This President Survived an Assassin’s Grenade Attack

Inevitably, there will be some bad blood when you take political office. You can't win over everyone, which can sometimes have horrible consequences. With that in mind, let's take a look at those presidents who survived a brush with death, and how.

Andrew Jackson was a divisive president. His legacy is a bit uncertain these days, thanks to his treatment of native peoples. However, he was instrumental in establishing trade relationships overseas for the United States. Things went fairly well with Jackson's presidency until 1835.

Richard Lawrence saw an opportunity to take a shot at Andrew Jackson while the latter was leaving for a funeral. Lawrence approached him, drew a pistol, and fired. The percussion cap on his pistol had set off, but the bullet didn't strike Jackson. In turn, Lawrence drew again and attempted firing to no avail before an incensed Jackson set upon him and began thrashing him with his cane.

Theodore Roosevelt is a fascinating figure in the arena of American politics. Fiery, impassioned, and ultimately quite divisive for his party, he's left quite a legacy. Further, the man has become something of a myth thanks to his fortitude and sheer presence.

1912 saw John Schrank approach Roosevelt and fire at close range with a pistol. The bullet connected with Roosevelt, striking him in the chest. It is thought that Roosevelt's eyeglass case and a copy of his speech helped slow the bullet enough to make the wound not fatal. Roosevelt proceeded to deliver his speech afterward, lasting an hour and a half before seeking medical attention.

FDR almost didn't get the chance to take office, it would seem. Before he became the leader necessary to drag the United States out of the Great Depression, there seemed to be a trial he had in store for him first.

An unemployed bricklayer named Giuseppe Zangara had a bone to pick with Roosevelt. He reasoned that anyone partaking in capitalism was evil. 17 days before Roosevelt's inauguration, Zangara opened fire shortly after FDR delivered a speech. Bystanders caught the man pretty much instantly, but at least one person would die in the crossfire.

Truman was just what was needed to take the United States past the final moments of the Second World War. Roosevelt's untimely death thrust him into a position of supreme importance, which he handled as well as he could. However, there were contentions about his position on Puerto Rico's status as an American territory.

A pair of Puerto Rican nationalists assailed the Blair House, where Truman and his family were at the time, on November 1, 1950. The White House was under renovation, leading to a situation where an attempted pincer attack happened. A furious gun battle erupted, leaving a policeman and an assassin dead. Truman and his family were left unharmed.

Gerald Ford's presidency is a strange one. The American public simply had no clue that the line of succession could run that far for a president. Ford took office after the resignations of Nixon and Agnew, an unprecedented event that has yet to be replicated in the modern era.

Ford is unique in the fact that he's the only president in history to survive two assassination attempts. The first saw a Secret Service agent stepping between his would-be killer and the president to seize the weapon. The second, just over two weeks later, saw the assassin fire off two shots before bystanders subdued them.

Ronald Reagan ran into the same spate of awful luck that FDR seemed to have found. Reagan was a massively popular candidate, but his time in office was almost cut drastically short in 1981 when he was almost struck down.

John Hinckley ambushed Reagan outside a hotel, firing six shots from his weapon in a rapid fashion. Four men were struck by the gunfire, with Reagan being among them. Reagan had a close call, with a fractured rib and punctured lung as part of his injuries. The president would go on to make a full recovery, with Hinckley spending over 30 years in a mental institution before his release.

Our final entry is also our most recent. President George W. Bush had the luckiest occurrence when it comes to assassination attempts. By all rights, everyone present should have ended up dead.

Vladimir Arutyunian threw a grenade at Bush while the latter was giving a speech in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 2005. The grenade was a live Soviet RGD-5 hand grenade. It hurled through the air, landing close to Bush and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. It failed to detonate, sparing both men's lives. Arutyunian was sentenced to life in prison in the aftermath.