The most dangerous job in the USA? POTUS.

[thewayne]

1 in 4 American presidents since 1865 have been shot at. 1 in 9 have been assassinated. Ford was shot at twice… in the same month.

Comments

[kaishin108]

That is awful. Such a violent and gun happy country we live in.

[thewayne]

Agreed.

[arlie]

I wonder how this compares with (a) other countries and (b) other jobs in the US.

[thewayne]

People think that law enforcement is extreme risk.  It isn't even in the top 10 in the USA.  Commercial fishing is usually #1.  Compared to other countries, I do not know how we rate.

[ranunculus]

I think tree trimmers and fallers are right up there as are farm or ranch work.

[thewayne]

I'm sure they are!  Deep sea fishermen are highest due to multiple factors: injuries from equipment on deck, storms, risk of being thrown overboard, violence on the ship from people going nuts on long sails, etc.  I think I may post some OSHA statistics tomorrow.

[ranunculus]

Of the fishermen I think that fishing for Alaska King Crab is the most hazardous. Nothing like being out in the far North Pacific Ocean, or the Arctic Ocean in a storm. Lots of the King Crab that comes in to Anchorage, Alaska has a label of "Russia" as the country of origin. Oh, and the harvest the last couple of years has been really bad. The working theory is that the waters have warmed enough so King Crab is too warm to do well in its traditional home.

[armiphlage]

No Canadian Prime Ministers have ever been assassinated or shot at (0 out of 23). We have had some close calls.

On November 5, 1995, a man with a pocket knife climbed the fence to the Prime Minister's residence, broke a glass door, and entered. The Prime Minister's wife scared him off with a carved Inuit stone sculpture of a loon. The man apologized in 1998, and was given a conditional discharge and moved to a group home near the Prime Minister's residence.

On October 22, 2014, a man with a 30-30 hunting rifle shot and killed Corporal Nathan Cirillo, the ceremonial sentry on duty at the National War Memorial. The attacker then entered the Parliament buildings, and was killed in a shootout with RCMP officers outside a meeting room containing the Prime Minister and other elected officials.

On July 2, 2020, a man drove a pickup truck into the gate of the Prime Minister's residence. He had a rifle, two shotguns and two handguns, but allegedly wanted to arrest the Prime Minister, not shoot him. He served nearly two years in prison, followed by 20 months of day parole, and was released in July this year.

[thewayne]

I believe I remember the '14 incident.  There was also an England incident where a man snuck onto Buckingham Palace grounds with a crossbow but I don't believe he managed entrance into the palace.  Some royals have been killed, such as when Lord Montbatten's yacht was blown up by the IRA in 1979.  I'm not much into that sort of history.

[dewline]

I was called in by CBC News' Parliamentary Affairs bureau to do courtroom art regarding the 1995 instance. Once the guy was on his meds, he was as gentle as one could hope for.

[disneydream06]

I know I sound like an idiot, but I am still not convinced that these are real attempts. :o
Hugs, Jon

[moxie_man]

Considering they're perfect "dog whistles" for his rabid followers, I don't blame you.

[thewayne]

Excellent point.

[disneydream06]

Agreed. :o

[thewayne]

I think they were.  They were both amateurish, and both shooters presented signs of delusion.  At least the second shooter was taken alive, we'll see how much is learned over time.  The most important thing when you hire an assassin is that they are either very good and take out their target cleanly, or are very bad and the assassin does not survive the attempt and the target does.  That worked in the first case, but not entirely in the second.  With the second shooter alive, if it was staged, the entire plan could unravel - which could be extremely dangerous for the weird guy.  Most assassins are amateurs, one of the notable exceptions being JFK's killer.  He was a trained marksman in the Army.

[disneydream06]

Most assassins are amateurs,
You mean it's not like in the movies? lol.......

[halfshellvenus]

And yet, TFG is still with us.

I didn't know Ford was shot at twice. I didn't pay a lot of attention to Ford (I was mostly angry that he pardoned Nixon, and I was TEN at the time).

[ndrosen]

I was around that age (born in 1964), and I remember the two attempts to assassinate President Ford.

[madamoiselle_sambuca]

JFK's assassination anniversary is coming up fast. :(

[silveradept]

There are a lot of people who believe the President can get them exactly what they want, or that he is personally responsible for their woes and problems. So a lot of people target what they see as the source of the problems, or the one that can fix them.

[thewayne]

In the case of the first shooter, that young man was looking for a target of opportunity.  The second incident, the guy in custody is not cooperating with investigators and nothing has been revealed yet as to what his motivations may be.  He demonstrated questionable mental stability in the past and was prohibited from possessing firearms because of criminal convictions.