Thankfully, Attempts on the Lives of Members of Congress are Rare

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Thankfully, Attempts on the Lives of Members of Congress are Rare

Thankfully, attacks on members of Congress are a rarity.

Steven L. Taylor

January 9, 2011

Comments

Yahoo details the basic history of assassination attempts on US Congressmen. Go here for details.

The last sitting member to be shot was Representative Leo Ryan, who was ambushed in Guyana in 1978. Before that, several Congressmen were shot, but not killed, by Puerto Rican nationalists who stormed the Capitol on 1954.

I think that the last member of the Congress to be shot and killed on US soil was Senator Bobby Kennedy, and that was more in the context of his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president in 1968 rather than in his capacity as a legislator.

See, also, Salon: Assassinations are rare — but not unheard of.

5 responses to “Thankfully, Attempts on the Lives of Members of Congress are Rare”

ponce

January 9, 2011 at 8:50 pm

The anthrax mailed to Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy weren’t attempts on their lives?
Steven L. Taylor

January 9, 2011 at 9:04 pm

Fair enough. I was thinking in terms of physical attacks.
Bill Jempty

January 9, 2011 at 11:09 pm

How about Larry McDonald of Georgia? He was on board KAL 007 which was shot down by the Soviets in 1983
Gustopher

January 10, 2011 at 2:03 am

Less than 0.2% of Representatives have been shot in the past year. What’s the big deal?
Jay Tea

January 10, 2011 at 2:27 am

Oh, yes, the Puerto Rican separatists… pardoned by Jimmy Carter. Welcomed home as heroes by their fellow separatists.

J.