GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump last month is only one in a long line of American acts of political violence .
Four sitting U.S. presidents — Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy — have been killed by assassins and two were seriously injured: Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. That doesn’t factor in the other close calls or attacks on politicians holding other positions.
Sept. 5 marks the anniversary of one of those close calls, one of two in a matter of days on the lone president to have grown up in Michigan: Gerald R. Ford.
On this day in 1975, Ford was in Sacramento, California, preparing to meet Gov. Jerry Brown. Ford was walking from his hotel to the State Capitol building across the street and greeted people and well-wishers on his way. During this brief walk, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme — of Manson Family fame — pulled a gun on the president.
Thanks to actions by Ford’s Secret Service detail and possibly even Fromme herself, Ford wasn’t hurt.