Assassination Tango

Quatermain

Banned
In the 233 years that America has existed, we've had 44 Presidents. Four of those Presidents(Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy) have been assassinated. That's a pretty good track record, I'd think.

Out of the remaining forty Presidents, fourteen have had credible attempts against them, most notably Andrew Jackson(who after his would-be assassin's pistols misfired, proceeded to whup the holy hell out of him with a cane), Teddy Roosevelt(who proceeded with his speech even after being shot), and Ronald Reagan (who joked to his doctors as he was being wheeled into surgery 'I hope you're all Republicans')

The point of this thread is to take a President who was assassinated, or who escaped/did not experience an assassination attempt, and flip-flop that. The ones who died, didn't die, the ones who died, survived. In a attempt to avoid rancorous present-day politics, and insane conspiracy theories, I'm going to set the cut-off at Eisenhower, but anybody before that is fair game.
 
In the 233 years that America has existed, we've had 44 Presidents. Four of those Presidents(Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy) have been assassinated. That's a pretty good track record, I'd think.
In the 289 years that the UK has had a Prime Minister, we've had 54 PMs. One of those has been assassinated (Spencer Perceval in 1812). So, yes, the US (I assume that's what is meant by 'America') has a far better hit rate. :)
 
In the 289 years that the UK has had a Prime Minister, we've had 54 PMs. One of those has been assassinated (Spencer Perceval in 1812). So, yes, the US (I assume that's what is meant by 'America') has a far better hit rate. :)
Considering that the UK can change PMs at the drop of a hat and our style of gun laws.... ;)
 

Quatermain

Banned
I think an assassination of Buchanan might have had a interesting effect. I don't think it would have stopped the Civil War, at that point I think war was inevitable, but I do think it may changed the scope or 'shape' of the on-coming conflict. Buchanan was, I think, beset with option paralysis, or to take a more cynical view, had decided that he wasn't going to be the President that split the Union and that it might be best(for him anyways) to push the whole mess off on to the next guy.

If Buchanan had been assassinated, his VP, John Breckenridge would have taken over. Breckenridge was from Kentucky, and was a Confederate sympathizer who would go on to serve as a general in the Confederate Army.

In the 289 years that the UK has had a Prime Minister, we've had 54 PMs. One of those has been assassinated (Spencer Perceval in 1812). So, yes, the US (I assume that's what is meant by 'America') has a far better hit rate. :)

Just one more thing we're better at. We're more efficient assassins. On a related note, what is it about the Internet that makes people quibble about semantics? You obviously weren't confused by my usage of 'America'...why point it out? That was one of the things I hated most about university, people who used to nitpick tiny little details like it mattered.
 
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Hendryk

Banned
In the 233 years that America has existed, we've had 44 Presidents. Four of those Presidents(Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy) have been assassinated. That's a pretty good track record, I'd think.
That depends how you define "good". If you take French history since 1789 (to use a roughly similar time scale to the American one), we've only had two heads of state of whichever type--king, emperor or president--assassinated, Sadi Carnot in 1894 and Paul Doumer in 1932.

If you widen the definition of assassination far enough, you might include Félix Faure, who died of a massive stroke while being given head by his mistress in 1899.
 
You obviously weren't confused by my usage of 'America'...why point it out? That was one of the things I hated most about university, people who used to nitpick tiny little details like it mattered.
Just looking for confirmation that my assumption was correct. But in any case, the difference between the USA and America is hardly a 'tiny little detail' to most of the world. Sorry that I annoyed you by a desire for terminological exactitude, you must have had a trying time at a seat of learning, viz. university.
 

Quatermain

Banned
If you widen the definition of assassination far enough, you might include Félix Faure, who died of a massive stroke while being given head by his mistress in 1899.

Maybe it was a sinister form of the 'long game' on the part of his opponents. They set her up to be noticed by him, knowing that he would keep her as his mistress, and that her superlative oral skills would eventually cause a fatal stroke. They were probably also poisoning him with tobacco very, very, very slowly.

But in any case, the difference between the USA and America is hardly a 'tiny little detail' to most of the world.

Nobody has ever heard the term 'America' used and thought it referred to Panama or Uruguay or Canada. The only time anyone is confused as to where 'America' refers to is when they're purposefully so, because they think they're making some kind of point.

Sorry that I annoyed you by a desire for terminological exactitude, you must have had a trying time at a seat of learning, viz. university.

I did, but challenges exist to be overcome and defeated and I was victorious in the end.
 
Nobody has ever heard the term 'America' used and thought it referred to Panama or Uruguay or Canada. The only time anyone is confused as to where 'America' refers to is when they're purposefully so, because they think they're making some kind of point.
In my experience and that of Latin America relatives your statement is totally incorrect.
 
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