About This Archive
A data-driven, non-partisan historical record of U.S. presidential assassination attempts, plots, and security incidents — from Andrew Jackson in 1835 to the present day.
Scope
The archive covers documented attempts on the lives of sitting U.S. presidents, vice presidents, president-elects, and major-party presidential candidates. It also includes a small number of high-profile incidents involving prominent political figures — such as Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Senator Huey Long, and Governor George Wallace — whose cases are historically intertwined with presidential security history.
Events are classified into five types: assassination, attempt, plot, threat, and security incident. Each entry notes whether the target was acting as president, president-elect, vice president, candidate, or former president at the time.
Confidence Ratings
Every event carries a confidence rating that reflects how well documented it is. Use the Explore filter to restrict results to high-confidence events only.
Well-documented events with multiple corroborating primary or secondary sources. Outcome and details are not in serious dispute.
Events that are historically attested but where some details — motive, precise planning, or severity — remain uncertain.
Incidents reported by contemporary sources but with limited independent corroboration or disputed authenticity.
Claims that were investigated but never confirmed, or that are contested by historians. Included for completeness.
How to Use the Archive
Full searchable, filterable list of all events. Sort by date, filter by era, method, outcome, confidence level, or target role.
Chronological view of every incident from 1835 to the present, grouped by era.
Geographic distribution of incidents across the U.S. and abroad — see which cities and regions appear most frequently.
Aggregated charts and patterns: attempts by decade, method distribution, outcome breakdowns.
Biography pages for every target — presidents, vice presidents, senators, and candidates — with a full list of associated incidents.
Ask natural-language questions about the data. The AI has full access to the archive and can compare, count, and explain.
Starting Points
A Note on Methodology
This archive is an editorial project, not a definitive academic database. Sources consulted include historical newspapers, congressional records, Secret Service histories, and published scholarly accounts. Where events are disputed or contested — such as "alleged plots" with limited evidence — they are included but labeled accordingly and given low or alleged confidence ratings. Nothing here should be read as glorifying or sensationalizing political violence; the intent is documentary and historical.