Four U.S. presidents have been assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy.

How Many US Presidents Were Assassinated? (Quick Scoop)

Direct answer

  • Number of U.S. presidents assassinated in office: 4.
  • Their names: Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy.

Who They Were (Mini Profiles)

  • Abraham Lincoln – Assassinated in 1865 at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., days after the Civil War effectively ended.
  • James A. Garfield – Shot in 1881 at a Washington, D.C. train station and died from his wounds later that year.
  • William McKinley – Shot in 1901 at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York; he died a few days afterward.
  • John F. Kennedy – Assassinated in 1963 while riding in an open car motorcade in Dallas, Texas.

Quick fact list

  • 4 presidents assassinated in office.
  • Multiple other presidents survived assassination attempts (for example, Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 but survived).
  • Modern security is far tighter than in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but assassination attempts and plots have not disappeared from U.S. politics.

Simple HTML table of assassinated presidents

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President Year assassinated Location
Abraham Lincoln 1865 Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.
James A. Garfield 1881 Railway station, Washington, D.C.
William McKinley 1901 Pan- American Exposition, Buffalo, New York
John F. Kennedy 1963 Motorcade in Dallas, Texas

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.