Worst. Assassination Attempt. Ever.

The History Channel documentary series on Jackson is my favorite thing the network ever aired. Granted, I don't trust the authenticity of stories like this. But they're awesome.

 

That, and supposedly, a lot of the doctors didn't want to operate because they didn't think they'd get the bullet out. So they just left it in there, let Garfield linger, and die.

When you also think about it, it's amazing Lincoln didn't get assassinated early in his term with all the passions running high. In Lincoln's time too, people could just walk into the White House anytime they wanted and try to see the President. And frequently, visitors would steal stuff for souveniers, even cutting up carpets and curtains. Security was, shall we say, extremely poor.

 

There were a couple of attempts on Lincoln. One even took off his hat with the shot while he was riding alone in Washington. Lincoln was not as popular as revisionist history would have you believe. Getting killed is what literally put him on Mount Rushmore.

 

Things really didn't change much until the Kennedy assassination. Then, the attempt on Reagan ushered us into what we see today.

 

Well, preserving the United States of America might have had something to do with it.

 

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