it. The bullet got stuck in Roosevelt’s chest after passing through his steel eyeglass case and a thick manuscript of his speech. This was the reason why he was able to survive- because he had the case and manuscript in his pocket. And as I said, instead of going to the hospital, Roosevelt said, „It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose!“ A Bull Moose was his nickname. And so he went on to deliver his speech with the bullet still in his chest. Talk about dedication.

No. 3: Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Now, let’s talk about John F. Kennedy, the 35th president, whose assassination is full of conspiracy theories. JFK was shot on November 22, 1963, while riding in a car in Dallas, Texas.

I mean, after the assassination of Lincoln and the assassination attempt of Roosevelt, one would say, that you would try to protect the president as much as possible. And nothing says „presidential safety“ like a car with no roof in a city known for people owning guns.

What exactly happened? Kennedy was sitting in a slowly going car when he was hit by two bullets, one in the neck and one in the head. The shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the crime, but before he could stand trial, he was shot by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. This has led to countless theories about who was really behind the assassination. Aliens? The mafia? Elvis Presley? Okay, maybe not Elvis, but you get the idea. I might make an episode just about this assassination in the future, it is truly interesting.

No.4: Attempt on Ronald Reagan

And now, we have the attempt on Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, on March 30, 1981. Reagan was leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel when John Hinckley Jr. shot him.

Hinckley fired six shots, hitting Reagan and three others. Reagan was rushed to the hospital, where doctors discovered the bullet had missed his heart by inches. Despite the severity of the attack, Reagan managed to crack jokes with the medical staff, saying, „I hope you’re all Republicans.“ 

Hinckley said he did it to impress actress Jodie Foster. I guess flowers and chocolates were not good enough, he just had to go and shoot the president, didn’t he?

No.5: Attempt on Donald Trump

This one is a little bit different, because, as I said, Donald Trump is not a president but he is a former president, so I wanted to include him as well. What exactly happened? 

On July 13, 2024, Trump was giving a speech at one of his rallies in Pennsylvania. As he was talking, less than 200 meters away, there was a gunman climbing onto the roof of a building outside the rally security perimeter. Security perimeter is the space where security is paying high attention but everything outside this space is not considered. Six minutes into the speech, the gunman shot from his gun. 

Now I will read a piece of paragraph from the news because I think I wouldn’t phrase it better. I will just make some small changes. You will have the source in the description: 

What happened next was as miraculous as it was historic. The gunman, later identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired multiple shots, including one that Trump said touched his ear. Trump ducked to the ground. To duck means to sit down or lay on the ground. Five Secret Service agents rushed to the stage and covered the former president, as the sound of two more shots was heard.

Forty-three seconds after the first shot was fired, a Secret Service agent said the shooter was down. Which means that they killed him. Trump, his ear and face covered in blood, was brought to his feet. He raised his fist in an iconic pose to his supporters to let them know he was OK before agents took him off the stage and into his car.

At least three rally attendees were shot, one of whom was killed.

It was the first assassination attempt on a president or former president since Reagan which was, as I said,  in 1981.

I am curious about how it will influence the elections in the United States, I think we will have to wait and see.

And that is it! A quick tour through some of the most famous assassinations and assassination attempts on American presidents. It’s a little bit of a morbid topic, but I think it is also important to be aware of it as it changed the course of history a few times. 

Thank you for listening! If you liked this episode, please leave a five-star rating and share it with your friends. Don’t forget, you can find the transcript and vocabulary list in the podcast notes. See you next time.

Source: 

Herb, J., & Andone, D. (2024, July 15). How the assassination attempt on Trump unfolded | CNN politics. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/14/politics/what-happened-trump-assassination-attempt/index.html

Photo sources:

A&E Television Networks. (n.d.). Abraham Lincoln’s assassination – timeline, Facts & Aftermath. History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/abraham-lincoln-assassination 

Biography. Ronald Reagan: Inside the attempted assassination of the 40th president. (n.d.). https://www.biography.com/political-figures/ronald-reagan-assassination 

Cable News Network. (n.d.). How photographers captured the Trump assassination attempt. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2024/07/politics/photographers-trump-shooting-cnnphotos/ 

CBS Interactive. (n.d.). The JFK assassination: As it happened. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jfk-assassination-walter-cronkite-cbs-news/ 

Fox News. (2022, October 14). On this day in history, October 14, 1912, Teddy Roosevelt shot in chest, makes campaign stop minutes later. Fox News.