The President Has Been Shot!: True Stories of the Attacks on Ten U.S. Presidents

by Rebecca C. Jones

A history of attacks of United States presidents includes discussions of the attempted and successful assassinations of Jackson, Lincoln, Garfield, and Kennedy, as well as profiles of other assassination attempts and their effects on the nation.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Crime, American History

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1996

Reviews

[Patricia Navarrete]

What is this book about? What surprised me? I really liked this book as a whole and I know a lot about presidents so it was very nice to learn something new. This book is about 4 main presidents and other presidents who were shot or had an attempt. It was very surprising for me to find out that Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln who was the 16th president of the United States, witnessed 3 presidential deaths. I was also very surprised to find out that Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy had someone warn them before they had gone to the theater or Dallas. I was also very interested in the fact that every 20 years a president was shot or had an attempt on his life. Thankfully, that ended cycle has ended.

[bode · Rating 4 out of 5]

that was such a funny book. i applaud. for real tho i like how people are gradually shining light on those assassinations/attempted assassinations less known, such as mckinley, and garfield. the book also shed light on the masterminds behind such attempts such as squeaky, john hinckley jr., charles guiteau. if you're looking for a quick read and know/want to know more about american history, i suggest this book about 10 presidents that've been shot.

[Eileen Poles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book. Covering every president that was ever shot at. Brief and to the point on each and every one

[Suzann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the history of presidential assassinations and attempts for young readers.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written perfect for middle/high school or any history nut. I learned quite a bit!

[Olivia Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

childhood book!!

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books as a child, and I probably read it at least a dozen times (if not more) during the course of my younger years. It sparked my interest in the presidents, leading me to amass a fairly impressive collection of books on presidential history and trivia.

The writing is easy to understand for younger readers, and moves at a brisk pace, but carries enough of the little details to make the incidents feel alive and vivid. For adults who know little of the history of presidential assassinations, this provides a wonderful, brief overview. Most people are fairly familiar with the Lincoln and JFK assassination, but not so much with the Garfield and McKinley assassinations, nor with the attempts on some of the other presidents, like Truman or Jackson. The events leading up to and immediately after the assassinations are given a decent amount of detail, while the sections on the attempted assassinations are mainly limited to the attempts themselves, with the exception being the attempt on Reagan, where John Hinckley, Jr. and his obsession with Jodie Foster is given some airtime.

I stumbled upon this while sorting through some boxes of books I had stored away in my basement. It was wonderful getting to read this again, and I can say that twenty-five years later I still found it enthralling. Four stars for the content, plus an extra star for the nostalgia.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains chapters dedicated to the presidents who were killed in office, as well as others who survived assassination attempts. Each section gives details about what was going on the in the country that may have prompted the attacks, and there is also background on the assassins. I liked that book also went into explaining how the Secret Service's role changed over time. The text moves at a quick pace without getting bogged down by too many details about each president. Pictures are spread throughout the book, although some of these feature actual images of dead bodies (including a hanging) so this book would be more suitable for children in 5th grade and above (there are also some gruesome descriptions of what happened when the presidents were attacked, and a quote with profanity).

[Raylee Gifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This nonfiction book contains the stories of the 10 U.S. presidents who have been the target of assassination attempts and successes. This book shares the stories of Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley,and John Kennedy who were all assassinated during their presidencies. The death of each president was a huge shock to the nation and over the years has resulted in tighter security for the president as well as the 25th ammendment to the constitution which made attempting to kill the president punishable by death. This would be a good read for any teenager interested in history and would also work well in a history class.

[Dotty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tells the story of each presidential assassination attempt. Several times the president shot did not know they had been shot -- interesting all attempts were with a gun.
A president has died in office or been killed while in office every twenty years since 1840:
William Henry Harrison, elected 1840, died of natural causes
Abraham Lincoln, elected 1860, assassinated
James Garfield, elected 1880, assassinated
William McKinley, elected 1900, assassinated
Warren G. Harding, elected 1920, died in office
Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected 1940, died in office
John F. Kennedy, elected 1960, assassinated
Ronald Reagan, elected 1980, assassination attempt

[6schell_hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the president has been shot was a great informational book. It is about ten accounts of conspiracies, plans, and stories. The best story in the book was the story of Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln had many accounts of trying to be assassinated. A man named John Wilkes Booth finally succeeded. He had been shot at Fords theatre. Overall, this book is very informational and a good read.

[Jeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic overview of ten attacks on different presidents. I liked that it was in chronological order and that it explained the events simply and without a lot of gore. I liked how it talked about the attackers and that it talked about that many of them were mentally unstable. I would read this book to my children.

[Amber Pangburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about how the presidents were assainated. They had all the presidents that were shot, hurt, or killed in this book. They explain how the plans happened and what happened to the president. I would use this in a classroom when talking about presidents.

[Charlie Easterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up with this book and it launched a lifelong obsession with crime, criminology and the psychology of murder. Although it's not always the most on point factually, it's a great little starter for American history buffs and early readers.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this while working at an elementary school. It covers the assassinations of the presidents as well as the attempts made on more current presidents. I found it very informative.

[Kyle Bradbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was ok but not ment for me I only read it for a book report.

[Tiffiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good informational book.

[Carrie Daws · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on a kids level for learning the history of President's who were attacked. Includes some information on those who fired the shots and what happened to them in the aftermath.